INSIGHT REPORT - My Personal Tactician...INSIGHT REPORT: Culture Technology page 7 This trend may reflect that fact that a large majority of respondents operated within peo-ple-focused

INSIGHT REPORT Culture & Technology. Does your culture help or hinder the ROI on technology?

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More than 64% of organisations have at least partially automated their business processes.

‘Human elements’, such as communication are becoming critical skills for organisations to cope with rapid change in the workplace. An organisation’s culture will influence if the ‘human elements’ support or derail technology implementations.

World Manager partnered with culture and communication specialists TACTICIAN to understand the cultures types of the organisations that use their platform to assist them in gaining greater ROI from technology.

World Manager brands are largely people-orientated Culture Types.

While people-focussed cultures can create greater affiliation internally, they are not renowned for their ability to drive achievement.

Unless a careful change plan is in place, people-orientated cultures run the risk of not seeing the ROI on implamentations.

To give their culture an edge, TACTICIAN recommend leaders invest time with their team to build Professional Intimacy, creating an environment where people can have honest and productive conversations.

INSIGHT SUMMARY

INSIGHT REPORT: Culture & Technology page 3

GAINING VALUE FROM TECHNOLOGY

For the last three decades, organisations have been heavily investing in new technology hoping to improve their operations and product delivery. Technology usage and depen-dency has increased across the board with more than 64% of organisations having at least partially automated their business processes1. Organisations must now look beyond simply investing, and focus on gaining value from technology to increase their ROI and gain a competitive edge.

Gary Valkenburg, founder and CEO of World Manager says “We see many businesses staying relevant by allocating an annual budget to technology. The aim is to be efficient and effective in day to day operations, with the outcome being a consistent messaging via an engaging user experience.”

World Manager has spent the last 11 years partnering with organisations to implement their world class communication, training and productivity platform – this includes launch-ing over 200 global brands, reaching people in over 55 countries.

“At World Manager, we see our role as more than simply providing a technology solution. It is also about partnering with our customers to ensure they’re receiving the full business benefit and ROI from the platform. We’re continually learning from our customers so we can provide ongoing VIP treatment.”

Wendy Donaldson, General Manager for World Manager Asia Pacific says “Technology should complement existing business practices and streamline operations. The organisa-tions we see getting the most benefit are the ones that spend time on the planning, and take into account the organisation’s existing operations and business culture.”

“The aim is to be efficient and effective in day to day operations, with the outcome

being a consistent messaging via an engaging user experience.”

- Gary Valkenburg -Founder and CEO of World Manager

1. APAC CIO Outlook Magazine, Top 25 HR Technology Solution Providers – 2017. Page 14, May 2017.


Deloitte made the observation in their 2017 Human Capital Trends survey, that “while tasks are being automated, the ‘essentially human’ aspects of work are becoming more important – skills such as empathy, communication, persuasion, personal service, problem solving, strategic decision are becoming more important than ever”2. Rod Andersen, Co-founder and Director at culture and communication specialist TACTICIAN, agrees that while the importance of these skills are an outcome of increased technology, they are also important when implementing and gaining value from technology. He added that “mastering these skills would help organisations to become more efficient, adaptive and successful in coping with the rapid change associated with new technology.”

“It’s important to understand, and take into account, the business’ culture as this will impact how the human elements will support or potentially derail technical implementation. For example, when it comes to communication, some organisations must work on making their communication style more honest and direct to minimise the risk of time being wasted and costs blowing out.”

Wendy added that “successful change management is a revolution and has been a major factor to the success of many implementations. The change plan needs to look, feel and sound like a part of the business. It must reflect the brand’s personality to enhance and leverage off current initiatives – the technology must compliment the business. This must be backed up by a structured resourced plan for ongoing engagement and improvements.”

