Considering a financial restructuring as way to turnaround the business? The question is whether spinning off unproductive business units and refocusing on key growth areas is enough, or whether more fundamental, systemic culture change is required.

“Tomorrow’s sources of advantage aren’t like yesterday’s. They’re not built on being able to exploit, dominate, or coerce more strongly than others…they’re about the a true advantage –one that accrues not just to the corporation at the expense of people, society, or the environment; but one that accrues to all.”  Umair Haque

True turnarounds require more than a few bold strokes of restructuring or cost-cutting. Turnarounds require a long march of culture change to overcome an accumulation of bad habits and a fundamental rethinking of what makes up competitive advantage.

The very sources of advantage that worked in the industrial era do not work in our hyper-connected and hyper-complex new world. What’s required is a fundamental new way of thinking and new priorities.

Based on these new economy fundamentals, a successful turnaround requires a culture that can adapt to these changing realities. Here are examples of values and behaviors that result in adaptability:

• Passion and energy. A value of honesty where employees can speak freely without reprisal and challenge the status quo in the spirit of moving forward.
• Individuals who team. A value of innovation where employees collaborate to gain the advantage of diverse inputs.
• Think like owners. A value of accountability to the vision, mission and core values of the company that enable all employees to make good decisions.
• External focus. A value of relationship, and customer and community intimacy.

Companies that sustain have created cultures that help their employees think and behave differently and understand the new and future economic forces.

cii employs our Culture Alignment Framework^tm to create management and workforce alignment around a shared set of core values, building the foundation for high-performance thinking and strong work habits. Implementing our framework provides clarity about issues that are keeping outdated habits and attitudes in place. We measure the level of entropy and level of cultural values alignment, which serve to influence the design of a cultural change initiative. This also provides a way to measure progress over time.

Ours is a collaborative approach that engages the leadership team and stakeholders in a process to redesign the culture and key business processes so they become a foundation for competitive advantage. The process itself acts as a powerful catalyst to gain commitment and buy-in to a more productive way of doing things.

Using our Culture Alignment Framework^tm, leaders can turn around unproductive organizational mindsets and habits and unify their organization via an adaptable culture that delivers a sustainable, competitive advantage in the marketplace. This moves personal and organizational performance to the next level.

Learn more about Cultureii’s Programs for Accelerated Culture Transformation or Contact Us to discuss how we can assist your Turnaround effort.