Change organisational culture

Changing the way we do things around here

Organisational culture describes how an organisation operates and the ways in which staff members interact. Culture is typically complex, and having become established over time, can be very resistant to change.

The effectiveness of your ResourceSmart strategy can be reduced if it does not suit your organisation's culture.

The development of action plans should aim to be compatible with existing culture, however sometimes the culture needs to be changed to deliver environmental outcomes.

The rate of change can be accelerated through the development of a change strategy.

Such a strategy needs to influence an organisation's culture by:

• opening up strong two-way communication channels
• broadcasting clear messages
• aligning people around a common purpose
• involving everyone in taking action.

Organisation benefits

Some of the likely outcomes of any program entailing organisational culture change are:

• Increased value of the human resource within your organisation as workers become more knowledgeable, acquire new skills and develop greater leadership capacity.
• Increased productivity of your organisation through improved motivation and greater satisfaction in the workplace.
• Greater flexibility within the organisation as people adapt to change and strive for continual improvement.

Understanding culture

Culture permeates an organisation and encompasses the following:

• The way things are done in an organisation.
• The values of the people in the organisation and their relationships with each other.
• The history of the organisation shaping the way it is now.
• Hopes for the future.

Strategies to impact on organisational culture change aim to:

• engage your organisation in creating a vision of its sustainable future
• create and support project teams to initiate and lead change
• encourage organisational learning and participation in change initiatives
• integrate sustainable resource use within your organisation's culture.