NEWS

The global pandemic has turned the world upside down, causing unprecedented disruption and change. Technological, societal, economic, regulatory and political factors have been severely affected. The resilience and strength of your organisational culture are critical in these times of enormous change. A robust culture is the foundation enabling your organisation to adapt and thrive through change.

Being aligned with your mission, vision and values are the North Star to guide strategy, and they underpin your culture. They give people the context to apply to what they do every day. Your mission and vision describe what organisational success looks like and what it will look like moving forward. Defining where your organisation is going. 

The Global Covid-19 Culture Assessment has indicated the following to be the top of the values list, namely: 

• Adaptability
• Agility
• Teamwork
• Digital connectivity
• Balance (Home/Work)
• Cross group collaboration  

These values indicate that an outdated command-and-control approach to strategy, in which detailed plans are formulated and hierarchy has prevailed, will not work moving into the future. Communicating shared values will enable your organisation to be adaptable and move through the transition of change. People need to understand their place in the plan, be able to provide feedback on how it affects them, and how they are empowered to contribute to it.

Without communication and openness, an agile strategy is almost impossible. Adaptability requires a feedback loop that includes observation, analysis and adjustment. A safe environment enables employee feedback and leadership, the ability to adjust their strategy. Clarity permits teams to exercise judgment, collaborate and innovate.

In a resilient, healthy culture, people learn effective ways to give fact-based feedback, enabling management to understand what needs adjustment. Strategy succeeds when the entire organisation is truly involved in the process, encouraged to discover problems, correct them and communicate the results.

Coming together with a shared focus is what puts that strategy into play, and allows businesses to outperform the competition and position themselves for success.