2. Deloitte Consulting LLP, 2017 Human Capital Trends report, 2017.


TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATIONS

Bringing the ‘human’ into technical implementations

How we’re interacting with one another and getting things done is changing rapidly and workplaces need to be prepared. The shift from cloud to mobile; the explosion in analytics: and the emergence of video, social recruiting and wearables in the workplace - technology is undergoing one of the most disruptive periods it has seen in a decade3. In 2016/17 World Manager supported 2-3 organisations launch the platform each month, not only launching within a global best practice average of 10-12 weeks but achieving high engagement with the platform. Observing many different cultures and approaches to implementations, World Manager became interested in further understanding the role of business culture in technical implementation.

To better support the organisations that invested in their platform, World Manager partnered with culture and communication specialists TACTICIAN. By understanding the Culture Types that existed, they could support not only with technical aspects but also human aspects of implementation.

In April 2017, the TACTICIAN Culture Types survey was sent to 176 organisations that use the World Manager platform across Australia, Asia and the United States. This diagnostic was developed by TACTICIAN directors after 3 decades consulting to clients across many industries and not only identifies the dominant Culture Types but also provides insight into their strengths and potential ‘human’ risks.

3. Johnson, A. Editorial: Embracing Technology. APAC CIO Outlook Magazine (Page 6), May 2017.

The change plan must reflect the brand’s personality to enhance and leverage off current initiatives – the technology must

compliment the business.

- Wendy Donaldson -General Manager for

World Manager Asia Pacific


CULTURE TYPES

Collegiate: Value team work and positive interactions with their colleagues.

Congratulatory: Profile is important, and achievement openly discussed and rewarded.

Conventional: Value tradition and the importance of established processes and procedures.

Expressive: Value a fun and dynamic work environment and work-life balance.

Material: Focused on driving revenue and increasing shareholder return.

Nurturing: The well-being of others is a key driver, both in terms of their people and the community.

Rational: Value data, logic and people with significant technical expertise.

Prestige: Status and authority are the key motivators.

Steadfast: Focused on security and carrying low risk.

Visual: Focused on aesthetics, design and creativity.

People-focussed cultures are prevalent

Interestingly, the 3 dominant Culture Types that emerged from respondent organisations were all ‘people-focused’ and centred around the importance of relationships in one way or another.

36% of respondent organisations showed Collegiate as a dominant culture type characterised by a preference to work in teams and the need for positive interactions with their colleagues. 36% reported Nurturing as a dominant culture type due to a strong focus on the well-being of others – both their people and the community. While, 27% of organisations tended to be more expressive, needing a fun and dynamic work environment and the need for work-life balance.

36% 36% 27%

*21% OTHER

COLLEGIATE NURTURING EXPRESSIVE

The TACTICIAN Culture Types survey identifies which Culture Types exist within an organ-isation. There are 10 TACTICIAN Culture Types, each with different primary drivers that influence decision making, communication and the way things are done. No one culture type is better than another, however understanding your organisations’ culture type allows you to leverage its strengths and prevent potential roadblocks.


This trend may reflect that fact that a large majority of respondents operated within peo-ple-focused industries (such as retail and quick service restaurants), work in operational roles, or potentially the increasing emphasis organisations are placing on the human as-pects of work, such as communication.

Rod explained that “consistent with our experience in international cultural analysis, peo-ple focused cultures can create greater affiliation internally and with their clients. Howev-er, they are not renowned for their ability to drive achievement and in this regard ROI on implementations.”

There was a slight skew in culture type when looking at respondents’ industry groups. 54% of organisations in retail and fashion retail industries reported a Collegiate dominant culture type, while 57% of organisations in quick service retail (i.e. fast food) showed Ex-pressive as their dominant type.

People-oriented cultures

Strengths

People and customers feel like their interests are valued which is great news for brand loyalty.

There is a focus on feed-back growth and devel-opment, which can lead to people performing at their best.

Better solutions arise from taking on board people’s diverse back-grounds and experi-ence.

Watch points

People avoid having tough conversations for fear of damaging relationships or being thought poorly of for not respecting the impor-tance of relationships.

Decision making can by slowed by the need to seek input and reach consensus.

There is a resistance to change as relation-ship based cultures tend to toss the “un-comfortable” to the side to avoid damag-ing relationships.

“Consistent with our experience in international cultural analysis,

people focused cultures can create greater affiliation internally and with their clients. However, they are not renowned for their ability to drive

achievement and in this regard ROI on implementations.”

- Rod Andersen -Co-founder and Director of

TACTICIAN


LEVERAGING PEOPLE-ORIENTED CULTURES

It is natural to assume that relationship-based cultures would have a distinct advantage in a new world where the human aspects of work are the differentiator. And perhaps, organi-sations with people oriented types are more likely to find these as a priority on executives’ agendas. However, being an agenda item doesn’t make it effective without truly understanding how it plays out in your organisation and the potential derailers.

Rod has noticed over the last decade, “more organisations focussing on coaching, feed-back and communication. While this is the right step, most have tackled it in the wrong way. People have made the assumption you shouldn’t be direct or be very careful when having the tough conversations. As a result, people don’t develop, the pace of work slows down and relationships become a façade. People have gone ‘soft’ and we need to intro-duce a little tough love back into the work-place. This all impacts an organisation’s ability to maximise return on investment because the goal is to implement fast and effectively and have maximum number of people using the technology.”

ALL TALK, NO ACTION Despite an initial burst of enthusiasm, follow through can be an issue, particularly in Expressive cultures that are not typically focused and disciplined with execution.

COSTS BLOW OUT Due to the number of people involved (too many stakeholders and decision makers) implementation periods can exceed initial estimates, negatively impacting budgets.

IMPLEMENTATION IS SLOWED Due to the number of people involved, level of consultation in the decision-making process and reliance on support.

ENGAGEMENT IN TECHNOLOGY DWINDLES AFTER LAUNCH During consultation, people in people driven cultures may avoid the rigorous and honest conversations needed to ensure the solution meets business needs, impacting the effectiveness of the overall solution.

PEOPLE CULTURES: Potential risks when implementing technology

TACTICIAN have observed the following trends in people-oriented Culture Types over the last three decades:


A move to ‘people-oriented, with an edge’

When organisations start seeing some of these derailers play out in their organisation, TACTICIAN’s Rod Andersen suggests 3 questions they should ask themselves to make a shift.

1: Are they having real conversations?

We’re seeing a great shift within organisations toward more frequent conversations as they move toward an agile way of working and relook at their approach to perfor-mance management. Everything is moving to short, sharp and in the moment.

But just because we’re having conversations more frequently, doesn’t mean we’re having the right type of conversation. Rod believes that organisations “will see a massive increase in efficiency if they equip their people with the skills to have honest and direct conversations. While the structure is already in place within most organi-sations, giving people the skills to create a culture of honesty and sometimes a little ‘tough-love’ is what will set organisations of the future apart.”

“The real conversations must also extend beyond the walls of an organisation” Wen-dy says “World Manager find that the organisations that get greatest impact from the platform are those that have the real conversations with their strategic partners too. By having a real conversation early and often, organisations will gain greater value from their technology partners, like World Manager”.


2: Are leaders investing in Professional Intimacy?

3: Do your people have the skills to influence?

As organisations build more ambitious plans, the challenge of navigating competing priorities grow. Projects continually start and stop and priorities are shifted and re-sources are allocated accordingly.

Rod adds that “it’s no longer good enough to simply have a strong business case. From challenging others, to delivering persuasive propositions, and driving execution - it’s all in the delivery. People at all levels throughout the organisation need to learn how to influence properly by understanding individual communication differences and adjusting their approach accordingly.”

