Transforming culture is the hardest
change an organization can make. It also is the one that produces the greatest
benefits.
Every organization has a culture – a collection of mindsets,
actions and behaviours that define how things get done and how people interact.
Changing them is difficult because they are hardwired into all aspects of the
organization. Also, these norms are constantly reinforced by stories told (good
and bad), visual symbols seen, and rewards and punishments given. They don't
change easily.
Culture change is definitely worth the effort. It can
eliminate unproductive behaviours, build capabilities, and realize outcomes
currently not possible. It also can increase people’s engagement, create
personal meaning in their work, and enable achievements they can take pride
in.
In February 2016, Toronto Police Service formed a Transformational Task Force with a mandate to "develop and recommend a modernized policing model that is innovative, sustainable and affordable." Recently, the task force published its final report: Action Plan: The Way Forward, Modernizing Community Safety in Toronto.
The report identifies cultural change as
being central to implementing all recommendations. It also notes the size of
the task given the highly regulated, procedure-driven and, as some stakeholders
have said, "restrictive and inflexible" nature of emergency
service organizations.Wendy Gillis' Toronto Star article, Neighbourhood Policing at Centre of Toronto Force's Plans for Change, explores the types of cultural change needed to adopt a recommended "neighbourhood-centric policing" model. Officers will be dedicated to specific communities for a minimum of three years and will have a mandate to partner with communities and support agencies to co-develop solutions to issues.
The officers will be more empowered to make decisions to customize service-delivery based on the needs of the community. They will be selected based on their interaction, collaboration, partnering, engagement and empathy skills. Importantly, the ability to demonstrate these capabilities will be a key part of their career development including evaluation, rewards and promotion.
The report identifies cultural
change as being central to implementing all recommendations. It also notes the
size of the task given the highly regulated, procedure-driven and, as some
stakeholders have said, "restrictive and inflexible" nature of
emergency service organizations.
Wendy Gillis' Toronto Star article, Preparing for the Changing of the Guard, explores the types of cultural change needed to adopt a recommended "neighbourhood-centric policing" model. Officers will be dedicated to specific communities for a minimum of three years and will have a mandate to partner with communities and support agencies to co-develop solutions to issues.
The new model requires significant changes to how officers operate and are managed. They will be more empowered to make decisions to customize service-delivery based on the needs of the community. They will be selected for these roles based on demonstrated supportive skills – interaction, collaboration, partnering, engagement and empathy. Importantly, demonstrating these capabilities will be a key part of their career development including evaluation, rewards, and promotion.
Here are six ways Toronto Police
Service can enable the culture change needed to implement task force
recommendations:
Set expectations for cultural change success
The report acknowledges that
culture change takes time. Be more specific. It will take at least a year to
define current and future mindsets and behaviours and build awareness of them
across the 8,000 members and external stakeholders. The new ways will also
need to be integrated into training programs and people management processes.
Year one will show few gains on their performance scorecard even if they
execute perfectly – culture change is a multi-year initiative.
Include members of all key stakeholder groups on the implementation team
Full participation will ensure
breadth of planning, reduce risk and enable faster transition. This includes the
police union that has been critical of the report's findings; engaging now will
reduce resistance and save time later. As Alok Mukherjee, former
Toronto Police Board Chair cautions, "Unless the association agrees,
you won't be able to do it.” All partnerships need to begin on the
implementation team.
Align HR processes with the new culture before building it
People's behaviour is guided by their
managers and the rewards they give. Launching culture change that conflicts
with how incentives are earned leads to resistance and preservation of the
status quo. Force-wide hiring profiles, training, goals, assessments, rewards
and promotion criteria all need to be in sync with the new culture before
building begins. HR processes consistently aligned with future expectations
send a powerful message that leaders are serious about transforming the organization.
Clearly define leaders' roles and provide support to fulfil them
Leaders' behaviour
define an organization's culture. Since people emulate their leaders, being
clear on the mindsets, actions and behaviors they need to demonstrate to their teams is an
important early step.
The report states that transformation is the Toronto Police Service Board's most important priority for the next few years. Board members will provide support through "resources, advocacy, advice, and priority setting." Being clear on how they will do so needs to be a key part of the change management strategy. They will need support to fulfil their roles including knowledge, skill building, feedback, and coaching. Plan and resource for it.
Design and schedule leadership review meetings now
Progress reviews are essential to
ongoing transformation management. The performance scorecard designed to
facilitate them looks comprehensive and complete. Define the ways of working
around using it now, before time pressures risk deprioritization and cutting
corners – how it will be discussed, how much time will it require to properly
do so and what process the team will use to follow up on advice given are
important decisions that will impact the quality of reviews. A bonus tip:
secure an early spot on the Board's agenda to minimize risk of shortened time
slots or member fatigue.
Begin with pilot tests to refine thinking and demonstrate value
Translating recommendations into effective
implementation plans requires pre-testing. Small trials provide feedback on
what does and doesn’t work and uncover practical adjustments to achieve desired
outcomes. Pilot tests also produce positive results observed by stakeholder
group members. Testimonials from these people can make believers of skeptics and
create demand for quicker roll-out of the program.
Successful culture change is a requirement for any large transformation. It aligns people's mindset, actions, and behaviours to enable adoption of new ways of working. It also builds capabilities and creates outcomes that could not be achieved within the status quo. As Chief of Police Saunders said in the report, "the members of Toronto Police Service are the organization's greatest assets." Building a new culture will enable them to create their recommended future.
Phil
