The Culture Series:...unlocking the influence of a business climate, the C5 model explained
The Culture Series:
...the C5 model explained
Achieving outstanding business performance is not just an ambition but something that all organisations strive for in today’s results driven business environment. However, attempting to balance both client and employee satisfaction can prove to be somewhat difficult whilst maintaining a high functioning company. The three-fold process, the C5 Model, measures the prevailing climate and provides leaders with data and insights enabling an effective action plan for business performance and improvement both internally and externally, providing the efficient framework for formulating an effective roadmap towards sustainable improvement. A better climate at work not only motivates “discretionary effort” in people but delivers advanced bottom line performance, which will then filter through the rest of the company creating a more motivated and productive working environment. Recent studies by the Hay Group across a wide range of sectors found that business performance improves by over 30% when employees experience a greater climate. These can be assessed through five dimensions that can be easily reflected and acted upon:
Clarity: everyone knows what is expected of them. People are clear about mission, values and goals.
Congruence: challenging but attainable goals are set that are aligned to the company’s strategy.
Control: employees are given authority to accomplish tasks and act without checking and there are no unnecessary rules, policies and procedures.
Contentment: employees are recognised and rewarded for good performance, performance management work effectively, and constructive feedback is given and well received.
Commitment: people are proud to belong to their team and organisation, give discretionary effort willingly and are committed to the common purpose.
Whilst the aforementioned factors influence largely the climate of a company it is integral that you create a process in which these can be put in place to continue to reinforce and adhere to the practices and beliefs of your company. Climate is influenced largely by;
Alignment of structure: This is the degree to which as leader defines and aligns their own role and the roles of their people toward attainment of the organisations goals. It looks at the nature of people’s jobs and examines areas of gaps or overlaps; headroom distance and compression and optimisation of spans of control.
Behaviours: Leaders who provide a clear sense of direction and purpose, encourage the commitment and enthusiasm of others, build trust, energy and momentum, and involve others in decision making, will be more successful in creating a favourable organisational climate than leaders who do not employ these behaviours, leadership behaviour has the greatest impact on climate.
Conventions and progress: these are the rules and regulations that prevail in organisations e.g. reward and recognition structures that are fair and equitable; two – way communication channels that are open; decision making is easy and there are no unnecessary rules; clearly understood business planning that is cascaded through the organisation.
To truly realise the potential and meaning behind this however each element of the process should be followed up and actioned to ensure the dynamics of a company are kept smooth and channels of communication kept open. A hugely significant factor in this failure rate is leaders not paying sufficient attention to culture and climate synergies and differences. Using a three stage approach to the previous collation of data allow for an in depth understanding of the climate prevailing in the work place.
Stage 1 – Stakeholder Interviews
The assessor conducts a series of interviews with nominated stakeholders. spending on the size of the organisation. During these sessions participant should be asked to share these experiences in relation to “What it feels like to work here”
It is important to point out both what’s going well and what should be improved on to ensure a focused balance on both parties, focusing purely on the negatives can create a negative working enviroment whereas an entirely positive focus is not accurate and does little to aid the task at hand.
Stage 2 – Leadership Assessment
Leaders should be asked to complete a predisposition inventory. Leadership behaviour has the most impact on Climate so should be a large focus. It has critical impact on a team’s performance and ultimately aids in the development of organisational capability and performance. This in-depth psychometric tool gives insights to leaders about how, and why they are most comfortable in communication with other, their preferred approach to problem solving and implementing actions, and their most comfortable and predictable leadership style.
Stage 3 – Client Feedback Workshop
An in-depth feedback workshop is then held with the client using the C5 model which will highlight what is working well in the business and enhancing the Climate and most importantly, the areas that are negatively influencing the climate.
The application of the Business Climate Diagnostic has been proven to add value and improve business performance across all sectors. It applies locally as well as globally. It delivers for Leaders and executive teams the insightful data they need to make good decisions and design intelligent road maps for their organisation. The result is a clear agenda for sustainable, profitable business improvement.
Helen Sweeney
Case Study: Global B2B services client
Following 20 years of continuous growth, a successful market listing and establishing itself as one of the world’s top 5 organisations in its sector, our B2B services client wanted to capitalise on its global scale and the learning gained since its highly entrepreneurial beginning.
Developing both a revised Target Operating Model and associated governance structure, CAP utilised all four perspectives to:
- Raise barriers to entry and exit through making investments only possible with size, enabled by the transition from autonomous regions to corporate structure
- Create greater customer satisfaction through globally supported and consistent front, middle and back office structures
- Create senior executive cohesion and significantly raise wider leadership motivation
- Develop a cost leadership position through continuously aligning internal support to customer facing needs with a commissioning structure
- Ensure greater effectiveness with a clear line of sight throughout the organization, with an agreed corporate portfolio mix and strategically aligned balanced scorecard
With our Organisational Development and Behaviours perspective and Motivational Maps, we profiled the whole Senior Leadership team, using this insight to understand ambition, aptitude and #UniqueContributions©. We engaged the whole team to identify the need for diverse career paths, different to the homogenous “me-centric” approaches of the past. With this we were able to utilise the Commercial perspective to look at alternative ways to contract, both internally and externally, and with a focus on driving the innovation and dynamism that the Digital and Data and Customer Experience perspectives demanded.
