Process consultation
The Commitment
Great culture is NOT achieved by leaving it to happen by itself, or via a marketing campaign or a training course and is far more reaching than a part-time activity for HR alone. It is a challenging commitment right across the organisation, transformed via a series of inter-linked initiatives, experiments, analysis and reflection over a period of time.
Led from the Top
Those organisations who harness the power of their culture place responsibility at board level, begin the change at board level and weave it into every business process and keep reviewing it. Be the change you wish to see in others, for the organisation is the shadow of the leaders.
Engage a Mix of Disciplines
Stepping on the road of harnessing culture, involves a mix of disciplines: experienced in human behaviour, action learning, leadership and a multitude of business processes, and this skills should be drawn from a variety of functions and natural change leaders within your organisation.
Xenergie co-pilots your team with an integrated consulting team of experts that stimulate fresh thought, helps you to see objectively what before you could not see and analyse the underlying issues. We then provide practical coaching programmes and action learning support in mapping out a way forward and empowering you to power on without us.
Be prepared to be very honest
Culture is the sum of the beliefs and values that shape norms of behaviour and the ways things get done. There are several continuums that help define an organization's culture, and here are some that we explore when we begin working with you, to understand how you relate and learn together:
- Is the organization driven by results and achievement, or relationships and people?
- Does the organization have an internal focus, an external focus or an interconnected focus?
- Is the organisation adaptive and flexible, or is it structured and stable?
- Does the organisation embrace difference or breed conformity?
- Is the organisation driven by a higher purpose or is a survival mentality defining what gets done?
- What is the difference between what people say and what people do?
- Are relationships sustainable and encouraging of dialogue, or are people more comfortable to live with ‘silenced’ opinions?
Empower People to Make Change
“What we find is that once you get a group of people who really being to understand, then energy excitement and enthusiasm literally explode out of them – they know what to do. They just needed the guidance to get there and the courage to be there.” Lorna McDowell, Managing Director, Xenergie.
If you don’t empower and reward people with the possibility to make change, then cultural renewal becomes a tick-box exercise. What gets rewarded gets done. Likewise cultural renewal can also help people find a power within themselves that they may not have known they have – either way the result is powerful in an energising sense.
Commit the time
Rome was not built in a day and culture is not just for Christmas. Real transformation takes time not one event before the Christmas party: time to reflect on the learning and actions, the ups and downs, the relationships and outcomes, the repeating patterns and the emerging progress …along the way. For significant leadership or culture change programmes, you should expect to commit to a 9-12 month working relationship with us in order to enable the sort of transformational change we speak of.
The result is the greatest seismic shift since the automation of supply chains.
