www.peopleandmanagement.com
If talent is the key to your business, there
is only one mindset. Where previously, an
employee was seen as a cost (and customer
as revenue), today leaders know that
employees are the biggest customers.
quarterly performance review
cycles, yet this creates a time lag
which undermines the immediacy
of digital activity. When something
works well or underperforms,
the notion of waiting for the next
monthly committee meeting to
analyse performance is anathema to
a digital workforce.
Collaboration: Digital space
does not respect functions, silos
or organisational hierarchy. It
permeates an organisation and
demands that people in different
teams, often with different
priorities, work together to make
progress. Leaders must identify
these blockages and break them
down to avoid limiting the potential
of digital transformation.
Shared Ownership: Re-
orienting an organisation to our
digital world often brings tough
choices. Confl icts around key
performance indicators (KPIs)
are common, but can overcome
by translating an organisation’s
digital imperatives into shared
objectives and KPIs across leaders
and functions. As the old adage goes,
what gets measured gets done.
Failure: There is a stigma
around failure or underperformance
in most organisations. The pace
with which an organisation
launched a campaign, app, service
or product is part of what makes
digital investments compelling
propositions, yet we continue to
vilify those who fail rather than
embrace them.
As Edison famously said, “I
didn’t fail 10,000 times. The light
bulb was an invention with 10,000
steps.”
Environment: Established
organisations, no matter their
size or sector, are competing for
talent with supposedly cooler
organisations such as Silicon
Roundabout startups. The
culture and environment in
these organisations is generally
accepted as more appealing to
millennial-minded individuals. So
how can large, supposedly boring
corporations compete?
Culture is a prerequisite for the
success of digital transformation,
not a feel-good factor or
afterthought.
Translation: There is a need
for mutual re-education within
organisations. As the complexity
of digital technology has increased
exponentially, the need for non-
technologists to understand or at
least appreciate its function and
impact has also increased. Most
technology presentations in board
meetings go unchallenged, as
the majority of non-technologist
people around the table simply take
it on good faith that the experts
in the room know what they’re
talking about. But to enable an
organisation’s leaders to make
informed collective decisions, the
leadership team need to understand
the language of the technology
community better and vice versa.
It requires leaders to endorse
and actively champion efforts to
work root and branch through an
organisation to change things that
get in the way and confl ict with a
pacey, entrepreneurial, digitally
confi dent, and nimble organisation.
As in nature itself, when the
prevailing conditions are right,
anything can happen. When they’re
not, life fails to fl ourish. It’s tough,
but the rewards of an attempt far
outweigh the risk of inaction. The
idea of changing workplace culture
may sound simple to someone who
is never been faced with the task
before. However, as anyone with
experience knows, it is a massive
challenge.
Conclusion
You can change your workplace
culture. It’s important to understand
that each business, culture, and
person is unique in their own
rights, just remember to focus on
the individual, not the process. Real
change starts with people. Hire
the right ones, fi re the bad ones,
and encourage everyone from the
secretary to the CEO to work for big
picture goals. P & M
References:
• An Unfi nished Agenda: My Life
in the Pharmaceuticals Industry
Book by K Anji Reddy
• Book - Turn the Ship Around: A
True Story of Turning Followers
into Leaders by L. David Marquet
• http://www.drreddys.com/ Dr
Reddy’s Labs (Milestones)
• www.bloombergquint.com
• Harvard Business Review
Vol. 9 Issue 6 • Sep-Oct 2018, Noida / Pre-Event Edition |
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