We accelerated the genuine appreciation of diversity and set the organisation well on the road to integrated collaboration, with a belief in the vision that No.1 status in its chosen markets is not only achievable, but expected.
Are you wondering is we can do this for your business? If yes please contact us and we'll be happy to help
Case Study: Governance in £bn business
Our client is a high profile £bn+ business. Three months before we were engaged it had been involved in a major public incident that had seriously undermined its credibility and reputation, leading to a number of high profile exits. This bore heavily on remaining management and few were willing to put their heads above the parapet, resulting in a culture of long hours and decision making paralysis. At the point that we were engaged, the organisation was at a standstill with executives spending 12-14 hours per day in committee meetings and almost no time running the business. Decisions were being passed from committee to committee, everything was being escalated and morale was ebbing away.
Using our #UniqueContribution© suite of approaches, within a six week period we had managed to:
- Free 60% of management’s time spent in committees
- Unblock the decision making jam
- Create clear guidance on what decisions could be taken where and by whom
- Produce decision templates that forced clear articulation of “the ask”
- Increase staff net promoter scores by 40% due to increased confidence in management
We knew that people don’t go to work to do a bad job, but are very often not empowered, directed or equipped to do the required job. Missing skills, capability and competence, to a greater or lesser extent, can all be developed. But if a person’s core skills, values and passions don’t align or there is inadequate direction or empowerment, they will simply not thrive, which is what was happening here.
Using our Organisational Development and Behaviours perspective we looked at a number of things:
- Were management setting goals and objectives that were achievable with the resource, skills and talent that existed?
- Was management supporting the development of a company culture to which the employees’ values aligned?
- When goals were set, could they be delivered entirely within the control of those given the task?
- Where control was not with those given the task, but required co-operation or enablement from others, was this feasible without undue stress?
- When it became clear that goals and objectives could not be achieved either alone or with the support of others, was it possible to explore alternative options or to re-set goals and objectives?
In the case where goals and objectives could not be achieved either through existing means, alternative options, negotiating revised targets, or when doing so would compromise the individuals’ values, what choices were being made to prevent “overwhelmed” individuals and teams?
Based on the evidence we found, it was clear that there was nothing to gain from being a slave to a corporate business plan that was undeliverable in its current guise with the existing operating model.
Working with the leadership we utilised the #UniqueContribution© test to develop clarity about:
- What are the goals and objectives and who sets them
- What decision is required and where is it best taken
- What delegations have been allocated and what empowerment is required
In addition, we defined what should constitute adequate management information, a process to reasonably identify and address risk, and proportionate assurance to give comfort that processes would operate as intended.
What had been missing is what we call “boundary” management. That is to say, before goals and objectives are set or accepted, that they are checked for achievability. If they require input or contribution outside of personal or team control, how can you get it? What empowerment is needed? Are there any “sacred cows” that can’t be challenged?
We ensured that when escalating a matter, there was clarity on what the “ask” was and why it wouldn’t be within an individual or team’s gift to resolve it. Equally, we ensured that when a decision was escalated, it was clear what was being asked and why it couldn’t be decided below, or what delegations and empowerments could be put in place to allow the decision to be taken sooner and “closer to the action”.
Six weeks on, the organisation started to function. Six months on and productivity is up by 30%, NPS continues to improve and churn is down by 80%.
What do the next six months hold for you? Contact us if you want to see these same improvements.
Case Study: Services TOM
Working with a major national service business, we developed a Target Operating Model (TOM) which has fundamentally re-defined the customer relationship and expectation of value, whilst at the same time re-setting the industry standard of excellence. As a result:
- Additional value-add services are being delivered, increasing both revenue and retention
- Customer response times have been drastically reduced, with a more consistent positive user experience and at lower cost
- Work in progress has been virtually eliminated, resulting in lower cost and reduced working capital
- Back office costs have been reduced by over 60% whilst improving customer satisfaction
- Reliance on individuals and retained knowledge has been eliminated
To do this we undertook a fundamental review of what customers really wanted and how existing processes contributed or detracted from this. Using this analysis we were able to identify that there was a fundamental mismatch of expectations, which was industry-wide. We also realised that the processes in place were not sustainable within existing ways of working, leading to excessive stress levels, increased churn and low levels of productivity. Having framed the problem and defined the desired outcome, we deployed a collaborative approach to build the solution.
We knew that the only choice was #KillingComplexity©. We did this by applying each of our four perspectives.
Through our Customer and User Experience perspective we focussed on speed to fulfilment and effective communication (not cost per hour as was the perceived wisdom) as this allowed our clients’ customers to utilise their assets for longer and reduce their customer disruption. We used the Digital and Data perspective to demonstrate there was real value in collecting trend analysis, which could then be used to support pro-active maintenance.
