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Alliance for Nonprofit Management 2013 National Conference

Breakfast Roundtable Thursday, August 8, 2013

Creating a Compelling Culture

Content Developed by: Jule E. Miller, Vice President, Human Resources

American Pharmacists Association (APhA) 2215 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20037-2985 800-237-APhA (2742) www.pharmacist.com JMiller@APHANET.ORG

Denise McNerney, President & CEO

iBossWell, Inc. 4200 Somerset, Suite 243 Prairie Village, KS 66208 913-980-3122 www.ibosswell.com dmcnerney@ibosswell.com

Session Leader: Denise McNerney

Agenda

Defining organizational culture

Measuring organizational culture

Changing Organizational Culture: Case Presentation APhA o APhA’s Culture Measures: 2008- 2012 o Identifying areas for focus o Planning for and effecting change

Leadership Engagement Aligning Strategy, Tactics and Organizational Culture

Explicit focus on Culture: o Worklife Enhancement Committee (WEC)

Strategic Planning Process

Performance Management/Support

Organization-wide training

Leadership development

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Defining Organizational Culture

Organizational Culture – Essentially, the personality of the organization. The organizational

culture is comprised of the values, assumptions, norms and beliefs of the collective

organization and is manifested in its behaviors. This is particularly seen in the behavior of

leadership and in both official organizational policies and practices, as well as certain unofficial

behaviors. Tied into the organizational culture is the impact and behaviors of individuals

within the organization. Having the full picture perspective also includes understanding your

own impact and motivations as well as the impact and motivations of your colleagues: their

thoughts, opinions, experiences and influence. 1

Measuring Organizational Culture

Many sources available – for example:

Denison Organizational Culture Survey

o http://www.denisonconsulting.com/model-surveys/denison-

surveys/organizational-culture

The Leadership Circle- Leadership Culture Survey™ -

o http://www.theleadershipcircle.com/assessment-tools/survey

Denison says:

Your culture data should do several things:

1) serve as a vehicle to start some ‘honest’ conversations in the organization that 2)

generate thoughtful actions that 3) result in greater clarity, alignment and performance

1 McNerney, Denise & Rolston, Lynn. The PeoplePACT: Achieving Exemplary Performance through Humane Leadership. Leathers Publishing. 2007.

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Changing Organizational Culture: Case Presentation APhA

The American Pharmacists Association has been using the Denison Culture Survey for assessing their organizational culture status. What does the Denison profile depict?

Four predictive culture traits

Adaptability: translating the demands of the business environment into action o Creating Change o Customer Focus o Organizational Learning

Mission: defining a long-term direction for the organization o Strategic Direction & Intent o Goals & Objectives o Vision

Involvement: building human capability, ownership and responsibility o Empowerment o Team Orientation o Capability Development

Consistency: defining the values and organization’s systems that are the basis of a strong culture

o Core Values o Agreement o Coordination & Integration

How are scores displayed?

Profile shows scores in quartiles that compare an organization’s score with the higher- and lower-performing organizations

Third and fourth quartile scores are generally found in higher-performing organizations.

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APhA’s Culture Measures: 2008- 2012

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APhA Case Presentation continued: What did they do?

Identifying areas for focus o Maximizing survey results + organizational understanding to identify areas to focus

improvement

Planning for and effecting change o Leadership Engagement o Aligning Strategy, Tactics and Organizational Culture

The model of the Concentric Circles of Excellence illustrates how the organizational culture must be in alignment with vision and tactics to assure optimizing the achievement of execution of those strategies and tactics, and ultimately long-term sustainability and success. Making the PACT is one of the ultimate tools to creating and enhancing this alignment.

Vision encompasses the compelling vision and the high level key strategies/goals and desired outcomes for success.

Tactics define the specific steps required to achieve your vision and goals.

Organizational culture is the environment in which people operate; it is the official and unofficial “way we do things” and way we treat each other. It is woven with the collective core values of the organization.

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APhA Case Presentation continued: What did they do?

Explicit focus on Culture:

o Worklife Enhancement Committee (WEC)

Purpose: Advance the APhA workplace environment and organizational culture to one

that consistently reflects our core values and promotes high employee satisfaction and

performance.

Strategic Planning Process

Performance Management/Support

Organization-wide training

Leadership development

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Attachment A

APhA

Worklife Enhancement Committee Charge

Purpose: Advance the APhA workplace environment and organizational culture to one that consistently

reflects our core values and promotes high employee satisfaction and performance.

Committee Rules of Engagement

Acknowledge/review Core Values, Mission Statement, and Committee Purpose and Role at every

meeting

Encourage discussion of diverse opinions

All opinions are expected/respected

Handle disagreements in a respectful manner

Encourage all team members to voice opinion

Do not feel pressured to agree with the whole

Keep an open mind and do not be afraid to come out of your comfort zone

Listen for understanding

Support constructive group discussion

Let the other person finish their thought before formulating your own response

Do not interrupt

Be a mindful team participant

Are you contributing to the effort?

Are you allowing/encouraging others to contribute?

