July 29, 2010
Ask Fr. Spitzer
How Many People Need to Change for Culture Change to Happen?
Q: I work in an organization where the culture isn’t great – lots of politics, mistrust, and cynicism. I’d love to help develop a better culture, but the challenge seems too big to even contemplate. How do you get thousands of people behaving one way to start behaving differently?
A: First of all, if you want to change a culture, you don’t need to change everyone’s behavior. If you want a Level 3 culture – a culture where people have empathy for each other and work together toward the common good – you can get there if 20 percent of your people have a Level 3 viewpoint.
Most people are "happy to come to culture that’s good, and they do better work in that environment. When the culture’s bad, they try to ignore it and focus on their jobs. And when it’s intolerable, they leave." |
That might seem low, but that’s because culture isn’t determined by everyone who works in an organization. Culture is determined by the people who think culture matters and try to influence it. These are the people who will discuss ideas and speak up about what they see happening around them. These are the people who will do something – be a facilitator, or mentor, for example. In an organization, about 30 percent of the people care about the culture and want to shape it, for better or worse. If you can get two-thirds of these people on your side, that critical mass of support will bring the entire culture to Level 3.
The rest of the people – the 70 percent – they may not try to change things on their own, but that doesn’t mean the culture doesn’t matter to them at all. They’re happy to come to culture that’s good, and they do better work in that environment. When the culture’s bad, they try to ignore it and focus on their jobs. And when it’s intolerable, they leave.
In fact, one of the most important statistics to look at is the turnover rate of the top 25 percent of your critical skills people. These are the people you most need to keep, but they’re also best positioned to go somewhere else if they’re not happy. If your turnover rate in this group is going down or staying low, you’re doing something right with your culture. If your turnover rate is going up and you’re always training new people, the problem is probably your culture.
If that’s the case, you can change it. I’ve seen it done successfully many times. And the good news is that Level 3 is addictive. Once you get it rolling, you’ll see more creativity, more opportunity seeking, more teamwork, higher morale, and better results.
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Last changed: Jun 17 2009 at 10:02 AM