Real Life Strategies For Changing Your Company’s Culture That Work

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 at 10:55 am

It can be difficult to change the culture of an entire organization, especially if it is large and spread out. To find out what works, you can always look to the success stories of organizations that have gone before you. Adventist Midwest Health is just such a success story.

With over 5,000 on the go health care workers engaged in numerous hospital, outpatient and support facilities, the first step for Adventist was to find manageble, definable steps that the entire staff could discuss and implement.

A major goal was to correct patient’s and patient’s family’s opinion regarding the quality of care they were receiving. While Adventist was committed to providing quality care, the staff was often so engaged in the task at hand that they appeared flustered and non-communicative to those they encountered. While this was not correct, patients often expressed concern over the health care quality they were receiving as a result.

In order to capture the trust of the patients and their families, Adventist set out to become a more attentive staff dedicated to gracious interchange among those they encountered. While it might have been tempting to simply direct the employees to “be more polite,” Adventist saw the value in identifying straightforward actions that would help achieve the goal.

Consultants from the Studer Group helped the leaders of Adventist to implement the 10/5 Rule. They trained staff to make eye contact when approaching anyone (patients, coworkers and vendors) in the hallway within ten feet and to say “hello” at five feet.

The result was a benchmark everyone shared and a name to identify it by. The employees would check each other on whether or not they were following the rule and kept each other accountable. While some employees acknowledge that it can be annoying to be “called on it” when they forget to say hello, the rule has helped to create a friendlier environment.

The 10/5 rule has become deeply embedded in Adventist’s culture. After about a month, patients and employees alike started giving positive feedback about how things seemed different and a better place to be.

Lessons Learned

Adventist’s experience with the 10/5 rule brings up several points regarding change and influence.

1. Make change concrete.

According to the book, Influencer, it is important for leaders who want to effect change to identify vital behaviors. These behaviors are the initial key actions that the members of the organization must achieve in order to lead to other changes. In this example, the vital behavior was looking up and acknowledging one another. While this action didn’t change the culture in and of itself, it did create a ripple effect that resulted in other positive changes within the organization.

2. Messages should be “sticky”.

In their book, Made to Stick, researchers (and brothers) Chip and Dan Heath argue that an idea needs to be “sticky” enough for people to first understand it and then communicate it to others in order for it to spread. The 10/5 rule adopted by Adventist was just such an idea in that it was easy, tangible, creative and easy to remember.

3. Make it a priority for all members of the organization to share accountability.

Finally, the accountability factor was critical to the successful outcome of Adventist’s campaign. Employees throughout the organization were asked to hold each other accountable for the effective use of the 10/5 rule. This involved the entire staff in the success of the campaign.

Because it is so indefinite, organizational culture is difficult to define. Adventist’s experience teaches us that by changing specific, concrete behaviors, the culture of the organization will most likely also change as a result.

Vinnie Garufi is the Director of Organization and Leadership Development for Adventist Midwest Health. Wendy Mack is a consultant, speaker, and author who specializes in leading and communicating change. For more articles and resources on mobilizing energy for change, visit www.WendyMack.com.

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