Luke Johnson, Head of Strategic Brand Relationships at World Manager agreed organisations that had the highest engagement, worked closely with and took ad-vantage of their relationship manager’s expertise. “These people come from a back-ground in platform delivery and can help businesses build a robust change plan, taking into account the business’ culture. This covers everything from influencing key stakeholders and training staff, to developing an ongoing engagement plan.

4. Carlopio, J. (1998), Implementation: Making Workplace Innovation and Technical Change Happen, McGraw-Hill Australia.

We’re all getting busier and there is increased pressure to perform. “Leaders are con-tinually complaining they just don’t have time to lead anymore and as a result they’re spending less time building relationships with their people” says Rod. “This is the part that most leaders are getting wrong. Investing a little time to check in with your peo-ple builds respect and creates Professional Intimacy. Once Professional Intimacy is present it becomes a lot easier to have the real conversation and saves leaders time in the long run”.

Leaders who don’t invest time to build Professional Intimacy before having the real conversation run the risk of damaging the relationship and are often shocked when their feedback is met with defensiveness.

Professional Intimacy doesn’t take a lot of time or mean you need to invest money in team building events. It can be as little as a few minutes each day to find out the current challenges or achievements with each of your team members.

James Carlopio, resident lecturer at the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM), estimates that over 75% of all change efforts fail to deliver on the ROI prom-ised and the failed were mostly attributed to ineffective leadership and project leader-ship communication4.

Appendix: TACTICIAN Culture Types 11

APPENDIX

After three decades consulting to clients across many industries, TACTICIAN’s Directors de-veloped their own culture diagnostic that identifies which culture type(s) exist within an organi-sation and the risks and benefits of these types.

There are 10 TACTICIAN Culture Types – while multiple cultures exist within an organisation, a dominant culture type(s) will exist. No culture type is better than another, they all have their strengths and drawbacks for organisational success.

Understanding their culture type helps organisations to leverage the strengths of their culture type and put support in place to mitigate potential roadblocks.

Collegiate (36%)Within a Collegiate culture, relationships are key. People like to work in teams and value pos-itive interactions with their colleagues, both formal and informal. Those who fail to build suc-cessful relationships will struggle to succeed while those who are promoted will be the people with the strongest relationships with the ‘right’ people. New employees will generally be put at ease and feel welcomed while from an external perspective these organisations are generally pleasant to work with. Nurturing (36%)Nurturing cultures focus on the well-being of others and often exist in organisations dedicat-ed to improving society or helping those in need. People may be idealistic and have a strong focus on what is ‘right’. There is a strong sense of purpose in these organisations and em-ployees feel united by their common goal. Strong values make it difficult for those with differing views to survive, although their difference may not be directly confronted. People will work together well and open discussion and communication will be encouraged, provided it is done in a supportive and non-aggressive way.

Expressive (27%)In an Expressive culture, the work environment is fun and lively. People expect a balance be-tween enjoyment and hard work, and work is seen as something that should lead to satisfac-tion and a sense of accomplishment. The working environment is informal and there are plenty of opportunities for social interaction and fun. Equal emphasis is placed on personal priorities and achieving work outcomes and often flexible working patterns help staff achieve this.

Visual (6%)The Visual culture is very focused the importance of aesthetics, design and creativity. They have a strong and clearly defined brand and consistency in the way this brand is portrayed is key. They value quality in their products, particularly in terms of aesthetics - style sometimes winning out over substance. These organisations are contemporary and vibrant, valuing inno-vation and embracing change. Sometimes their enthusiasm for new things can lead them to discard effective methods or move forward on projects that have not been planned in detail.

Culture Types

Appendix: TACTICIAN Culture Types 12

Steadfast (6%)Steadfast cultures are security focused. Employees are loyal and tenure is long. Innovation and change are avoided in favour of continuing with tried and tested methods that carry a low risk. These organisations are planful and measured, focusing on long-term attainments over short-term gains. They are cautious and conservative in their decision making and try to avoid making mistakes. Safety is a priority and attention to detail is highly valued.

