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Précon's more than 110 consultants and trainers visit many different companies and experience the unique corporate culture everywhere. Because the fact is that there is always a culture, but what can you identify aspects of culture? Is it something you can measure and improve, or does an optimal culture not exist? Also nice that standard owners increasingly include in their standard that something must be done about the culture, but how do you do that? And is there a difference between (food) safety culture, quality culture and learning culture?
In this article we take you quickly from this hazy terrain into practice. Because we know how to 'simply' get all employees to work together to produce a food-safe quality product, how to ensure that the quality manager does not have to act as a policeman through the company in order to achieve this, and how to get the highest achievable result from your company. We help companies who, despite high production pressure, use of flex-workers and low training budgets, still want to get the best out of it. And by 'the best' we do not mean striving for perfection in all areas, but sometimes it is about reducing failure costs or meeting the standard. Not because it is the standard, but because quality is a matter of AMBITION!
To first answer the question "what is Culture?" we delved into the literature. In anthropology, culture is "to a large extent the result of shared problem solving ability." So a group of people together solve a problem they encounter during their daily work and do so to their shared level of knowledge, understanding, values and norms, or as professionally as possible. The solution can lie in explicitly described agreements (such as procedures) and in implicit mutual agreements "This is how we do it here". These implicit aspects of corporate culture are what bind colleagues to each other and to the company... How each other is treated in relation to the (un)written rules of the company makes the individual employee feel safe, whether he wants to belong to the team (team identification) and whether he is proud of the company he works for. This process of social interaction between employees from all levels of the organization (socialization) shapes the employee and how he performs his work (professional identity). So here also lies the key to changing corporate culture.
Suppose a group of production workers find it a problem that the knives provided by the company don't have a case, after all, they can't put the knife in their pocket as they walk around. As a result, they miss out in many places when they want to cut open bags of raw materials. The chosen solution is to buy their own knife with a case and the whole team is happy with this... they have the conviction that, to the best of their knowledge, they have found the best (or at least the highest achievable) solution to the problem. Unfortunately, the quality department sees a food safety risk in the chosen solution, because carrying (and forgetting to clean regularly) the knife in your pocket) is not hygienic. We are dealing with subcultures here.
Corporate culture manifests itself in use of expressions (logos, job titles, uniforms, et cetera) and in concrete observable behavior of employees. By the way an employee is dressed, what terminology he uses and to which points of view (safety, quality, finances, et cetera) he shows commitment, it quickly becomes clear to which subculture he belongs. You quickly figure out whether you are talking to the secretary, a production employee or a manager. Unfortunately, these subcultures also influence the chosen solution to a problem. The question now is how the new (or actually still the old) problem is handled in the company. Then it becomes clear what the different subcultures are in the company, because the ideal solution will be described differently by the technical department than by the director, the HR manager or the foreman of the team in question. And everyone will be "right" when viewed from their own professional identity. Our consultants often see that companies do not want to accept this challenge, but also do not know how to get the culture such that everyone strives for optimal performance. Our view, then, is that the key to changing workplace behavior is all about shared AMBITION.
After all, if the ambition is to accept that we can't get the very best out of the company, , then that's what it is. Then we don't bring in the production manager every time the metal detector sounds an alarm, and nothing changes. Then we accept that even with an abnormal temperature the whole load of rare raw materials are used and nothing changes. We don't tell the director for the umpteenth time that a hairnet is mandatory for all employees and nothing changes. But if the ambition is to get everyone involved in the optimal performance of the company and to work together on a learning culture, then improvement is possible!
There are four, interrelated, elements that help motivate all employees to desired behavior. It is essential to (repeatedly) tell the story (1)that makes the shared AMBITION clear to everyone. Here we do not mean (only) the texts on the website describing the mission and vision, but especially concrete objectives that are clear to everyone. No sentences full of meaningless container terms, but a clear story that gives everyone the same direction. In any case, the story must be supported by the entire management and expressed in exemplary behavior (2) among the formal and informal leaders. Nothing is as counterproductive as when the quality department has just given everyone HACCP training, and then a director without a hairnet helps out on the production line. What does work well is if all managers share the same story by setting a good example and openly appreciating and rewarding everyone who does their best. Appreciation is not so much financial, but especially being seen and heard by managers. For example, by involving everyone who wants to discuss risks or who sees opportunities for improvement in thinking up possible solutions and seizing opportunities. These employees encourage others to adopt the desired behavior if they see that their suggestions add value to the company and lead to the system being (3)improved. Adapting the system can range from better tools to work with, improving a work process or its description in the manual, digitizing registrations, establishing training plans and reward structures, to a different arrangement of machinery resulting in reduced failure costs and cost efficiency. As we wrote at the beginning of this article, socialization (in addition to leadership) is the key to changing behavior. Training and education provides the opportunity to not only provide the desired competencies (4)(knowledge, skills and attitude aspects), but also give them meaning and translate them into the goals by discussing them with each other. A well-informed employee is more likely to show commitment to contribute to the AMBITION of the company.
These 4 elements do show that it is difficult to measure culture and reduce it to one score, because it is not a matter of one ideal culture where a 10 is the optimal score. It is also difficult to determine the optimal solution, because all the "subcultures" also come with their own language around the corner; Is it an undesirable situation created in team culture, is it a defective quality culture, does something need to be done about the learning and feedback culture or does it require a different approach from leadership?
We have found many different solutions to a wide variety of problems. Working sessions that help to arrive at a shared ambition and translate it into one story. Together we translate the story into practical goals and define what exemplary behavior looks like. We have also developed tools, measuring instruments and work sessions aimed at mapping the current situation. Together we optimize the system and train the required competencies, matching your ambition level. If you would like to know more about our services, please contact us at info@precongroup.com or +31 (0)30 - 65 66 010.
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