Culture Renovation: 18 Leadership Actions to Build an Unshakeable Company

by Kevin Oakes, Brené Brown (Foreword by)

Overview

Seize and expand the competitive edge with a smart, well-managed culture “renovation”

Most business leaders understand the power of a dynamic, positive culture—but almost every effort to change culture fails. Why? The approach is often all wrong. Rather than attempt to “transform” a new culture from the ground up, leaders need to instead spearhead a culture renovation. It’s all about keeping what works, changing what needs to be changed, and ensuring proper care and maintenance—much like refurbishing and living in a beautiful historic home and improving its overall value.

In Culture Renovation, the head of the world’s leading HR research firm—the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp)—Kevin Oakes provides tangible, tactical insights drawn from a robust data set and informed by CEOs and HR leaders at many of the world’s top companies. You’ll find everything you need to rebuild your corporate culture with care and expertise, including:

• Three phases and detailed action steps for architecting the change you want to see
• Practical insights and examples from T-Mobile, Microsoft, 3M, and other top companies
• The traits of a healthy corporate culture
• Proven talent practices to maintain your new culture for long-term success

Oakes identifies 18 proven leadership actions for turning any culture into an agile, resilient, and innovative high-performance organization. You’ll learn how to best understand the culture in place today and set a new cultural path for decades to come; develop a co-creation mindset; identify influencers and blockers; ferret out skeptics and non-believers; measure, monitor, and report progress; and implement “next practices” in talent strategies to sustain the renovation.

Culture Renovation delivers everything you need to plan, build, and maintain a corporate culture that drives profits, growth, and business sustainability now and well into the future.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781260464368
Publisher:	McGraw Hill LLC
Publication date:	01/12/2021
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	447,797
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Kevin Oakes, CEO and co-founder of i4cp, has been a pioneer in the human capital field for the last 25 years, and is an international keynote speaker on culture, talent management, leadership, innovation, diversity, metrics, and strategic learning in organizations. He founded and served as President of SumTotal Systems, one of the largest providers of talent and learning solutions in the world, a company originally founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Table of Contents

Foreword Tom Rath ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction Renovation Versus Transformation xvii

Chapter 1 Does Culture Predict Performance? 1

Chapter 2 The Rise of the Unicorns 11

Chapter 3 Culture Renovation Needs to Starr at the Top 21

A Blueprint to Renovate Culture

Phase 1 Plan

Chapter 4 Step# 1: Develop and Deploy a Comprehensive Listening Strategy 43

Chapter 5 Step #2: Figure Out What to Keep 53

Chapter 6 Step #3: Set Your Cultural Path 63

Chapter 7 Step #4: Define the Desired Behaviors 75

Chapter 8 Step #5: Identify Influencers, Energizers, and Blockers 85

Chapter 9 Step #6: Determine How Progress Will Be Measured, Monitored, and Reported 101

Phase 2 Build

Chapter 10 Step #7: Clearly Communicate That Change Is Coming 123

Chapter 11 Step #8: Ferret Out Skeptics and Nonbelievers Early 133

Chapter 12 Step #9: Paint a Vision for the Future 149

Chapter 13 Step #10: Consciously Collaborate 169

Chapter 14 Step #11: Establish a Co-creation Mindset 181

Chapter 15 Step #12: Provide Training on the Desired Behaviors 191

Phase 3 Maintain

Chapter 16 Step #13: Make Onboarding About Relationships Versus Red Tape 207

Chapter 17 Step #14: Promote Those Who Best Represent the New 219

Chapter 18 Step #15: Change Performance Management Practices 233

Chapter 19 Step #16: Leverage Employee Affinity Groups 247

Chapter 20 Step #17: Increase the Focus on Talent Mobility 259

Chapter 21 Step #18: Don't Underestimate the Value of External Sentiment 275

Epilogue Theory Versus Tactics 291

Notes 293

Index 303

Editorial Reviews

01/11/2021

Oakes, the CEO of an HR research firm, stresses the importance of a healthy work culture in his empowering debut. He lays out an 18-step “culture change blueprint” for companies to transform their workplace and in so doing cultivate “an engaged workforce, better execution, resiliency in the face of challenges, and more loyal customers.” Oakes sorts his lessons into three categories: the “plan” phase includes listening to employees no matter how difficult it might be; identifying influencers, energizers, and blockers among staff; and determining how progress will be measured, monitored, and reported. The “build” phase offers advice on communicating clearly about impending change, weeding out naysayers, and providing training on the desired behaviors. The “maintain” phase ensures that employee onboarding is about relationships, not red tape, and being “aware of what is being said about their employer brand externally.” Oakes also advises on the importance of having a company purpose statement and gives guidelines to consider when forming one, such as that it should be applicable to small and large initiatives and evoke emotions. Along the way, Oakes successfully presents countless case studies that clarify his advice (such as Yankee Candle’s “company story” and WD-40’s brand purpose). Business leaders will want to check out this smart, savvy guide. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly