CULTURE DEVELOPMENT

Our Culture Solutions

Our team of experienced culture consultants can help you to implement long-lasting changes, to transform your company culture and support your business goals. Rather than focussing on quick fixes, we provide organisational leaders the tools to align their cultural development programme with their business strategy, so that each plan supports the success of the other.

Read on to find out how a robust and impactful company culture development strategy can transform your organisation’s day-to-day operations, and provide benefits for staff members at every level.

What is company culture development?

Company culture development is the process of making significant changes to improve the culture of an organisation. Culture development requires a long-term commitment to creating spaces for individuals, where they feel comfortable, supportive, and are given the best tools to complete tasks relating to their role.

Culture development is often spoken to in relation to workplaces, but can equally apply to non-profit organisations, academic institutions, sports teams, or any group that is working towards a common goal. Having a positive and supportive culture has been shown to improve productivity, staff retention, and achievement of overall business goals.

If you don’t have a plan in place to measure, improve and develop your company culture, you may be missing out on a number of opportunities to promote business growth, and satisfaction within your team.

Our Corporate Culture Development Solutions

At Walking the Talk, we take a holistic approach to our culture consultancy services. This means that we take into account every aspect of your organisation or business, to build a full and complete picture upon which to base our strategy.

With over 30 years of experience, our consultants are experts in our culture transformation methodology. Every organisation is different, but our approach often combines:

Our Culture Insights Survey (to gain insights from both team members and leaders)
Target Culture Mapping (identifying challenges and opportunities within your organisation)
People Manager Activation (delivering training to turn leaders within your business, into effective cultural influencers who lead by example)

These are just some culture development solutions that we can use to help you put together a cultural development plan which is tailored to your organisation. The plan we create will be made up of significant input from within your organisation, and include initiatives and actions which, when taken, will result in an improved company culture and better performance at all levels.

To learn more about our highly effective approach to designing and implementing cultural change, you can read more on our Culture Approach page.

Improving culture in the workplace

Although there are many methods to improving culture in the workplace, we feel that sustained and positive cultural change is best achieved when the following steps are taken.

1. Measuring and assessing the existing culture.

Using tools such as surveys, focus groups and one-on-one conversations, we can help you to build an accurate picture of what the current culture is, and where improvements can be made. Determining the starting point is an important step in the cultural development journey which cannot be overlooked.

2. Gaining input from leaders and employees at every level.

Candid conversations and feedback from all employees are essential to forming your strategy, and identifying issues that may only be affecting certain areas of the business. When communication within an organisation is poor, and you have too many teams working in silos, it is difficult for issues to be flagged.

Requesting input from all areas of the business will help to ensure your company culture development strategy is comprehensive, and addresses all the areas that it needs to before it’s put into practice.

3. Identifying opportunities, as well as challenges within the company.

When assessing your current culture and developing your strategy, it’s important not to focus only on areas for improvement. We encourage leaders to look at what’s working well, so that an organisation can work to its strengths, as well as acknowledging where there may be room for refinement.

4. Building a strategy composed of both long and short-term initiatives.

A truly effective cultural development strategy should include changes which, once implemented, will deliver positive results well into the future. By setting long-term goals, as well as short-term goals for your company culture, you can demonstrate your commitment to improving the culture in the workplace, and inspire your employees with a positive shared vision for your organisation.

Why is company culture development important?

The benefits of a company culture development strategy are wide-ranging, but here are just a few advantages of including this in your overall business strategy.

Organisations with a positive working culture see less turnover from employees or volunteers leaving, and experience less disruption to operations, and are able to reduce resources spent on recruitment as a result.
Those working in an environment with a good working culture are more likely to share ideas and knowledge with one another, leading to improved innovation and overall satisfaction at work.
Cultural improvements can lead to better relationships between co-workers, as well as people managers and their teams. This facilitates exceptional communication, collaboration, and helps individuals feel that they are a part of the organisation and have a greater personal stake in achieving its goals.

A positive working culture, with initiatives in place to develop it even further, can have a positive impact financially, operationally, and at a personal level — with greater individual satisfaction contributing to more productive and effective teams.

Why should I use Walking the Talk culture solutions?

As of 2023, our culture development strategies and range of other cultural consultancy solutions have supported over 200 organisations across the world in transforming their culture, impacting thousands of individuals who have benefitted from our services.

With over 30 years of experience, and some of the most accomplished corporate culture experts in the consulting industry, we’re passionate about helping our clients to achieve great results, with effects that will last a lifetime. With field experience in a range of sectors, from IT Services to Finance, you can read some of our Case Studies to learn more about what we do. Or, you can browse Testimonials from our existing customers, who have experienced outstanding results from our solutions.

If you’d like to speak to a member of our team to learn more about what Walking the Talk can do for you, you can make an enquiry via our Contact Us page. One of our consultants will be in touch shortly, to discuss your business and cultural goals, and how we can use our consultancy services to help you achieve them.

Do you have a question on culture? Contact us.

Company Culture Development: Frequently Asked Questions

What are the top 3 considerations for company culture development?
When it comes to transforming and developing a company’s culture, there are several factors that must be taken into account. However, we believe that the top 3 considerations for company culture development are:
1. The current culture. By understanding the present situation at your company, including the organisational processes, how communication is managed, and the experiences of current team members, we are able to determine the ‘starting point’ and what changes must be made to achieve your cultural goals.
2. Challenges and opportunities. By assessing the existing culture, we can identify points of friction, and things which may be negatively impacting the overall culture of the organisation. We can also evaluate what is working well, and build on this further, taking a two-pronged approach to resolve cultural issues, and build on existing successes.
3. Strategy, goals, and initiatives. A company culture development plan should be specific, and not based on vague intentions to do better. We assist leaders in creating a time-bound strategy, built up of actionable steps, which will drive the organisation to see tangible cultural improvements. Our cultural expertise is based in theory, but we are experts at putting it into practice.

What are the indicators of a positive company culture?
Positive company culture can sometimes be tricky to measure quantitatively, but you will certainly know it when you feel it. Some signs of a healthy company culture may be:
- High levels of employee satisfaction, leading to a lower rate of turnover and fewer absences.
- Open and honest communication between employees and people managers, based on trust and managers providing robust support.
- Sharing of creative and innovative ideas, where individuals are engaged with the organisation’s goals and feel secure in sharing their knowledge and suggestions.
- Accountability at all levels, and particularly from leaders who will lead by example and accept constructive feedback from their teams.
- Resources are allocated appropriately, meaning that every team member has the tools and support that they need to fulfil their roles, and even go above and beyond.

How can company culture be maintained?
Taking steps to improve your company culture can be transformative, but it’s vital that positive changes are maintained over time, long after your initial culture assessment. We recommend performing regular cultural check-ins, by surveying organisation members, reviewing and renewing your cultural development strategy, and understanding that building a positive company culture is an ongoing process.

Demonstrating commitment to a cultural development strategy, and continuing to look for ways to improve once your initial goals have been met, will benefit both your team members and your organisation as a whole.