discover » Building an aligned team of service providers
Most organizations use outside service providers, and the work they do will impact their client’s culture in some way. At Walking the Talk we want to support organizations to align their supplier’s work to the target culture. We are building a network of service providers who have been certified in the Walking the Talk methodology. We have picked the areas of expertise which we have found that most impact culture. The partners in our network are independent firms who work under their own brand name in their own area of expertise. This network has one feature which distinguishes them from most of their competitors. They understand how culture works, and how their work impacts culture.
When they are hired by an organization who is using the Walking the Talk methodology to manage their culture, these service providers are able to talk the same language, and align their work to the culture objectives. This saves the client a lot of heartache, and money, and accelerates the culture process.
Creating a consistent culture message >
Consultants, coaches and advisers can be a great asset to your culture efforts, and they can be a liability. Our experience has shown that depth of knowledge of the culture process in the internal team is the most important predictor of wise use of external resources.
Culture advisers >
A culture adviser has expertise in the actual process of designing and implementing the culture you need. They will sit alongside your culture planning process and coach you through the process of implementation.
Culture assessment tools >
A culture assessment tool enables you to assess your culture and measure process. It is vital for both diagnostic purposes and to demonstrate over time the return on investment in culture.
Leadership assessment tools >
A leadership assessment tool enables you to assess your leaders against the behavioral standards you have set within your target culture. This can provide the basis for future development, and in some cases for succession or reward (although these last two need careful handling).
Executive coaching >
Coaching helps leaders to align their behavior to that required in your target culture. A coach who is certified in the Walking the Talk methodology can work with executives to use symbols and systems to send the right culture messages, as well as becoming a role model through their own behavior.
Leadership training >
Leadership training can help leaders to align their behavior to that required in your target culture. Some training programs focus on developing key behaviors such as communication skills, and others work at developing the leader's values, mental models and self awareness (in the Walking the Talk methodology we call this 'working at the BE-level').
Internal communication >
The way you communicate your culture message has a big impact on its credibility. A culture process needs frequent communication through multiple media to build a new shared map for the future.
Linking internal and external brand >
Your people display your brand whenever they interact with the outside world. Your internal culture needs to align to your external brand. The positioning of these two together, as well as the opportunity to use one to reinforce the other is the domain of advertising and branding experts.
Recruitment >
You can use a recruitment strategy to bring in people who display the values, mind-sets and behaviors defined in your target culture. This can accelerate a change process as well as reinforcing cultural attributes which you want to preserve.
Talent management & HR process redesign >
You will need your HR processes - performance management, reward, career development, succession planning - to encourage the values, mind-sets and behaviors you have defined in your target culture. This will accelerate a change process as well as reinforcing cultural attributes which you want to preserve.
Business management process redesign >
You will need your business management processes - strategy development, operational planning, individual goal setting, budgeting, reporting, measurement - to encourage the values, mind-sets and behaviors you have defined in your target culture. This will accelerate a change process as well as reinforcing cultural attributes which you want to preserve.
Physical workspace design >
You can design the space in which your employees work in a way which encourages the behaviors in your target culture. Both the process used to come up with the design, and the finished product, send messages about what you really value.
