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A Proven Strategy for Leading Organizational Change
Human resources executives often serve as critical change agents within an organization. As Josh Greenwald, a human resources executive at TIAA, notes, the process of implementing organizational change is difficult but ultimately rewarding, fostering a sense of purpose that drives the business forward. The core of this work is influencing employee behavior.
"We’re in the behavior change business," Greenwald said. "And it’s really hard, and it’s exhausting, but it’s really rewarding when it happens.”
Aligning Corporate Culture with Business Strategy
A successful change initiative must be directly linked to the organization's strategic plan. Greenwald's experience at TIAA in 2013 provides a clear example of this principle in action.
The Challenge: Outdated and Unknown Values
While working on a larger strategic plan, the HR team at TIAA questioned if the company had the right culture to achieve its new strategies. They discovered that the corporate values were a decade old and largely unknown to the workforce.
“If you walked the halls and you asked people what the core values were, if you were lucky, maybe one in 10 people could tell you what the values were,” Greenwald said.
The Solution: A Leadership-Led Refresh
To address this gap, Greenwald's team engaged the executive committee to redefine the company's core values. The goal was to establish a culture that would actively support the new strategic goals. This process involved deep collaboration with leadership throughout 2013 to ensure the new values were right for the company's future.
The Key to Success: Earning Employee Buy-In
Conceptualizing change isn't enough; successful implementation hinges on employee support at every level. This requires creating an emotional connection to the new values.
"The values are something you need to wake up every morning and it just oozes out of your pores. It guides your decision making,” Greenwald said. “If you’re not emotionally committed to it, it doesn’t have the same impact.”
Top-Down Definition, Bottom-Up Embrace
Greenwald emphasizes a "top-down, bottom-up" approach. At TIAA, the CEO and leadership team demonstrated their ownership by dedicating the entire annual leadership conference to the new values. This was followed by behavioral change workshops for all employees.
“Culture is defined top-down but embraced bottom-up," Greenwald explained. "In order to get this to work, we needed the top of this organization to really feel like they owned it.”
The enthusiastic support from leadership was the catalyst that spread the change throughout the company, making it one of the most successful change initiatives in the CEO's tenure.
A Repeatable Framework for Leading Change
Greenwald’s approach provides a reliable strategy for implementing cultural and organizational change. The core steps involve identifying behaviors that support corporate strategy and securing employee investment in those changes.
- Anchor in Strategy: Every change initiative must be rooted in the business strategy it aims to drive.
- Secure Leadership Commitment: Gaining buy-in from senior leaders is the most critical and difficult step. With their full support, any organizational change becomes achievable.
- Demonstrate Value: To earn employee buy-in, leadership must clearly articulate why the change is necessary and how it connects to the company's broader vision.
While the specific tactics may vary based on the people and internal dynamics, this strategic framework remains a proven path to shaping a business's success. '''