‹ Culture and Change Management
Organizational Culture
Culture mapping and evolution: we diagnose the lived culture, define the culture the strategy requires and turn the gaps into a practical evolution agenda.
What is organizational culture?
Organizational culture is the set of recurring behaviors, symbols and systems that define how an organization makes decisions and operates, whether or not anyone is watching. It either sustains or holds back the strategy. WePeople maps the lived culture, not just the stated one, and decides with the Board and senior leadership what to preserve (essence) and what to evolve (progress) so that behavior sustains the strategy.
The thesis
The stated culture fits in a frame on the wall. The lived culture is the one that decides.
Every organization has a culture, even when it does not name it. The problem appears when the written values and the behaviors in practice tell different stories: the strategy ends up competing with the way things really happen. In a NewVantage Partners survey published by Harvard Business Review, 92% of large companies named culture, not technology, as the main barrier to becoming data-driven. And according to McKinsey, companies that address mindsets and behaviors are 4 times more likely to succeed at change.
Signs your company needs this
- The culture described in the values is not the culture lived day to day.
- The Board approved a new strategy, but day-to-day work still follows the old model.
- Mergers or acquisitions brought together teams with incompatible ways of operating.
- The strategy is clear to the leadership team but does not reach team behavior.
How we work
Five phases, from mapping to perpetuity
Cultural evolution happens from within, with the Board, senior leadership and influencers involved from the first phase, and with governance and success metrics defined at the start.
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Culture mapping and journey planning
We understand history, values and context, map behaviors, symbols and systems, and align with the Board and executives on what to preserve and what to evolve.
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Involving leaders and influencers
Workshops with senior and middle management, a shared vision of the change, clear roles and stakeholder mapping to anticipate resistance.
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Rolling out organizational, local and relational communication
Culture narratives, communication plans by audience and region, materials for leaders, roadshows and recognition, with effectiveness surveys.
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Mapping impacts, coherence and learning
We align behaviors, symbols, systems and learning tracks so the desired culture is lived consistently.
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Support and perpetuity
We train teams to sustain the culture, build change capability and track adoption with qualitative and quantitative metrics.
Related case study
Grupo WLM
Cultural evolution led together with change management, aligning behaviors with the new phase of the business.
See the case studyFrequently asked questions
Organizational Culture in practice
What is organizational culture?
It is the set of behaviors, symbols and ways of working that repeat over time and define how the organization makes decisions and operates, whether or not anyone is watching.
How do you diagnose a company's culture?
By comparing the stated culture with the lived culture: the behaviors, symbols and ways of working that actually repeat, and how much they sustain or hold back the strategy. The diagnosis is the starting point for the evolution plan.
Are culture and climate the same thing?
Culture is the set of recurring behaviors and ways of working that define how the organization makes decisions and operates. Climate is how people perceive the work environment at a given moment. That is why the diagnosis looks at the lived culture, not just the climate.
How long does a culture evolution take?
Changing behavior starts gradually and requires engaged leadership, rituals and metrics over time. Our reference journey spans up to eight quarters, with overlapping phases. The final timeline depends on the starting point and the business's ambition and is defined together with the diagnosis.
Let's talk about your scenario.
Tell us about your culture, performance or leadership challenge. We will get back to you with perspectives that apply to your context.
Get in touch