Case Study: Culture15 Diagnosis and Definition
The Challenge/Context
With the arrival of a new CEO, recent private equity investment, and following a significant acquisition, our client (a world-leading digital health and engagement company) had experienced a lot of change and was looking to reimagine its future – evolving its strategy and business model for continued success and accelerated growth. As the organisation embarked on this journey, the Chief People Officer and CEO understood that getting the culture right would be central to successful realisation of the organisation’s vision as well as execution of its ambition. There was particular recognition that culture plays a critical role in achieving integration and value goals for M&A, which forms a key part of the company strategy, and that the COVID-19 pandemic is rewriting the future of culture in several ways, with remote working, increased flexible working practices, and competition for talent. They therefore wanted to manage their culture proactively and intentionally build the right culture to drive high performance.
The Approach
We first conducted an organisation-wide culture diagnostic using the Culture15 framework and platform, to create a baseline measure of current culture, show key behaviours in evidence as well as capabilities, and thereby understand the cultural starting point. We used our Culture15® diagnostic tool to segment diagnostic survey data by business unit, geography and department, and survey data was further supplemented by 1:1 interviews and virtual focus groups.
The Culture15® behavioural framework and tool was also used to define the target culture. Through a short survey with the leadership team, followed by a workshop, agreement was reached on the key ‘anchor’ behaviours that aligned with the organisation’s purpose and values and that were necessary for successful strategy execution. We also examined the culture gap (the difference between current and target culture in terms of particular behavioural characteristics) to identify priority areas of focus and anticipate challenges in the culture journey.
The Impact
The Culture15® survey results provided a clear, non-judgmental picture of the current behaviours/capabilities in evidence and the strengths to take forward, as well as challenges for the future posed by the current culture that were to be addressed. The associated qualitative analysis further provided a clear understanding of the factors driving these behaviours and culture. The results were a clear and actionable culture diagnostic, providing insight into the ‘what’ of the current culture as well as the ‘why’ underlying this culture.
Culture15® provided a shared understanding of the cultural path ahead, and an actionable ‘springboard’ for conversation and further culture development – the ‘culture gap’ evident after conducting a Culture15® Diagnosis of current culture and Definition of target culture provided the leadership team with a clear, actionable culture transformation path and some well-defined focus areas to develop certain capabilities, as well as insight into strengths in the culture to be nurtured and carried forward.
“Culture15 provided us with a shared vocabulary and understanding of culture, aligned with our strategy, and a clear, simple and powerful ‘hook’ off which to hang all of our multifarious cultural initiatives. Finally, we have a clear start- and end-point to our culture journey, and we will be able to track our progress towards our culture goals using the platform.”
CEO, Global Digital Health & Engagement Company
