Unfortunately for some, there is a common theme between house cleaning and changing a company culture. It is almost impossible to change a company culture without having to let some people go. But be very careful when you start to redefine and redesign your company culture because you can create an even bigger mess than the one you are trying to fix. Every action sends a message of what the future culture will look like. If you walk in to a new situation or company with the goal of changing the culture and it all starts outside of the “Oval Office,” (as in everyone but upper management) you are already sending the message of who is to blame. (Sharing the blame is usually the closest to reality.) Although there are going to be individuals that don’t fit into the new culture and will have to be let go, don’t forget that they were brought on because they did fit into the old culture and part of who they have become is the result of that old cultural influence. So, to ruthlessly pull out the guillotine when it comes time to change is not going to create an atmosphere of trust, care and loyalty going forward. Change is not easy no matter what but it is a whole lot easier if it is in an atmosphere of care and understanding. It is not easy to find good people and even harder to find people that don’t have any opinion or previous work baggage. So, be careful letting yourself believe that bringing in a new set of workers is going to be without its challenges. We live in a very dynamic marketplace that is in a constant state of change so you can’t just clean house and hire a new workforce every time a company needs to go in a new direction. After all, some of the nay sayers may be your best source of feedback and help keep you grounded going forward. So, taking the time and spending the energy to help people see and believe in the benefits of the change and embrace it, rather than reluctantly comply out of fear, will create a culture of care and trust that will make the next change go a lot smoother.
House cleaning is a very necessary part of our personal and professional lives and when it is neglected, in business especially, it sends a very clear message that there is no clear set of expectations. Expectations for performance have to be clear but also the benefits of performance have to be clear too. Sometimes when we expect people to change we fail to make it clear what the benefits are or we use some pathetic negative benefit like “you can keep your job.” All change requires additional work, even if it is just the psychological work of forming new habits and most of the time it is for no additional pay or incentive. That, makes it truly hard for anyone to jump on board. Jack Welch of General Electric fame makes “Candor” and “Differentiation” two of his first themes in his book “Winning.” According to Jack you can’t lump everyone into the same batch. Performers must be rewarded and poor performers cannot be left to languish, you have to act and act differently with each group or your message about expectations will become muddied. The question is when to act and how? One thing I am sure of is that we are not born with the ability to know how to change, people need tools to change, so do the house cleaning only after there has been enough time and tools provided to make change possible.
I will cover some of those change tools next week.
House cleaning is a very necessary part of our personal and professional lives and when it is neglected, in business especially, it sends a very clear message that there is no clear set of expectations. Expectations for performance have to be clear but also the benefits of performance have to be clear too. Sometimes when we expect people to change we fail to make it clear what the benefits are or we use some pathetic negative benefit like “you can keep your job.” All change requires additional work, even if it is just the psychological work of forming new habits and most of the time it is for no additional pay or incentive. That, makes it truly hard for anyone to jump on board. Jack Welch of General Electric fame makes “Candor” and “Differentiation” two of his first themes in his book “Winning.” According to Jack you can’t lump everyone into the same batch. Performers must be rewarded and poor performers cannot be left to languish, you have to act and act differently with each group or your message about expectations will become muddied. The question is when to act and how? One thing I am sure of is that we are not born with the ability to know how to change, people need tools to change, so do the house cleaning only after there has been enough time and tools provided to make change possible.
I will cover some of those change tools next week.
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