Getting your cultural ducks in a row
by Miki Saxon
Even before the economic meltdown you heard constantly about all the reasons you needed to do things differently; all the problems inherent in hiring managing a four-generational workforce; all the new technology you needed in order to succeed.
In short, all the changes coming up, down and around the pike.
And as everyone know, change isn’t easy.
A few months ago IBM produced and excellent research study called The Enterprise of the Future (requires free registration), which was the basis of a series I wrote at Leadership Turn.
There’a new module out called Making Change Work and it offers up some interesting stats.
“Over a two-year period, the percentage of CEOs expecting substantial change climbed from 65 percent in 2006 to 83 percent in 2008 but those reporting they had successfully managed change in the past rose just 4 percentage points, up from 57 percent in 2006 to 61 percent in 2008… The major obstacles to implementing change in an enterprise are centered on people and corporate culture. Nearly 60 percent of the executives and project managers surveyed say changing mind sets and attitudes is the biggest challenge to implementing change in an enterprise, followed by corporate culture at 49 percent. These challenges were flagged as more important than shortage of resources, highlighting that these problems are seen as inherently more difficult to solve even if given sufficient resources. “
Lots of advice on inaugurating change and how to make it happen smoothly, but I think that this study is a great place to start. It has four sections
- Real Insights, Real Actions
- Solid Methods, Solid Benefits
- Better Skills, Better Change
- Right Investment, Right Impact
packed with solid information and useful information on what global bosses are doing.
The information is useful whether your company is global or local, because you’re both dealing with the same problems—people and the need to change corporate culture in order to survive and thrive.
