Values - Culture and Change

Do the CEO’s values trickle down – or do they dissipate and change over time as the company grows?

If you read the story of In-N-Out Burger (and the first half of the book is worth reading) Mrs. Snyder, one of the owners,  laments the fact that they have grown so big she no longer knows anyone by their first name.

Corporate CEOs have reported similar problems – as they grow they no longer have the same level of “touch” and influence on their staff.  Layers and layers, levels and levels get in the way.

When you go from start-up where you have hand-picked your team – to departments and divisions you, the CEO, lose touch – and become far less effective in making sure the culture and values of your company stay as you wish them to be.

So, how do your values trickle down?

Having signs in the lobby espousing “our values” has limited (if any) value.

I consulted with – coached/mentored – many people who were on the management staff of one of the largest semi-conductor companies in Silicon valley.  The values of their C-Level staff included allowing constructive criticism (the opposite of the tyranny of pleasantness.)  What was meant by this was to allow people to actually discuss the merits of an idea freely.  To chew it over and come to the best decision.  In other words, discuss the idea, the plan – not attack the people – not go along to get along if you felt strongly this wasn’t the best way to do it.

Unfortunately, as it “trickled down” – some managers used the concept as an excuse to ridicule staff members.  Not what was intended!  And, of course once managers ridiculed it was license for everyone on that team to be nasty to each other.  Not the intent of the C-level executives at all.

In another case I asked the VP of HR doing an interview with me what the company values were – and he responded they didn’t have any – but if someone “crossed the line” they would get fired.  I was shocked and expressed my views that it wasn’t a good way to help employees know what was expected of them.  P.S. I didn’t get the consulting contract – he liked his ‘loose” way.

One of my favorite examples though is when a new CEO came into a government agency that had been limping along and hired me to:  “Raise the Bar – Make things Better.”  That was my mandate and that allowed me to work at every level in the organization, starting with their C level staff and moving down to department heads, and staff inside the departments.  We made major changes in the culture, the work ethic, and the values of the people in this agency.  AND – they were reinforced by team workshops that were created for a variety of reasons, such as for process improvement, or 360% evaluations (which I conducted) etc. 

What I am saying is that you can’t just pronounce you want certain values.  You need to make sure everyone understands them – as you intend them to be understood  – agrees with them – and lives them.

Unless reinforced frequently (maybe quarterly) in many cases there will be slippage – or as someone told me recently “softened/”   This is what is mean by “regression to the mean.”

Change requires solidification and reinforcement.  Especially culture/value change.  It must be discussed, role-modeled at all upper levels in the organization, reinforced, and reinforced again. 

Coming back to the example of the hamburger chain – they are now all over the country and the Snyder family (I think they still own the franchise) can’t be everywhere at once.  SO – they have district managers who are responsible for maintaining the quality and culture in all the restaurants.  If you have ever gone into one you will notice tha they are spotlessly clean and staff actually smiles.

To look at another – more extreme example – I was talking with the Senior Vice-President of Marketing for a fortune 100 software company and she told me that her prime responsibility was to “make sure everything fit properly into the landscape.”

I love that expression.  She went on to explain that they had marketing and sales people all over the world, and although there needed to be uniqueness in how they marketed to a particular culture – it all had to fit together – into the overall design fo the company.

SO:  my message:  Don’t take anything for granted.  Your values will be misunderstood, there will be slippage and your reputation and bottom line will suffer unless you make sure that they are being continually reinforced in the manner in which you intended.
 

“Raise the Bar – Make Things Better”

“Raise the Bar – Make Things Better”

That was my contract.

What do Change management, culture, conflict, creativity, conflict, cooperation, crisis, compliance, and control have to do with each other?  The answer:  They represent the range of work I do when asked to “Raise the Bar – Make Things Better.”

I am unlike many consultants who come into an organization with a narrow specialty that results in a written report with recommendations that most companies never bother to follow.  I’m also unlike the “talking head” or junior associate of a large consulting firm that is merely parroting words from her power point presentation that has been created by someone else.

Why am I different?  Because I have over 30 years of consulting experience, many years of actually working – and managing – in the business world and bring a multi-faceted approach which includes business, psychology, education, law, and a smattering of other disciplines to my work.

How am I different?  When you hire me, you get me.  That’s my experience, insight, and ability to help you communicate better.  I work WITH people rather than at them.  I am not afraid of emotion – and help people resolve conflict, increase cooperation and communication.  By freeing people from hiding things under the rug and being resentful, talking issues through and cooperating to find mutually acceptable solutions results in increased creativity and productivity.  The culture becomes more positive because the conflict has been resolved.  This is real change management.

I help people bring out the best in themselves and others.  This includes Professional Development, Management training (how to treat people as works best for them) and Leadership Development – including coaching, shadowing, and problem-solving.

Because of my business background, I am also able to work with teams on process improvement.  Again, by making it safe for them to talk about processes that could have been simplified – as well as by sharing my own observations and knowledge.

There are many letters of reference and testimonials from clients on my website: www.DiamondAssociates.net.  Please refer to them and you will see what I have done for other clients in the past.   You may also contact me:  408-554-0110 or ArLyne@DiamondAssociates.net

Harassment claims cost thousands of dollars

The headline reads:  Court council has paid $500K to settle sex claims!

And, these are supposed to be our leaders!

How much money are you willing to risk before you decide to offer your entire staff face-to-face training in proper workplace behavior?

Research shows that the standard on-line course in preventing sexual harassment – although meeting legal requirements – doesn’t change people’s attitudes or behavior.

So, do you want the cheapest solution?  Or one that helps people really understand the issues?

It’s about changing the office/factory/warehouse culture.  People need to understand that what they think is just kidding around is really offensive to others.  People need to understand that here in the USA we don’t condone any form of emotional or physical abuse of people.  No one has the right to harm another person.

What are you doing to make sure you don’t have to shell out hush-money?

Freedom to be What I want to be

In today's San Jose Mercury, Patty Fisher commented about women's cheerleading wanting to be considered a sport, which would allow it to have all the perqs other sports get. She made the comment that feminists would not appreciate having this as a sport.

It reminded me of one of my gripes about militant feminism going too far. If you recall, words with female endings "ette" or actress (instead of actor), etc., were all banned from usage. Typically female activiites such as sewing and cooking were frowned upon by the more militant feminists. Instead of elevating women - in my opinion to not only demeaned them, but forced them to live a half life - to become androgynous whether they wanted to or not.

Of course similar cuts were made to men as well - anything overtly masculine - such as strength and aggression were seen as boorish and rude. Why was androgyny to be the only model left to us?

I would like to see us create a culture in which the freedom to be whereever on the contimuum between typically feminine and typically masculine is honored. This allows for "girly-girls" as well as "manly-men" and everything in between. It allows for those women who want to be seen as more "butch" to do so, and for those men wanting to be "metro-sexual" to feel comfortable as such.

For me: I like being a strong, competent, independent feminine woman, who loves to cook, wear makeup, dress up and be all that I want to be.