When you are attuned to what it takes to change workplace culture, it’s hard not to notice when organisations are getting it right (or wrong).
Several things have caught my eye since Labour won the election, each of them a symbol of the cultural change Sir Keir Starmer intends to bring to government and his apparent desire to do this as quickly as possible.
Knowing that he has led a deliberate, planned reform of the Party since he became its leader in 2020, I imagine that these early actions were carefully chosen to send a clear message of how ‘things will be done around here’.
Saturday Cabinet Meeting
The decision to hold the first cabinet meeting on a Saturday, immediately after the election result, symbolises a desire to return politics to service and get things done.
First press conference
Holding a press conference immediately after the cabinet meeting, with no early leaks of information or privileged access to selected journalists, symbolises an intent to make government decision-making more transparent.
Spotlight on Angela Rayner
Arguably the level of press attention given to the Deputy Prime Minister has been led by the media rather than a deliberate choice by Sir Keir. But I suspect this was at the very least encouraged and supported as a symbol of the greater diversity and inclusivity in power.
Wes Streeting’s first visit
As the Health Secretary said himself:
“My first visit as health secretary was to a GP practice because when we said we want to shift the focus of the NHS out of hospitals and into the community, we meant it.
This is in contrast to the usual first visit to Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital across the river from Westminster.
How can you use symbolic actions to speed up culture change?
There’s always a risk that symbolic actions such as these are just gimmicks and don’t lead to lasting changes in mindset and behaviour. Worst still, they become empty gestures and breed cynicism if day-to-day ways of working stay stuck in the past.
Find out the perceived ‘sacred cows’ in the culture
But a culture change plan with integrity, deliberately designed to bring about lasting change, can benefit hugely from some selective symbolic actions to speed up a shift in mindset and strengthen belief that change is possible.
- Establish clear outcomes
Facilitate the Executive Team to clarify what they want to achieve from a change in culture. Consider the benefits from all perspectives. For example, customer, employee, community, risk and commercial.
- Prioritise the shifts
Run a good quality culture audit to fully understand the culture you have now (including the good traits to preserve, as well as those that need to change). Compare this to the culture you want to create and articulate the priority shifts needed in mindset and/or behaviour. For example:
From “it isn’t safe to challenge” ~ To “different perspectives are valued”
From teams working in siloes ~ To collaborative multi-skilled teams
- Gather insight from employees and stakeholders
Once you’re clear on the priority shifts you want to make, use employee representative groups or similar, to explore what actions or changes would symbolise each of these shifts taking place. Find out the perceived ‘sacred cows’ in the culture – these are often an indication of a powerful change that could signal how seriously culture is being taken.
It’s often said that it takes 18 months or longer to change culture.
Remember you may need to symbolise some good aspects of the culture not changing, to allay fears of ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’.
- Follow-through!
Symbolic changes only work if they are genuine signs of a broader change in culture, led decisively and cohesively by the leadership team. Done well, culture change is owned by everyone across the organisation but there’s no getting away from the fact it needs to be role-modelled from ‘the top’.
It’s often said that it takes 18 months or longer to change culture. And yet we’ve all worked in organisations or teams where a change in leader has brought widespread change to our priorities, our mindset and our behaviours, almost overnight.
Let’s hope Sir Keir’s understanding of how to bring a new culture to government extends beyond symbolic actions and into embedding his values into every aspect of the ‘system’.
The benefits will be widespread – from those who work in government, to those who benefit from a well-run organisation in service of the country.
Culture experts Pecan Partnership can help you leverage symbolic changes to enhance your organisation’s culture. Learn more about how this is supported within Pecan’s ‘Embedding plan’ service here.
