RETAILOBSERVER.COM APRIL 2020
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any leaders and managers struggle to get a handle on what
culture actually is, and its impact in the organization.
Some try to change the culture by publishing a values statement, only to
find that no meaningful change happens, aside from short-term lip service.
Others try to unify the culture around a set of shared goals that satisfy the
shareholders but backfire as stressed employees throw up their hands
because "leadership just doesn't get it."
Others implement costly IT systems to try to bring about change, only to
find that employees find "workarounds" and go back to their old ways.
Culture transformation expert Siobhan McHale defines culture in simple
terms: "It's how we do things around here."
McHale knows how deceptively plainspoken this definition can be, and
how overwhelming the need for change can be for leaders. She has
devoted her career to culture transformation, having worked on four
continents while helping thousands of leaders create more agile, productive
workplaces. She knows that the work of culture change isn't easy, but that
when done correctly, it can turn any organization into a place where the
employees feel engaged in meaningful work and where the customers feel
truly appreciated.
B O O K R E V I E W
THE INSIDER'S GUIDE TO CULTURE CHANGE
Creating a Workplace that Delivers, Grows, and Adapts
Author: Siobhan McHale has been on the inside as executive in charge of culture change at
a series of large multinational organizations. A notable "inside job" was a radical seven-year
change initiative at the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group
Limited (ANZ) Bank that transformed it from the country's
lowest-performing bank to one of the highest-performing and most
admired banks in the world. Professor John Kotter used her work
with ANZ as a Harvard Business School case study designed to
teach MBA students about managing change.
Publisher: AMACOM
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