Improving Maintenance and Reliability Through Cultural Change. Stephen Thomas G.
which the eight elements of change impact the four elements of culture. I have placed an “M” in each spot of the matrix where one the eight elements of change has a major impact on one of the four elements of culture and a small “m” where the impact is not a strong.
Let us look at one example so that I can demonstrate this relationship. Although this chapter only provides this one example, Chapters 9 through 16 discuss each of the elements in detail and show not only how they impact organizational culture, but also what you need to do with each so that you can effect positive change in your culture.
In Figure 2-5, the matrix indicates that leadership has impact on values, rites and rituals, and role models, three of the four elements of culture. Suppose that the plant in our example wants to implement a comprehensive reliability program. From a leadership point of reference, it needs to determine how to influence the culture and more specifically the three components in question if it wants the change to be successful. This can be accomplished by altering the present value system to one that reflects the change the plant wants to implement. Furthermore, the plant needs to put people into key positions that are reliability focused. These role models provide the plant personnel with visible day-to-day work performance targeting reliability as opposed to whatever model was in place prior to the change. Finally, the work processes or rituals need to be changed to reflect the reliability initiative. This can’t be a one-time event, but rather a radical overhaul of the old process. The change of the rituals must be accompanied by a new set of reinforcing rites. In this fashion, we have addressed one of the eight elements and shown how, in order to refocus our work culture, leadership needs to be applied to three of the cultural elements.
If we don’t apply the elements, what is likely to happen? In our example, the value system will remain unchanged, the processes or rituals that are how business is conducted on a day-to-day basis will remain unchanged, and quite possibly the people who remain in leadership positions will be those who are role models for the old processes, not the new.
This analysis can be carried out for each of the eight elements of change. The value that this delivers is twofold. First, it helps you think about the effort as it relates to the eight elements of change. This forces you to focus on the soft skills required by the change process. Second, it allows you to look at the eight elements of change in the context of the four elements of culture. By addressing change at this level, you do more than simply change the work process. You also change the culture that supports it, thereby delivering sustainable long-lasting change to your company.
Vision and the Goal Achievement Model
3.1 The Need for Vision and Goals
It is said that “if you don’t know where you are going, then you will never know when you have arrived.” I would like to modify this statement and add an additional thought to focus it on the topic of change management. “As a leader within your company, if you don’t know where you are going, then you will never be able to put in place processes that will get you there and you never will arrive.” This statement makes two important points. First you need a vision to define where you want your firm to go. Second, you need a plan that will enable you to get from where you are to where you want to be.
Imagine a company that has in place a very reactive maintenance work culture. Its vision of maintenance is to arrive at work in the morning, find out what broke down over night, and then react by making repairs to the equipment and returning it to service as soon as possible. This firm’s idea of a vision is to have a day when production isn’t complaining about equipment in need of repair, how long it takes maintenance to make repairs, or the sub-standard quality of the repairs.
Now suppose you arrive on the scene as the new maintenance manager. You have recently been hired to bring to the company the techniques you used at your former firm which changed its extremely reactive work culture to one that was reliability focused. In addition, you helped to improve production by reducing breakdowns, and you provided effective and efficient maintenance services by addressing predictive and preventive maintenance strategies vs. the “break it – fix it” mode of reactive maintenance.
As the new maintenance leader, you have three tasks at hand. The first step is to show the organization that what it is doing, while getting breakdowns repaired and production back on line, is not an effective or efficient solution to the maintenance problem. This effort is not simple and is entirely focused on changing the work culture. I will hold off on this discussion for now because it is the topic that is addressed in the balance of this book. Instead, what I want to discuss are the other two tasks: creating the vision of the future (step 2) and providing the plant with the next steps to achieve it (step3). Figure 3-1 shows the three steps you need to take if you want to get over the hurdle blocking you from successfully changing the work culture.
Figure 3-1 The change hurdle
Many reading this book have set visions within their companies. I know I have on numerous occasions and with numerous managers. Before I define what I believe a vision is, let me tell you what I believe a vision is not:
It is not a long winded treatise
It is not a statement that is difficult to understand
It is not a tool reserved only for senior managers
It is not something fixed in stone never to be changed
Instead, a vision is a clear picture of something that the firm wants to achieve. It is short and to the point, understandable by everyone. The easiest way to tell if a vision is incorrect is to ask a cross section of the employees to state it. If everyone can paint the same picture, then the vision has been set and communicated correctly. Otherwise the process of setting the vision needs to be reworked.
In Successfully Managing Change in Organizations: A Users Guide, I defined vision as follows;
Vision is an idealized picture of a future state, one that is integrated into the organization’s culture. It provides a stretch, yet it is achievable over an extended time period with a great deal of work and collective focus by the entire organization. Because it continually evolves, it is never fully achieved.
Let’s look more closely at this definition and discuss the component parts.
An Idealized Picture of a Future State =
Vision should be something that people can clearly see. When asked, all employees in the company should be able to describe the same end state – what their firm will look like when the vision is achieved. They may use different words, but the picture they paint needs to be the same.
Integrated into the Organization’s Culture =
The vision must be difficult, if not impossible, to alter so that personnel changes can not easily destroy what the collective members have created. Too often the vision is not sufficiently integrated into the company culture. In these cases, a change in management can easily alter or destroy what everyone has worked to achieve.
A Stretch, Yet Achievable
The vision needs to be something that the firm can achieve, but not easily. If it is too difficult, people will become frustrated and give up. If it is not a stretch, then it will