COACHING FORORGANIZATIONALCHANGE 187
us to deliver conclusive results. Where there are superior HR practices,
there is higher shareholder value. Those HR practices are grouped into five
categories: recruiting and retention excellence; total rewards and accounta-
bility; a collegial, f lexible workplace; communications integrity; and focused
HR service technologies. By properly implementing them, organizations can
help bring about change and improve their bottom line.
The 2002 follow-up HCI study took the data one step further, showing
that superior HR practices are not only correlated with improved financial
returns, but are, in fact, a leading indicatorof increased shareholder value.
We analyzed the correlation between 1999 HCI scores and 2001 financial
performance (and then, conversely, the correlation between 1999 financial
outcomes and 2001 HCI scores) and found that effective human capital prac-
tices drive business outcomes more than business outcomes lead to good HR
practices.
Another important tool I use from the HCI research is the more counterin-
tuitive finding—namely, that some complex, process-driven programs don’t
reap their intended results. For instance, 360-degree feedback—once consid-
ered a revolutionary way to communicate with employees and affect change—
can actually lead to a decrease in financial value if it’s not aligned with
strategy and executed properly. Other practices, such as developmental train-
ing and implementing HR technologies with soft goals, should also be imple-
mented with great care.
I work with clients every day to identify specific actions that organiza-
tions can take to affect desired culture change—and then help them under-
stand and implement those actions. It’s often difficult. The best leaders come
to understand that corporate culture (the collective normative behavior, val-
ues, expectations, and attitudes of an organization’s people) develops and
maintains itself as a direct result of an organization’s leadership, policies,
practices, systems, structures, and staffing. They realize that culture can be
changed only by altering these factors.
To initiate a culture change, I encourage clients to consider three elements:
organizational consequences; expectations, goals and attitudes; and employee
behavior. Organizational behavior is met by organizational consequences (such
as feedback /recognition, pay, and career opportunity). These consequences
set up certain expectations, which then lead to the next set of behaviors. But
culture is tenacious. Changing one person’s behavior is hard enough—altering
the entire culture within an organization requires multiple interventions.
First and foremost, leadership must display the desired change in the val-
ues and management style of the organization. There also needs to be fre-
quent, clear communication about the target culture. The organization must