Congratulatory (3%)In an organisation with a Congratulatory culture, profile is important. Success is recognized and achievement openly discussed and rewarded. People know exactly who their most suc-cessful colleagues are as these people are publicly acknowledged. These organisations are likely to put emphasis on entering and winning awards. There are visible signs of their achieve-ments in the working environment, such as plaques, framed certificates and trophies. They value celebration and acclaim, and those who succeed tend to be those who are best known. Material (3%)Bottom line is everything in Material cultures. The organisation’s primary focus is on driving revenue and increasing shareholder return. Anything that does not have short-term returns tends to be discarded as too costly, regardless of potential for long-term impact. Employees are expected to work hard for their salaries and those who bring in most money are the most valued. Support functions are often the ‘poor cousin’ as they are seen as an overhead deliver-ing little real value.

Rational (3%)Data is everything in Rational cultures. These organisations value technical expertise and have little tolerance for those who are not intellectually gifted. Business decisions are based on sound research and fact and can be made unemotionally. Their focus on data and analysis however can cause them to become mired in detail and lose sight of the outcome they seek. Relationships are secondary and the emotional needs of staff may be overlooked.

Prestige (0%)Status and authority are the key motivators within a Prestige culture. They value achievement and offer opportunities to succeed to those who are sufficiently driven. Change moves quickly and risk-taking is encouraged with the prospect of big rewards for those who win. In Prestige cultures, disagreement is accepted, even welcomed, but is addressed openly and volubly. Employees are expected to respect those who have succeeded before them. They are loyal and deferential to hierarchy and the prevailing norms. People wear and display status sym-bols.

Conventional (0%)Conventional cultures value tradition and the importance of established processes and pro-cedures. They are conservative in their decision making and prefer to stick to tried and tested approaches rather than risk new ways that may bring uncertainty. Usually hierarchical, there is a strong respect for authority and seniority. Rule breakers will not fit in. Predictability and conservatism are important and there is a resistance to change and innovation for innovation’s sake.

NB: • Brand culture type makeup exceeds 100% as some Brands have 2 dominant Culture Types.• % is the percentage of survey respondents.

At TACTICIAN we are culture and communication specialists for organisations, leaders, influ-encers, business developers and entrepreneurs. How we communicate becomes a core part of the culture and our customer’s experience – deliberate or not. That is why effective commu-nication is at the heart of business success.

What makes TACTICIAN unique is how our clients describe the way we use our decades of experience and expertise to help them become more successful. They often say we challenge them, but that being challenged is exactly what they needed and were hoping for. We have a suite of our own tools, templates and frameworks that help our clients apply the skills we teach them. We know how to get things done. We make our clients better at getting things done. And together, we enjoy the process.

To find out more about your unique culture and preparing your organisation for rapid change, contact Rod Andersen.

World Manager offers CEOs, HR, Training and Operations Managers the ability to train, track and communicate with every employee in the world in real time with our 100% cloud based, mobile compatible platform, complete with unprecedented reporting capabilities.

With leading companies abandoning traditional methods of learning in favour of more effective solutions involving technology innovation, crucial developments see over one third of compa-nies globally increasing their budget for Learning and Development but only 10 percent lever-aging mobile learning solutions. World Manager is committed to ‘Changing the way the world does business’ by educating companies on how to communicate and train employees directly on their smartphones or tablets.

Our unique partnerships with all our clients means we literally have one of the largest ‘think tanks’ globally. As our client base expands internationally, the synergy we create with our partners grows exponentially. A major portion of our annual revenue goes into constant rein-vention and development on the latest technologies in operations, training, human resources and communication tools.

+61 2 8007 7095

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+1 214-297-0006

[email protected]

www.worldmanager.com

www.tactician.net.au | www.mypersonaltactician.com.au

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INSIGHT REPORT - My Personal Tactician...INSIGHT REPORT: Culture Technology page 7 This trend may reflect that fact that a large majority of respondents operated within peo-ple-focused