Strategic and Cultural Consulting
Are you measuring and managing the impact of your culture?
There is a high level of complexity in business, due to multiple objectives, different motivations, timeframes, external environments and consequences that need to be considered. However, with a disciplined focus and process to map through, strategic planning that incorporates cultural biases can deliver exceptional performance results in the short and long term.
An ex work colleague expressed his shock in the cultural differences he observed when he moved from one consumer goods industry to another. In the former company, he said it was a tight-knit sales and marketing group, everyone worked together to achieve great results, and communication was excellent with both internal and external stakeholders – he was there for 8 years. In the company he moved to next, he thought he would encounter a friendly, supportive and proactive work environment, especially given that the product category was primarily in childrens’ products. He was wrong. There was extreme in-fighting and political warfare, a lack of communication between sales, marketing and operations, frustration, and plenty of water cooler gossip.
There is no doubt that both companies are experienced in developing brand strategies for their portfolios, given their multi-national status. But any well articulated strategy can look good on a PowerPoint presentation. What counts is how well the strategy is communicated across the organisation, so that everyone is on the same page, and how effective the frontline management is in implementing the strategy in the market place? This not only requires capabilities and commitment, it requires motivation and the right attitude.
The successful implementation of a strategy, or not, is a reflection of the skills of senior managers and leaders, in not only being able to talk the global “big picture” talk, but to also focus on the specifics where it counts – operating costs; customer relationships; sales and marketing strategies etc. If managers and leaders understand the culture of their team, other divisions and external players, are willing to roll their sleeves up and get their hands dirty and lead by example, the better grasp of issues and opportunities they are likely to have.
To find out more about measuring and benchmarking your organisational or team culture and using this knowledge to impact your key performance indicators, please contact our office at info@holonbusinessgroup.com.au or phone
