How Organisational Culture Can Make Or Break Your Change Program with Prof Karl Treacher

What’s the employee engagement level like in your organisation?  

Have you ever thought about the relationship between your organisational culture, employee engagement and how that impacts the success of your transformation programs or change initiatives?

Today, my guest is Professor Karl Treacher.  Karl is Group CEO of The Brand Institute, HEDx and The Culture Institute of Australia.  He has more than 20 years experience delivering strategic advice to tier-one brands, boards and business leaders.

The Culture Institute of Australia is an insights, education and consulting firm that helps organisations measure, understand and shape culture for the post-covid, digital age.

Karl shared a flood of evidence-based, jaw-dropping insights in our conversation. This is an episode you don’t want to miss!



Listen in to discover:

  • Where the responsibility for culture should sit in your organisation

  • How culture is different from employee engagement

  • Whether or not remote work breaks organisational culture

  • If your team need to be friends with each other to improve organisational performance

  • What leaders that are getting it right are focusing on now 

We dive into all this and more in today’s episode.  This is a value packed conversation.  Get ready to take notes.

Listen in now.


TOPICS DISCUSSED AND WHERE TO FIND THEM:

[1:45]: New ways of working always mean new ways of thinking. Culture has an impact on strategy, engagement and performance. 

[3:35]: There are many definitions of culture. Tacit assumption (Edgar Schein) is not accessible. Karl settles on the definition that culture is a set of expectations about what it means to be a citizen in that organisation. 

[5:08]: To have a Chief People and Culture officer sends the message that culture is owned by that department. In reality, leaders shape culture with every interaction they have. 

[6:45]: Leadership teams, boards and executives are needing to look at culture more because of the war on talent and the fact that their performance is being hindered by that. 

[8:25]: Without employee engagement, you do not have change success. Culture drives engagement. A feeling of belonging and respect has a profound effect on how engaged a person is.

[10:30]: In government, Management and leadership are somewhat old school and the mandate approach will never work. What Karl sees working is when organisations accommodate their employee's needs - Google has done a great job of this for example. 

[12:30]: The leadership role in the greatest teams begins with empathy and generosity. We want to talk more and listen less, but this needs to flip. Meditation, wellness, and introspection are so important and the digital age has made this need even more apparent. 

[15:50]: Top Gun taught us that we have to be Alpha and this is what we need to address. You don’t have to be in command the whole time. The top performers have partners and collaborative relationships and this can be done really well in the public sector even within their limitations. 

[17:40]: Remote work can greatly impact culture because climate is a component of culture. Having everyone in the office is great for collaborative work and strategic, focused work is great at home if they have a quiet space available. 

[19:20]: Government has people in the office for 3 days a week but not necessarily the whole team at once, which Karl says is a flawed model. To cultivate culture, people have to be there on the same days. 

[20:45]: A “good news” culture can come from people being too chummy or people not knowing each other well enough so they don’t tell the truth. Fun and social connectivity are the fuel for innovation but not necessarily close friendships. 

[22:25]: We’re coming out of an era when everyone was focused on process and efficiency but now we are seeking energetic, engaged and innovative communities.  

[23:45]: Where to find Karl and how to connect with him

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Book mentioned: The Kindness Revolution by High Mackay

CONNECT WITH PROF KARL TREACHER:

Download the Australian Workplace Culture Guidelines here

Website: https://cultureinstitute.com.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/treacher/

Podcast: Shape Shifter

CONNECT WITH ME:

Website: https://www.everchange.com.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ever-change-and-communication

Kate Byrne