By Richard Thompson, Co-Founder & Director of Odyssey Consulting Ltd
If you were building a house, you’d probably start by engaging an architect. Ideally a good one. That way, you can ensure the end product is well-built, on solid foundations fit for purpose and will last for years to come.
Workplace culture should be no different. Workplaces also need architects to craft healthy cultures that are well-built, on solid foundations, fit for purpose and will last for years to come. That’s how organisations will get the highest performance, the best retention rates and the least amount of risk.
Architects (of the building variety!) have years of training before they are let lose on the job. Leaders rarely have that luxury and are often thrown into leadership roles without the requisite learning and development to upskill them as culture architects. And that’s a mistake – organisations should be taking leadership development very seriously, investing in bespoke leadership development programmes that are tailored to their specific needs.
By its very nature, workplace culture is complex, nuanced and can be difficult to navigate. Leaders need to have the skills, knowledge and experience to handle tricky issues in order to set the tone and continually drive workplace culture forward. It’s also a never-ending job – culture shifts and changes like sand and leaders need to evolve and move with the times.
Off-the-shelf or one-off training interventions can be helpful but tend to be more educational in nature. To truly develop leaders into culture architects requires a more transformational approach that is delivered consistently over a period of time. Here’s how you can achieve that:
· Be intentional about creating a strategic goal for your leadership development programme – what are you hoping to achieve?;
· Create multiple touchpoints – workshops, 1:1 coaching, group coaching and self led-learning;
· Design content off the back of research – use your employee voice to understand where the skills and behavioural gaps are;
· Allow time for the learning to bed-in – learning touchpoints should be interspersed to allow time for reflection and practice;
· Create community learning spaces – cohorts should be encouraged to continue the conversation;
· Have an eye on return on investment – how will impact be measured to understand what comes next.
As we move towards 2025, it is a good time for employers to reflect on the culture they currently have, the culture they aspire to create and to think about how they can nurture and develop their leaders to become true culture architects.
If you would like to discuss how Odyssey Consulting Ltd can help your leaders to become culture architects, please contact Richard Thompson via email richard@odyssey-consulting.co.uk or head to odyssey-consulting.co.uk to find out more.
