Read Our Blog On Culture Change

Boeing has announced a US$6.2 billion quarterly loss, arguably one of the few warning signs a traditional American corporation cannot ignore. But, in truth, other signs have been there for a long time if they only cared to consider them. Kelly Ortberg, who took over as CEO in August, has called for a fundamental culture change at Boeing: "We need to identify, understand, and fix the root causes".

Marketeers consistently talk about consistency. That’s because it’s important. Externally it’s clearly important that brands are presented in a consistent way across their ID and how they are communicated through an often eclectic mix of channels. But it’s equally important that all employees and others who represent the brand are also consistent in the way that they treat customers. And that’s not always easily achieved.

Diversity is quite the buzzword. In budget season 2025, meaningful business plans will require attention to the topic. There is value in diversity beyond ensuring that gender, ethnicity, different ability, or even sexual orientation quotas feature in the Human Resource strategy. There is a clear business justification that makes diversity and inclusion of different opinions essential. Two justifications, in fact.

Have you ever contacted a Customer Service department as a customer of one of the many companies that claim to provide a service? If you have, I’m willing to bet that one of the first messages you received was, “We apologise as we are very busy at the moment?”. “Busy doing what?” But your work is the customer, and your daily duty is only to sort out the problems your company has caused, so you must be able to do that.

Current data from Owl Lab’s ongoing study on working patterns indicates that 25% of workers are still opting for remote work. Hybrid working setups have increased by over 15%. Traditional office work has decreased by almost 25%. When a new employee joins any organisation these variations in working patterns lead to a key question. How can they all be successfully inducted in ways that accommodate these variations?

When a hotel delivers an outstanding guest experience it’s often a measure of how well the best aspects of organisational culture and national culture have been fused. I recently encountered an excellent example of this happening in the new Hyatt Regency in Nairobi’s Westlands district. What sets Hyatt Regency apart is the genuine intent of staff to welcome and care for guests. Staff were happy, solicitous and proactive.