Description

Realizing Cultural Alignment

Too often, organizations accept the Culture as it is. So often, the importance and alignment of the organizational Culture are undervalued. Just a quick look at the trials and tribulations of Wells Fargo, VW America, GM, American Peanut Company, and others tells us how vital Culture is to protect an organization’s reputation, financial solvency, and sustainability.

Many organizations have developed Mission, Vision, and Core Values, but often these become nothing more than nice words on a poster or the website. But, those three elements, Mission, Vision, and Core Values, drive the organization’s Culture.

Once the organization is culturally aligned with its Mission, Vision, and Core Values, an often overlooked benefit is your organization’s behaviors and interactions with the customer, members, each other, and the community become a differentiator that is very difficult to copy. Unilaterally, the products we offer are commodities, undifferentiated from competitor to competitor. Most organizations are not innovators of new products or services like Apple or Tesla, so we will never differentiate our products from our competition. Instead, using your Mission, Vision, and Core Values to dictate how you serve your customers, members, each other, and the community will differentiate your organization in your market.

This engagement is designed to:

• First, clarify and solidify the organization’s Mission, Vision, and Core Values.
• Evaluate the organization’s DEIB efforts.
• Discover how aligned the organization is to its Mission, Vision, and Core Values.
• Finally, identify the gaps between our organizational behaviors in representing the Mission, Vision, and Core Values.
• Identify how Mission, Vision, and Values will be used as the “Northstar” in all decisions by the Board, Senior Management, and Middle management.
• Define the steps to attain alignment of the organization to the Mission, Vision, and Core Values.
• Put into place a business plan to transform all of the organization’s behaviors to the Mission, Vision, and Core Values as they engage the customer, members, each other, and the community.

1. Cultural Assessment. The assessment is to be completed by the Senior Management Team (C-level, EVP, SVP, VP,) 10-15 middle managers/supervisors, and 10-15 staff ranging from entry-level to legacy employees. The assessment will be completed through a survey emailed to each participant. The survey will take approximately 30-45 minutes before emailing it back to Rich@leading2Leadership.com. From survey responses, Rich will learn the following:
   • The organizational awareness of the Mission, Vision, and Core Values
   • DEIB practices and execution.
   • Where there is alignment and where there are gaps
   • The surveys will be emailed to each surveyee 45 days prior and must be returned to Rich 30 days before the Cultural Alignment Review and Repair Session (CARRS).
2. Cultural Alignment Review – From these assessments, Rich will provide the CEO with a written Cultural Alignment Review one week before the Cultural Alignment Review and Repair Session. This Summary will detail:
   • What was learned from the surveys
   • Identify the strengths, weaknesses, and gaps 
   • Provide insights into options the organization needs to consider to gain better cultural alignment from top to bottom and bottom to top.
3. Cultural Alignment Review and Repair Session – A one-day working session. The purpose of the CARRS is:
   • To confirm the existing Mission, Vision, and Core Values will meet the organization’s goals in engaging the customer, members, staff, and community.
   • To confirm that the Mission, Vision, and Core Values will help to drive the strategic objectives of the organization (strategic alignment)
   • If the current Mission, Vision, and Core Values are not meeting the organization’s goals, then put a plan to establish a mission, vision, and core values that will align with the strategic and operational goals.
   • Build consensus of all leadership to align with and model the Mission, Vision, and Core Values.
   • Get consensus and agreement that the Mission, Vision, and Core Values will become the “Northstar” in all organization decisions.

Sample Agenda for the Cultural Alignment Review and Repair Meeting:

1. The CEO sets expectations for the session
2. Review and discuss the Cultural Alignment Review 
   • From the Summary, identify specific leadership next steps
3. Identify specific areas of concern with the Cultural Alignment Review
   • The review is a discussion facilitated by Rich
4. Identify what, if anything, needs to be changed with the current Mission, Vision, and Core Values
5. Identify what changes can be made today and which need to be researched for potential changes in the future
6. Identify specific ways and methods the employees can behave and interact in alignment with the Mission, Vision, and Values.
   • This will be a discussion facilitated by Rich.
7. Clarify the role of leadership in cascading and modeling the aligned Culture.
8. Establish agreement on how the organization will integrate these Cultural attributes into all future decisions.
9. Insights and takeaways of the day by attendees
10. Closing thoughts by the facilitator
11. The board Chair closes the meeting

Note: If necessary, this agenda may be amended to meet your organization’s needs.