Diagnostics and transformation of corporate culture

Corporate culture is the most sustainable component of any organization. It ensures the integrity of the corporate organism and forms the basis of the majority of employees’ behavior. Relationship models, traditions, information exchange, and decision-making processes are all determined by the corporate culture. A productive culture synchronized with the company's strategy engenders high engagement, promotes loyalty, increases the efficiency of teamwork, and enables the timely implementation of essential changes.

We assist our clients at all stages of the corporate culture transformation cycle, including diagnostics, development of the target model, transformation of the road map, and supporting implementation of the change plan.

Benefits of corporate culture transformation

1. Aligns the corporate culture to the company's goals.

Productive elements of corporate culture: a resource for organizational development and achievement of strategic goals. Due to changes in employees’ behavior, the company can be more successful in terms of making progress and managing risks in the field of human capital:

• increased flexibility and faster decision-making;
• replacing vertical connections with horizontal ones;
• increased productivity.

2. Team building based on a common goal.

• Overcoming possible hidden conflicts between different hierarchical, professional, and social groups.
• Defining the role and extent of each team member’s participation in business processes.
• Establishing and balancing different types of communications within the team.
• Aligning the views of each member of the management team regarding the company, its objectives, and the changes that are taking place.

3. Enhancing the employer's brand.

Successful corporate culture transformation increases the ability of the company to attract and retain its most effective personnel; employees become more motivated and proactive.

Ward Howell’s approach

1. Audit and involvement

• Research into behavior at all levels of the organization in order to involve employees and create hypotheses;
• Leadership styles research;
• Examination of formal and informal procedures, traditions, and communication channels trusted by employees, etc.;
• Discussion of hypotheses;
• Identification of future change leaders;
• Presentation of hypotheses and the proposed agenda for action to the management as "the brainchild of a team already involved in the process".

• Determination of the desired (based on values) culture, awareness of the actual one, and articulation of the company mission;
• Discussion of values and establishment of desired behavior examples;
• Formation of requirements for business processes;
• Final alignment of mission, examples of desired behavior, requirements for business processes with key leaders, and creation of the "CEO Message";
• Development of a road map for cascading the corporate culture; a value/cultural communication plan;
• Development of a plan for changing HR business processes to support the desired behavior; definition of the project’s KPIs;
• Results presentation (plans for communication and implementation of the mission, vision, values, competencies, and code of conduct in all communication and personnel management processes).

• Wide communication of the CEO Message; new values and examples of behavior through trusted channels (optionally with the involvement of PR agencies);
• Training change leaders;
• Cascading values and examples of desired behavior deep within the organization (by change leaders);
• Operational monitoring of feedback from teams; adjustment of the action plan;
• Monitoring the project’s key KPIs.

4. Sustainable changes

• Continuous monitoring of desired and undesired behavior, demonstrative reaction, adjustment (focus groups);
• Regular monitoring of feedback from groups (online surveys);
• Assessment of the impact of behavioral changes on key business indicators (productivity, customer satisfaction, engagement, etc.).

Ward Howell expertise

Best in class

• Global expertise in a wide range of work topics (soft and hard), attracting the leading specialists in their field (in Russia and worldwide).
• Partnership with the world's leading business schools; experienced and certified coaches on the team.
• Talent Equity Institute: study of the best Russian and global practices; preparation of adapted training materials and cases.

Business-focused

• Our top priority is our client's business results. We communicate with our client in their own language, thereby understanding the needs of the target management audience.
• We are convinced that the involvement of key stakeholders is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of leadership development programs.
• We create conditions and an environment for real change in managers' behavior, and not just for their training.

• We offer solutions that are purely based on deep diagnostics of a unique client case.
• We are in constant communication with our client and always listen to their needs.
• We build our programs in a spirit of agility, adapting flexibly to our client's needs as well as any external and internal changes.