This was supported by the Commercial perspective which not only drove the payment terms from hourly rates, estimated in advance, validated afterwards and billed monthly, to fixed price work packages authorised in advance and billed on completion, but also allowed the creation of trend analysis for defined work packages which simply wasn’t possible when all that had been previously captured was the number of hours charged. And finally we looked holistically at what was detracting from performance and motivation using the Organisational Development and Behaviours perspective.
Our client now has a discernibly differentiated offering, has established an industry “new norm” which it is exploiting through 1st mover advantage, and is rapidly creating clear blue water between itself and other industry players.
Are you ready for #KillingComplexity©? Is so get in touch today to find our how we can help you become a market leader.
Our unique approach at CAP
CAP knows its strengths and unashamedly plays to them, and them alone. We deliver three types of assignment:
- Strategy and target operating model
- Governance, risk and compliance
- Operational effectiveness and supply chain optimisation
These are our “disciplines” and our partners are each renowned experts in these fields.
Where CAP is truly unique and where it defines #ConsultancyRepurposed© is its application of four inextricably linked “perspectives”:
- User and customer experience
- Digital and data
- Organisational development and behaviours
- Commercial
But, unlike others, we:
- Are industry agnostic, focusing on outcomes and how they are best achieved, regardless of sector
- Secure insights through combining “big data”, social/business media (inc. discussion forums), relevant networks and bespoke research
- Utilise opensource tools and techniques, but creatively, in ways others have yet to imagine
- Continuously look at where disparate worlds collide and where opportunities to re-define the accepted norm exist
For CAP, simply looking to “catch up” through benchmarking-led approaches is never enough. Our approach goes beyond this and ensures we set our clients apart from their competitors, delivering growth and scale, stability and progress, and transformation and market leadership.
Our disciplines
Strategy and target operating models
Why change unless you want to be the best? We see target operating model work as an opportunity for transformation. Whether you want to grow or evolve, we will define a strategy and ways of working to take you to industry leadership, allowing both differentiation and longer-term cost leadership to re-define your industry’s benchmark standard of excellence.
Operational effectiveness and supply chains
#KillingComplexity© is one of our mantras. With experience of working with owners on scaling for growth, successful businesses ready for listing, or established businesses re-inventing to take advantage of technology and market advances, we have the credentials you need. We have an intense focus on playing to strengths, finding the #UniqueContribution© and eliminating “time theft”. Our clients spend more time doing the things that differentiate them. Going faster because they partner with others who are specialists in their own domain. And having access to greater opportunities because they see the value in collaboration.
Governance, risk and compliance
There is nothing our team doesn’t know about this area. Whether you’re after compliance review or addressing governance with game changing thinking around flat structure leadership, we have the experience to make a positive impact. And we always ensure that more relevant insight is created at less cost with significantly less disruption.
Perspectives
Our value goes well beyond our finely tuned, expert-led discipline expertise. How we deliver this using our unique perspectives is transformational. We invest heavily in creating these perspectives, following the latest thinking, engaging in and leading the most relevant debates and creating forums for collaboration across sector and functional boundaries to tease out the very best ways for our clients to deliver their required outcomes; but we don’t merely replicate what others have done, we translate, re-imagine and repurpose to create sources of sustainable competitive advantage.
Customer and user experience
This perspective looks to help our clients optimise how they serve their customers and clients, understanding what customers are looking for, what they value and are prepared to pay for, how they prefer to interact, and the true nature and respective needs of the customer provider relationship. Fail to deliver what the customer needs and there will be no market. Over deliver where there is no perceived value and you’re incurring unnecessary cost and affording competitors cost advantage.
Digital and data
The world we live in is increasingly digitising and often in ways that we couldn’t have imagined even a few years ago. This pace of change is set to increase with AI, distributed privacy and big data gathering momentum. This perspective analyses how our clients can take advantage, not just of these developments, but also from the inherent value in its intrinsic data sets and how it can drive advantage (including “built in” compliance) from a well organised data architecture. Such is the importance of this area that not only does CAP have its own research capability, but it also has active partnerships with researchers in the university and beyond.
Organisational development
Whilst the impact of AI cannot be underestimated, people remain one of the greatest assets a company has. Aligned and motivated, it will feel like there is nothing that can’t be achieved. Without this, it’s always going to be a tougher ride. Our partners are passionate about people and people development, both at an individual and system level, and have worked with some of the largest talent management companies around. We have a network of specialists from numerous fields including, for example, psychologists, NLP master practitioners and motivation scientist. We have access to a suite of tools ranging from motivational maps through to resilience and mental toughness, which we routinely deploy to add a degree of richness that other strategy consultancies find hard to match.
Commercial
#KillingComplexity© and the #BusinessGrowthParadox© are at the heart of what we think about. Creating the environment where people and organisations play to their strengths, killing the “theft” of valuable time is essential, collaborating vs competing, and taking the right “Make vs Buy” decisions without ego because it is the right thing to do. Helping clients understand which assets are core and how they can be monetised in ways that they had never thought of is of very significant value, and an area of strength for CAP. Within our team we have accountants, lawyers, entrepreneurs, scientists and operations directors who are each passionate about discovering increasingly effective commercial models and are each committed to continuous learning.
Come and talk to us to understand how our disciplines and perspectives can help make your business unique!