Does your culture support your point of difference?

In a couple of previous blogs, we discussed the business point of difference and how we can recruit to it, implement it into our systems and procedures and endorse it into in the day-to-day. In this blog, I wanted to continue and explore how the culture of the business is paramount to delivering on the business point of difference.

Businesses that are implementing change come across a constant battle to address the synergy of all the moving parts. When the company first established its systems and processes, it may not have been entirely aware of the synergy between the mission vision & values, point of difference, policy and procedures, position description and key performance indicators. As the business starts to adopt these new concepts, that drive a high-performance culture, it means going back and retrofitting new initiatives into old systems and processes.

Change comes easily to some but not to others so when it comes to introducing new initiatives into the team you need to consider how this affects the team dynamics. For a small percentage of the group, change is intrusive and upsetting. These people are more comfortable with routine and security and may find you have a divided in the team. This divide is neither good nor bad nor is it a poor reflection on you as a leader or them as a team member; however, it does need to be addressed.

Changing your systems and processes inside the business usually means you have shifted focus and are choosing to take a slightly different path to the one you were previously on. This new path will change the culture of your business. In many companies, this often means defining your culture from something that may have been broader, to something more defined to deliver on the vision or point of difference.

Let’s look at the point of difference example we addressed in a previous post. “Maximize the return for every investor.” To do this we have implemented a process to renew leases at 60 days before lease expiry, so we have plenty of time to market the property should the tenant wish to vacate, to minimize loss of rent to the owner. If the business previously allowed the property to fall vacant before marketing it, you may have significant pushback from the leasing team, as renting a property with a tenant is much harder than one without. While some of these team members may come around with reason, some will not. It is almost impossible to implement new processes with the endorsement from the team.

When a business pivots to implement change, it is essential that the team can remain dynamic and pivot with it. It needs to realign, culturally, with the new direction. You will find those that don’t wish to conform to the new vision will leave, and that is fine. You may find some need to be pushed, and that is also fine. This departure is no reflection on the individual's ability to do the job, they merely no longer support the vision of the business and should be encouraged to seek a business more compatible with them and what they believe.