case study - culture change

The Brief

Culture change was a key element of the reform programme specified by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister after a lengthy period of industrial action in the Fire Services.  Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) wanted to make constructive use of this opportunity to bring about the improved organisational performance sought at both local and national level.  To start the process of culture change LFRS needed to be able to describe the current culture, the most appropriate future culture and then identify effective ways of bringing about change.

Outcome

A deep understanding of the organisation’s current culture was gained along with the implications and commitment required for successful culture change.  Significant differences in culture were discovered throughout the organisation; for example the senior management team’s perception of the culture was very different from wholetime firefighters.  In spite of such differences, there was a very consistent view of the behaviours associated with the ideal future culture.

Levers for change were identified and prioritised at organisation, department and individual level.  In addition, sources of support for, and resistance to, change were highlighted to maximise the opportunity for success.  Existing planning processes were informed by this insight and analysis.  The areas of greatest challenge were identified as staff development and communication.

Methodology

The chosen tools for the culture audit were the Organisational Culture Inventory® and Organisational Effectiveness Inventory™.  These enable the current culture to be measured, the desired culture to be described and levers for change identified.  Before embarking on the culture audit, the methodology was tested for suitability.  This was done by conducting a series of workshops with employees at all levels of the organisation.  The workshops proved that the process to be used was inclusive, relevant and understandable to everyone. 

The Culture Audit involved the completion of a series of diagnostics by a sample of 40% of the organisation.  Analysis of these diagnostics provided the basis for a workshop involving all members of the senior management team.  The output of the workshop was a prioritised action plan detailing cultural targets and spelling out what needed to be done at organisational, departmental and individual level to bring about the desired culture change.

Client Feedback

We were clear that we needed to bring about some significant culture change to support our plans to modernise the service and bring about an overall culture that would be supportive of continuous and sustainable improvement.  Whilst we had plenty of anecdotal evidence to support our views of what we considered to be the underlying organisational culture, we felt that we needed something more robust in terms of enabling us to identify exactly where we were and correspondingly, what we needed to change.

The diagnostic methods that were used have enabled us to establish a far clearer understanding of how the culture actually manifests itself throughout the organisation and moreover, how it differed at the various managerial levels.

As a consequence we now have a number of initiatives underway which are assisting us to bring about some meaningful and lasting culture change in support of the service modernisation and improvement programme.

DCO Steve Swarbrick - Director Organisational Development

Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service