Practitioner Guidance

The culture change methods/tools described on this website are primarily intended for use by business leaders and their teams. However, whilst they are easy to understand and apply, they do need to be introduced and administered by an experienced HR or Org Design & Development practitioner. This is because:

 

  • The “degrees of freedom” concept needs some explanation before leaders can achieve the fluency and confidence to discuss the trade-offs inherent in the approach with their team.
  • The culture survey tool must provide total anonymity to people who choose to participate, maximising the chances of honest insights and conversations. This means that an independent and trusted third party administrator must be appointed to administer the survey.

For these reasons, the guidance set out on this page is for independent or in-house HR/OD&D practitioners interested in using the Org Culture Framework (OCF) and Org Culture Survey (OCS) tool with an organisation’s leader and their team.

Typically they will be used as part of a broader team development or team effectiveness intervention, with “current vs. required vs. desired” culture one consideration alongside other important elements like team purpose, role clarity, work processes and inter-personal dynamics.

Culture discussion outline

A standard three-step approach for a simple team intervention is outlined below, with the only requirement being that the relevant HR/OD&D practitioner receives a briefing on the OCF and OCS before engaging with business leaders. Prices for these briefings and use of the tool (user licence fees) are set out at the bottom of the page.

Please note that more complex inter-team culture change interventions can also be created, and these can be extremely powerful if well designed and executed.

Step 1 - Preparation


  • This step involves a practitioner understanding what the business leader is aiming to achieve through a team intervention, working out whether the use of OCF/OCS is appropriate given these aims, agreeing the parameters of use, and the respective roles of the leader and practitioner if both are going to be present at the “insight to action” team discussion (see below). Parameters of use include who will be invited to provide survey inputs (just the leader’s direct reports, or also 360 inputters like indirect reports, senior managers, team suppliers and customers), whether to use all 12 standard culture dimensions, whether any additional custom dimensions should be added, and whether the optional “desired culture” scale will be used.

  • Once the inputs have been gathered using the OCS, the practitioner and leader should download the OCS report and look at the scores (averages and variances), gaps between current/required/desired culture (anything more than 10% is notable), and any culture extremes (current, required and desired). Before engaging with their team, and with reference to the inputs provided by those invited to participate in the survey, the leader should come to their own view on what the ”required” culture for their business area should be – either against each of the 12 dimensions, or alternatively the 3 main FtT/FtA/FtD areas. They might also like to think about the flexibility of this required culture, what the allowable range looks like, and why. This preparation will ensure that the leader is ready to articulate their view on “required culture” whilst allowing scope for comment and differing views. If the intervention is at a senior leadership level, consideration should be given to the organisation’s unique value proposition and operating model, and the role the relevant business area plays in the execution of the overall strategy. Please refer to this strategy/culture infographic.

Step 2 - “Insights to Action” team engagement session


  • As indicated above, typically a discussion around org culture will form part of a broader team effectiveness intervention, and the practitioner should work with the leader to ensure that the org culture discussion fits well into this context i.e. it flows smoothly and intuitvely from the previous session, and there is a logical flow to the next session.

  • With respect to the org culture “insight to action” discussion element, the following sequence provides a recommended structure:

    1. Leader presents the results of the survey with respect to each main area (FtT, FtA, FtD), drawing attention to significant required vs. current culture gaps and any extreme scores

    2. Leader articulates their view on “required culture” and their reasoning for this, any culture gaps they feel need to be closed, and culture extremes they feel need to be moderated

    3. Leader invites the team to break-out in pairs or trios to reflect on the scores (e.g. 30-45 mins); the groups are then reconvened (plenary format) to share their insights

    4. Plenary discussion around which areas should be prioritised for gap-closure action and moderation of current culture extremes

    5. Plenary or break-out group discussion to identify specific change actions (biggest impact + ease of implementation), action owners (who leads/supports), action timeframes, and key outcome measures e.g. closure of required vs. current culture gaps; shifts in employee engagement survey scores. Based on the “degrees of freedom” concept, typical actions would involve either loosening or tightening a team’s ways of working and their leader’s management practices.



Step 3 - Outcome tracking


  • Team monitors progress against the agreed change actions at a regular interval e.g. monthly team meeting.

  • Every 6 months a dedicated culture review meeting is convened to track progress against agreed outcome measures. The OCS can be repeated at this point in order to provide information on perceived shifts.

Prices and licence options:

 

  • EITHER: £1000 one-off fee for sole practitioner OCF + OCS briefing – up to 120 mins of time (via MS Teams or Zoom); Q&A support
  • OR: £1500 one-off fee for 60 minute sole practitioner OCF briefing and unlimited use of the OCF and concepts/content on this website (without the use of the OCS tool) in a team dev context
  • OCS tool:  Indicative annual user licence fees are set out below, and a one-off set up fee would also apply.  A % of these user fees can go to the practitioner/corporate partner if they are operating independently of the end client.
  • “Principal practitioner” and “corporate partner” roles, with preferential OCS % terms, are available for those interested in investing in the development and marketing the tool
  • “Research practitioner” roles are also available and will be given preferential access
  • Please get in contact to discuss these options further

Individual user

£100/per year

Up to 25 Users

£3,000/per year

Up to 50 users

£5,000/per year

51-200 Users

£7,000/per year

200+ Users

£10,000/per year