Analyst Team Reports

Organizational Culture from Bottom to Top

Passion for excellence in everything we do — needs to be part of our everyday life
Going above and beyond what’s expected
Doing what we say we will do
Meeting the needs of the individual
Clear expectations
One person and an assistant do the hiring — results in consistent hires
Annual Conference responsibility of staff to prepare
Leadership course for children
PIN: “I Lead with Character”
Making a Difference One Child at a Time
Importance of relationships
Passion permeates culture
Need for consistency in recruitment — ensures quality
Importance of staff meeting together — annual conference is the responsibility of staff — ensures more buy in

To prepare for success one should prepare for the war not the battle
Now their Mission Statement describes themselves by the outcomes not the services
Web site: www.nippa.org
Voices of children at core of mission
Need to involve staff in development of mission and vision statement
The mission consistently needs to be articulated at staff days
Mission and Vision Statements need to consistently be thought of in the context of expanding organizations

Told staff financial results and wanted them to think that the parents were the customer
Rotated nearly all the staff to different centers
Changed name of organization to reflect the culture
Feedback is important: Negative feedback helps you to grow, positive doesn’t
Rotation of managers
Personal development plans for each staff member
Culture is something you do together

Jim Greenman, United States (also see handout)

Get the details right
Communicate through stories
If you use words, take them seriously (e.g., Each Child, Support Families)
Live the mission
HEART Principals
How we want to treat each other
Accountable to each other
Have a WHY NOT philosophy leads them to be innovative
Responsibility without blame
We are smart people, we can figure it out
We are all in this together
Care and respect
How do we do it?
With lots of gatherings
Executive on road trips
Humor and empathy
Stories — tell failures and successes; transmits culture
May be about extra-ordinary customer service
Catch people doing something right
Dangers:
- Easy to get smug
- Arrogance
- Exclusiveness
- Hypocrisy
When you stop living it, it’s doomed for failure
Culture is “the way we do things around here”
The sameness of all working in a similar organization
Cultures come from founders
Receiving and reacting appropriately to negative feedback is an essential part of growing and strengthening the organization
Management must always take responsibility when things go wrong — blaming employees is the wrong approach. Management is always expected to be proactive, and failure to be proactive is a failure of management.
Values need to be illustrated with clear examples and “Storytelling”
Keep up with the changes with the right people in the right seats on the bus, with the right driver. Personnel need to be rotated so that fresh ideas are allowed to emerge.