Blue Beyond's Approach to Evolving Organizational Culture

It’s rare to truly “change culture”—a better mental model is “evolve culture”.

1. Blue Beyond’s Approach to Evolving Organizational Culture Overview, Approach and Case Studies March 2016

2. Contents Who is Blue Beyond Foundational Thoughts Our Approach

3. Blue Beyond Consulting We help companies in the midst of transformative change. We are "people side of business" generalists who bring a wide range of capabilities to help our clients achieve their goals—and create organizations where the people and the business can thrive. OUR PURPOSE Engage Employees We galvanize employee understanding, enthusiasm, and ownership of strategy, goals, brand, values and behaviors. Lead and Manage People We support leaders and managers — helping them build lasting individual, team and organizational capability. Nurture Thriving Cultures We help organizations connect their people to purpose, generating lasting employee commitment and authentic brand ambassadors. Change Management that Works We help clients lead and manage complex change in ways that make people part of the solution, not the problem. Improve Big C and Little C Communication We drive alignment, collaboration and communication effectiveness among global, cross-functional executive leadership. Inspire Collective Action & Achievement We help organizations create compelling vision, mission, strategies and plans and we help them execute and achieve their goals.

4. Experience in a Wide Variety of Industries We have worked in nearly every industry, including energy , financial services, high tech, biotech, government, manufacturing, retail and consumer goods.

5. What is Organizational Culture?

6. Impact Workplace Trends Impacting Employee Expectations of Culture and Engagement Speed of innovation is key to success Workforce comprised of multiple generations across the globe – “Generation C” ( connect, collaborate, communicate ) Work is an activity, not a location – the growing integration of work and life Expanding social web can increase engagement and collaboration Companies no longer “own” their brands – who we are on the inside is who we are on the outside The era of “always on” customer engagement with expectation of a unified experience across all channels

7. Pitfalls to Avoid Culture imposed top-down rather than engaging a critical mass in evolving the culture Leadership does not understand their critical role, nor do they model their behaviors in line with the desired culture Not enough middle management and employee engagement, contribution and collaboration “Soft” side of culture ( engaging vision, leadership behaviors, etc.) not backed up by “means of execution” i.e. realignment of operational processes and support systems Failure to anchor desired culture and behaviors to marketplace and company vision and strategy

8. Our Approach It’s rare to truly “change culture”—a better mental model is “evolve culture ” Why leads to what and how—a compelling business rationale is essential Leadership is essential but not sufficient —“CEO -says” approaches rarely succeed The method is the intervention—engaging and empowering employees to aspire to and cultivate an effective culture is the cornerstone to high-performing cultures Brand/culture alignment—culture is invigorated when who we are on the inside and who we are on the outside is aligned BASELINE ASSUMPTIONS

9. Our Approach Clarify how culture is linked to the future success of our business Engage the organization to create a compelling culture aspiration Align leadership commitment and behavior for success Build architecture and plan to stimulate and sustain desired culture Execute plan, empowering the organization to aspire and achieve ADAPTABLE | APPRECIATIVE | PRACTICAL | HOLISTIC

10. Our Approach Evolving culture requires a clear and compelling case for change Senior Leadership understanding and alignment on case for change is essential to ensure leadership sustains ownership of the effort Taking the time up front to build this leadership understanding, alignment and ownership is key—and begins to lay the ground work for how leadership may need to shift in order to evolve culture Ensuring agreements and governance processes are in place for brand/culture alignment is essential Establishing “culture evolution team” to ensure cross-organizational (up/down and across) alignment, ownership and commitment is essential Clarify how culture is linked to the future success of our business

11. Our Approach A generative, “organization up” approach (versus top-down approach) engages multiple levels in the discovery process and begins to build the foundation for engagement in culture evolution efforts overall Utilizing qualitative methods such as culture “walks”, critical incident interviews, focus groups, leadership interviews, etc. help us observe “culture in action”, understand strengths, identify gaps, and reveal aspiration Leverage technology to ensure global voices are engaged (video conference, WebEx/ GoTo Meeting, pulse survey, poll anywhere, etc. ) Utilize cross-organizational working group (or groups) to support/validate findings and aspiration A thoughtfully designed culture and engagement survey may be suggested to validate and augment qualitative findings and help lay the groundwork for culture evolution Engage the organization to create a compelling culture aspiration

12. Our Approach Engage and involve leadership throughout the process to : Build understanding of their role Equip them to become effective supporters and role models of the culture evolution Ensure ownership and alignment of the diagnosis and aspirational culture Translate aspirations to evolved culture framework (values and behaviors ) that they must portray and hold themselves accountable to Leverage governance to ensure alignment of culture/brand initiatives Coach/advise/scaffold key leaders as needed to ensure they show up as effective “amplifiers and enablers” of desired culture Align leadership commitment and behavior for success

13. Our Approach Determine how aspirational culture is going to be nurtured and sustained in the organization HR/People practices, processes and tools (i.e., Development, TA, Onboarding, Performance Management, Rewards and Recognition, etc. ) Communication/Employee engagement initiatives, programs, tools, etc. that create/reinforce lore, meaning and identity “Launch” strategy—in alignment with brand/new building, etc . Leadership competencies, behaviors, programs initiatives Manager role, accountabilities and development Establish “launch” and “sustaining” plan execution governance to ensure effective, collaborative and sustained implementation Ensure ongoing organizational voice, buy-in and feedback—”nodes” throughout the organization that will enable us to sense what’s landing and taking hold and what adjustments need to be made Align on key measures and metrics for progress Build architecture and plan to stimulate and sustain desired culture

14. Our Approach Implement in a coordinated, aligned way—learn and adjust as we go Clearly and consistently articulate evolved culture framework in ways that are meaningful to employees in their “day job ” Help employees internalize the culture through storytelling and lore Provide scaffolding for desired leadership and manager behavior and role modeling Empower employees to share own experiences through social platforms, mobile app, etc. Explore other potential ways to roll out and keep alive such as culture videos, Website, engagement events, etc. Celebrate how success gets enabled by culture Execute plan, empowering the organization to aspire and achieve

15. Things to consider Simplification and focus is not a business outcome . How will the desired future state culture enable business goal achievement ? Cultures don’t change—people change cultures . Who—among and beyond leadership—are the essential opinion leaders and change agents we need to enlist ? Communication just increases confusion and lack of alignment if the mechanisms that really drive behavior are not aligned . What 2-3 most important people processes need to be changed first to create the conditions for culture change? Progress milestones and outcome goals need to be owned by leadership . What key metric(s) will all leaders be accountable for?

16. Thank you To learn more, please visit bluebeyondconsulting.com