The most engaged corporate leaders know that there is a significant need to have a good company culture. This has led to a shift from transactional work culture to transformational culture, with organizations previously solely driven by profit, focusing on becoming companies led by purpose-driven employees. In business, you can only deal with what is in your control. The economy and market conditions are not constant, and the only factor that can be controlled in human resources. Companies need to leverage this human capital because people are the hearts of organizations. People must internally drive organizations to transform into a transformed workforce rather than solely by bottom lines. This is why organizational transformations need to focus on changing the people by investing in them rather than just the organizational structures.
Related: 10 characteristics of transformational leadership
Desired organizational cultures are frequently influenced not just by leadership actions but also by the performance of their front-line workers. This is why a transformative business culture significantly impacts a businesss capacity to attract and retain personnel, meet operational goals, and respond to market needs.
A transformational culture is an influential workplace culture that identifies critical factors such as staff empowerment and ongoing practice, and self-knowledge development. It is a culture comprised of employees who have a clear sense of purpose, can freely communicate, challenge and support one another, accept responsibility for innovation and development, and think critically about issues as they encounter them daily (Manley, 2008). However, attempting to transform company culture without also having a transformational leadership style will fail.
Having a transformational culture ensures that goals are integrated with the mission and quantified, allowing for benchmarking. It also leads to realistic objectives, which are based on feedback from employees. It also influences the commitment levels of the employees.
Related: 20 Examples Of Transformational Leaders
When embarking on a transformational journey, there are four major areas to consider:
1. Committed employees
Advertisment
Throughout any transformational process, the organization must recognize that people drive change. Highly committed employees result in better business performance, higher profitability, improved productivity, and good workplace culture.
The degree to which an employee develops an attachment and feels allegiance to their employer is referred to as organizational commitment. It is arguably the most critical factor in gaining a competitive advantage and ensuring that the organization is working as effectively and efficiently as possible.
2. The culture
Culture in an organization can be likened to the personality of an individual. It is the sum of all behaviors within the company. Because of this, organizations must be conscious and deliberate of the attitudes, behaviors, and guiding principles it portrays as this becomes its culture. The organizations culture is what holds it together. A strong culture can lead to increased trust and cooperation, fewer disagreements, and more efficient decision-making.
3. Performance increase
The goal of any organization is to make a profit or reduce costs and have a high return on investment. When employees are engaged and strong culture, increased output and productivity come at a low cost. Leaders must be skilled at ensuring they provide the workforce with positive motivation to achieve greater productivity.
4. New product innovation
Employees want to make a long-term impact in their organizations. Allowing them to share and implement their ideas is the best way to accomplish this. In addition, giving them the tools and resources they need to be innovative will help them perform better.
Conclusion
Successful transformational changes are characterized by purpose-driven, solution-focused, service-oriented, committed employees supported by a strong culture.
Fadzai Danha is a consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd a management and human resources consulting firm. Phone +263 242 481946-48/481950 or email: fadzai@ipcconsultants.com or visit our website at www.ipcconsultants.com