Introduction

The role of the leadership and management team is to unite employees together with a vision of accomplishing shared goals and reaching sustainable success. Gary Yukl (2012) stated, “The essence of leadership in organizations is influencing and facilitating individual and collective efforts to accomplish shared objectives.” As the newly appointed HR manager, understanding the two different cultures in their entire individual and shared varieties will be critical in leading the change management initiatives. While the one constant is change, employees and human beings alike tend to be resistant to change. Whether this comes about due to uncertainty in the present or anxiety regarding the future, the HR managers and coaches must lead and maintain a positive organizational environment for all who are maintained. Interventions leading to effective unity in corporate culture can be measured for complete understanding.

Three Interventions to Support the Creation of a Unified Corporate Culture

Acquisitions are difficult for a variety of reasons, but particularly in the area of merging one culture into the other. The effective HR manager and coach must be able to implement aspects of change management interventions. The human resource manager and team can dive into change management and do so effectively by remaining neutral in their approach because they are not particularly invested in one department or division. To change or bring together different organizational climates, the HR leader must understand what that entails. The organizational climate describes how people feel about an organization based on a number of factors, including observable practices and employee perceptions. (Reed and Bogardus, 2012)

A work team is one way for HR leaders to help the acquisition process and the coming together of two different organizations with differing climates and cultures. A work team consists of employees who work together each day to accomplish their assignments. (Reed and Bogardus, 2012) These individual team members can be from the same department, or from multiple departments within the same organization. The benefits include increased creativity and strategic thinking ability in developing, launching, and marketing specific products. A work team in this acquisition scenario could consist of a mix of employees in from both organizations, giving the organization being acquired a deeper look into the employee climate and culture, including what is expected of oneself during work. Another intervention strategy is a task force. Task forces are used for the bringing together of employees to conduct research and recommend solutions for significant issues or undertakings within an organization. The benefits of a task force are similar to that of a work team, with the main difference being longevity. A task force is typically eliminated after a solution is found. This allows employees to come together, accept accountability and find responsibility, value, and pride in their work. HR leaders may step out of the picture in the short-term and let the task force come up with a reasonable solution to be presented to the HR team. A task force gives multiple employees the opportunity to work with a wide variety of individuals in the workplace. The third intervention in this scenario is the practice of delegating authority. Management demonstrates respect for its employees by trusting them to make decisions necessary to do their jobs. (Reed and Bogardus, 2012) Delegating authority gives management a chance to focus on other necessary tasks while employees undertake another necessary project or endeavor.

How Each Intervention Supports Creating A Unified Corporate Culture

The key aspect of each intervention is the increase of employee engagement, which will increase internal and external success. Employee engagement is the attitude and feelings employees have towards work and is a critical measure of overall organizational success. (Reed and Bogardus, 2012) A work team supports the vision of creating a unified corporate culture in the team unity and togetherness aspect. When put into a team, each individual member has a responsibility and a sense of accountability. A work team brings individuals together and unites them in organizational purpose. A work team gives employees the opportunity to get to know and understand their co-workers better personally and professionally, creating friendships and bonds that go deeper than the work surface. A task force brings individuals from the organizations together in another team like setting, giving responsibility and duties to one another in an attempt to find a desirable and successful outcome. Unity is apart of every successful team, which is what a task force promotes. Task forces call upon individuals understanding of shared goals and individual strengths. Delegating authority supports the creation of a unified corporate culture by giving management the opportunity to show the employees a level of trust they may not see on a daily basis. When the employee feels trusted, they’ll feel unified with the organizational vision and purpose.

Metrics Used to Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Intervention Program

The interventions implemented must be measurable in order for the organization to understand whether or not their initiatives and efforts are effective. Once effectiveness is understood, the degree to how effective each intervention is can be examined for potential improvement in the future. HR leaders can use metrics to understand the strengths, weakness, and areas of improvement in the implementation of intervention programs. Work teams, task forces, and delegation of authority will become most effective when measured through employee surveys, before and after interviews, and results. One on one coaching, mentoring, and teaching meetings would give employees the chance to sit down with management and discuss what went right in their work team, task force, or accomplishment of the task that was delegated. Other data collection methods that would be effective in measuring results would be personnel records, observations, focus groups, and questionnaires. The mathematical results of these intervention programs, numbers and percentages, may be analyzed using quantitative analysis. Correlations are one example of quantitative analysis that may be used. Time-series forecasts can show where the projection of future requirements need to be, while mean, median, and mode can give organizations a snap shot of where they currently stand in external production. Observations and judgments may be used by HR managers to gather qualitative analysis. Understanding the cost vs. benefit and the return on investment when making decisions will aid the HR leader in their strategic thinking.

Conclusion

First, organizations must determine what they want their organizational culture to be, and then decide which intervention methods will be the most effective in helping them reach desired goals. Once intervention programs are implemented, leadership must find ways to measure results through quantitative and qualitative research. When numbers are presented in research, strong and weak areas are made evident and improvements can be put in order.

References

Yukl, G. (2012). Effective leadership behavior: What we know and what questions need more attention. Academy Of Management Perspectives, 26(4), 66-85. doi:10.5465/amp.2012.0088

Reed, S. M., & Bogardus, A. M. (2012). PHR/SPHR: Professional in human resources certification study guide. Indianapolis: John Wiley and Sons.