Are your recruitment, selection and performance reviews based on your culture?

This section details the culture that currently exists in the minds of all participants and positions this against the culture that is desired by the participants and also provides this feedback by cut.

The light and the dark side of each of these cultures and how they currently apply in the organization are described in some detail. Recommendations are then provided as to what culture is recommended based on the diagnostic assessment of the business. This recommendation may not be either the current or preferred position. For example in the organization shown below, the recommendation was to maintain a power culture until the business merges were complete and then consider moving toward the desired position in 12 to 18 months time. Some 14 pages of detail was provided on this topic alone including 2 full pages of recommendations.

An example of what can be expected in the “Culture report”

On the positive side of Power Culture this could have worked well and in the opinion of od21 this must be maintained at management level for the interim but in its positive application. In the Organisations case the perception is that the negative side of a Power Culture seems to figure stronger than the positive components and the following indications exist:

• People feel they have to give Managements wishes the highest priority, even when it interferes with important work (these wishes may be channeled through frontline managers, or frontline managers may use this as leverage)
• People are afraid to give bad news to their managers (i.e. “up” the line management ladder)
• People fear to question management, even when they are seen to be wrong (they also feel that it will be to no avail)
• People with power are perceived to break the rules with impunity and take special privileges
• Information is a source of personal power. It is restricted to friends and allies
• People rise by being loyal to those in power, even when they are not especially competent
  

Limitations that are experienced because of this Power Culture perception are:

• Constructive change is limited by the vision and flexibility of the leaders
• Hands-on management of this large organisation produces confusion and inefficiency
• Energy is diverted from work into politics and gaining favour with the leaders
• Managers’ impulsive seizing of opportunities may disrupt systems, schedules and plans
• Managers become easily isolated and insulated from bad news
• Managers are overloaded; subordinates’ work stalls waiting for approvals
• Short-range thinking is typical of negative power-oriented organisations

These recommendations are given against the backdrop of the recent amalgamation and with the belief that new leadership will make even more directional, strategic and operational changes on top of this. Od21 is of the opinion that to facilitate the move to achievement and support, the existing power and role cultures needs to be implemented in their positive form.

The long term goal relating to organisational culture should be to have a support culture at the coalface (where customers/clients are serviced), a role culture at the level of frontline management, an achievement culture at middle management and a mix of power, support and achievement in the leadership role. But for now the goal has to be to implement power and role in its most effective way.