Culture Change

Many of us who have had breakfast in hotels are familiar with a device known as a conveyor toaster. Wherever bread is served, there’s usually one of these standing by, ready to toast bread slices to a soft golden hue in a nonstop sequence to the delight of sleepy guests. Except it never does. For me it provides a valuable analogy for the approach to organisational culture that prevails in many businesses.

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".

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.

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.

Culture change is mainly about identifying behaviours that positively impact the business and getting more employees to demonstrate them. It can’t be mandated, so it has to be persuaded. Creating a popular movement that is pro-change. In most companies, employees are surprised to be given the chance to contribute in this way. This creates an opening in which the bravest can step forward to make change happen.

Poor customer service is a plague that afflicts many companies, frustrating customers and hurting the bottom line. While it's tempting to blame inadequate policies and procedures, the real culprit is usually a weak corporate culture. Policies and procedures are important guardrails, but they shouldn't handcuff employees. The best companies give frontline staff the autonomy to resolve issues creatively.