Be a team player

Support group’s final decision (both in the meetings and outside the meetings)

Maintain confidentiality regarding committee discussions, decisions, and documents as agreed upon

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Roles As a Committee

Establish company-wide knowledge of Core Values

Make recommendations to management regarding improving the workplace

Foster teamwork across all levels

Define and determine APhA staff needs as it relates to education workshops

As Individual Members

Be the voice/representative/advocate of department/assigned group

Share and reinforce committee messages at staff meetings

Objectively gather feedback/input and bring back to committee

Maintain a solid “presence” of the committee with your group

WEC members role model a positive and constructive approach to addressing WEC issues and

concerns at all times.

Actively support/participate in the efforts of WEC and follow-through on commitments to agreed upon

actions.

Attend all WEC meetings and provide support and feedback by initiating, participating, and facilitating

all initiatives of the committee as appropriate.

If a member does not attend 3 or more meetings in a 12 month time period, they will be asked to

step down. (An extension of leniency may be extended if deemed acceptable by the committee –

due to extenuating circumstances resulting in that member’s absences.)

Actively listen to co-workers outside of immediate department

Highest Measure of Success

Further improve overall results of culture survey by 2011, with specific improvement over 2010 results

in Capability Development and Core Values areas.

2012 and beyond: continued improvement, measuring above 75th percentile in results on culture and

employee satisfaction surveys (revisit after 1/1/13)

Membership Selection:

Membership Composition:

Overall membership will be composed of a diverse representation of the APhA workforce,

including: ethnicity, gender, department, level of seniority, and length of employment at APhA.

Each division will have members on the committee serving as the representative(s) for both their

division/department(s), as well as for the general workforce. Members will have clearly assigned

Division/Department(s) for their specific representative role.

Total membership of 16.

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Membership Selection Process:

Original membership was based on a pool of volunteer and/or selected employees whose final

selection for participation was determined by management. Moving forward, the following

describes how new members will be selected. This process is intended to ensure the committee

maintains the overall diversity needed to provide wide representation of the workforce, as well as

highly engaged members in full support of the committee charge.

Members will serve a 2 year term.

o Original members still active as of 1/1/2011, will be surveyed to state their

preference to (1) resign, (2) serve 1 more year, (3) serve 2 more years. Those

members desiring to continue serving must have approval to do so by the WEC

sponsors and the member’s manager. Then, a random drawing will take place if the

distribution is not so to provide approximately 50/50 for 1 year/2 years.

When there is a position opening, the committee leads will issue a call for volunteers

through the VP of the department(s) with the opening.

If a member takes a leave of absence greater than 2 months, their VP and WEC Sponsors

will determine if an alternate will be assigned, or if the member should step down from the

committee temporarily/permanently.

The VP and WEC Sponsors will make the final determination of the employee selected to

serve as the WEC member, taking into consideration the fit of the candidate (individually

and collectively) relative to the qualifications defined in this policy.

The successful candidate will be notified by the WEC leaders and an orientation will take

place within 1 month of selection.

All members will sign the Committee charge, policy and practice document as a

commitment to their role and responsibilities upon joining, as well as annually.

All members/member candidates must be an employee in good standing with APhA.

Individual committee members may serve a second 2-year term with approval of the WEC

sponsors, co-leaders and the member’s manager.

Membership Termination:

Members may identify to the WEC co-leaders, any member who does not uphold the roles,

responsibilities, and level of participation with the WEC and/or sub-committees. Co-leaders will

discuss with the member their continued membership, as appropriate. If problems continue, the

Co-leaders will review with WEC sponsors to determine if discontinuation of membership is in

order. WEC Sponsors will determine who will discuss next steps with member.

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WEC Leadership

Leadership Selection:

WEC leadership will remain a co-leadership format, with on co-leader being from the MT, and

the second co-leader a non-MT associate. Co-leader candidates do not have to have previously

served on the WEC. They will serve two-year terms that expire on alternate years for each co-

leader.

The CEO will designate the MT co-leader. The second co-leader will be elected by committee

members from a pool of self-volunteered members.

o For the initial 1/1/11 transition, one or both of the current co-leaders can remain in place

for 2011 with approval to do so by the WEC sponsors and the co-leaders’ managers.

The CEO and VP of HR will serve in a sponsorship and advisory capacity and oversight to the co-

leaders and the WEC.

Leaders/Leader candidates must be an employee in good standing with APhA.

Sub-committee leaders can be assigned to specific efforts as needed and agreed to by the WEC.

They will be held accountable for the successful implementation of their project/sub-

committee.

WEC Co-leader Role:

It is the role of the co-leaders to ensure the WEC continues to meet its purpose and carry out

their role.

The co-leaders will serve as the communication conduit between leadership and the WEC,

reporting regularly to the leadership team, and collaborating with them as appropriate to

develop and implement WEC initiatives.

The MT co-leader will provide the administrative support to the team through their own

departmental resources, including meeting scheduling, agenda management, minutes, etc.

WEC Co-leader Termination:

In the case where the co-leader(s) is not effectively fulfilling their role/responsibilities, the WEC

Sponsors will discuss with them, and determine steps for improvement and/or discontinuation of their

leadership role. This also holds true for WEC sub-committee leaders.