Creating Culture Change

Read this resource for tips on how to create culture change. Leaders must be prepared to lead people through cultural changes when necessary. An example of when this would be necessary is when companies merge or acquire another company. This text examines the process of cultural change related to the people involved, including teaching employees the new norms through training and changing the reward system.

Training

Well-crafted training programs may be instrumental in bringing about culture change by teaching employees the new norms and behavioral styles. For example, after the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon reentry from a February 2003 mission, NASA decided to change its culture to become more safety sensitive and minimize decision-making errors leading to unsafe behaviors. The change effort included training programs in team processes and cognitive bias awareness. Similarly, when auto repairer Midas International Corporation felt the need to change its culture to be more committed to customers, they developed a training program making employees familiar with customer emotions and helping form better connections with them. Customer reports have been overwhelmingly positive in stores that underwent this training.