2. 32
In this whitepaper, we examine various aspects of
culture and how they impact your organization. We
will then explore how to use that information at the
beginning of the change process so that you are
able to tailor your change process so that you fully
engage your workforce and are able to increase buy-
in and readiness and commitment to your new, more
relevant work environment.
• How today’s workplaces are changing and what
you need to do about it.
• Which 3 crucial questions you should ask your
workforce to ensure workplace transformation
success.
• How to tailor an effective change process for your
specific geographical location and national culture.
We call this model Organic Spaces: an open platform
that leverages user-centric analytics, flexible workplace
settings and recommends a co-creative process where
spaces can be defined, measured and re-defined,
evolving in real-time to meet changing business
objectives and market forces.
Many factors affect the success rate of workplace
transformation. These include focusing purely on
physical and logistical changes instead of people;
failing to integrate a change program from the
beginning by allowing for enough time, budget and
resources; and failing to use an inclusive process that
establishes alignment via conversation instead of
simply delivering information.
One factor often overlooked is the effect of national
and organizational cultural values on a workplace
change program. Assessing the current and desired
organisational culture through workplace surveys is
an important tool for informing workplace design and
change programs.
In today’s competitive and unpredictable
world, existing processes for creating
and maintaining workplace relevance is
no longer in alignment with the realities
businesses face. Formerly, a newly designed
workplace would remain relevant for a
number of years without design intervention.
The current dynamic landscape – where
businesses must constantly evolve to maintain
their competitive edge – means this same static
outcome effectively stifles an organisation.
All industry sectors are becoming more knowledge-
intensive. Once typing, writing, reading and arithmetic
skills were all that were required, but this is changing
with the rising importance of generic skills, such as
communication skills, critical thinking, collaboration,
adaptation to change and the ability to think creatively
and engage with innovation as a continuous process.
This shift requires a complete re-think of how we create
always-relevant workspaces. Instead of outdated linear
processes, today we need to adopt a new paradigm
built on partnership; where all stakeholders in the
value chain co-create products and service solutions
aligned with the needs of business leaders.
The Hub, Adelaide, Australia
introduction.
challenge.
What you’ll discover inside:
Effecting successful, lasting change
your multi-cultural workplace.
3. 54
READINESS FOR CHANGE
Do I believe these changes are needed?
Do I believe the organization can
successfully complete the intended
change?
be more likely to adopt programs that
focus on how the change will increase
the ability to be successful and win.
The Uncertainty Avoidance score
is significantly related to readiness
to change, as these values increase
levels of change phobia. Societies
with high Uncertainty Avoidance
practices should adopt long-term
transformation programs that
emphasize institutional policies to
improve the effects of uncertainty
avoidance practices.
Assessed at a high level, the national
cultural values shown above indicate
Australia has a high base level of
readiness and commitment to change
whereas Indonesia – with its strong
hierarchy and collective society –
starts from a lower base level. Each
country has its own unique values;
delving deep into these findings is
crucial to creating a change program
tailor-made for specific cultural
requirements and raising levels of
readiness and commitment to change
to ensure successful and lasting
transformation.
By understanding national cultural
dimensions (as previously outlined), we
can see how an individual’s base level of
the readiness and commitment to change
is influenced.
The higher the Power Distance between a
boss and a subordinate (for example, in a
strict hierarchy), the lower an individual’s
base level of commitment to change.
As a superior directs a subordinate, it
is logically more difficult to produce an
individual desire to support change.
The higher a culture’s Individualism, the
higher the base level of commitment and
readiness to change. In“individualistic
countries”, employees are more likely to
look out for themselves. If they believe the
inherent benefits serve their self-interest,
they are more likely to support the change
and refrain from engaging in resistant
behaviors.
The higher the Masculinity point of a
country the higher the base level of
commitment and readiness to change.
Masculine countries are more competitive;
they are focused on material success and
the desire to win. Logically, individuals will
If there is readiness to change in an
Organization the change effort will
have a higher chance to succeed.
Readiness for change is reflected in
the employee’s beliefs, attitudes and
intentions regarding the extent to
which changes are needed and the
organization’s ability to successfully
complete the intended change.
Employee commitment to change
is a better predictor of behavioral
change than is organizational
commitment. An effective
commitment to change is defined
as a desire to provide support for
the change based on a belief in its
inherent benefits.
COMMITMENT TO CHANGE
Will I support the change?
Do I believe in the inherent benefits
of the change?
PRAGMATISIM:
Level to which a society will display values that focus
on future rewards, such as persistence, perseverance
and thrift.
POWER DISTANCE:
Measure of influence between a boss and their
subordinate in a hierarchy.
INDIVIDUALISM vs COLLECTIVISM:
Level of societal preference to put individual interests
ahead of the group.
MASCULINITY vs FEMININITY:
Measure of societies dominant traits typically assigned
to gender roles. Masculine: assertive, tough, competitive
and focused on material success. Feminine: caring for
others, modest, tender and concerned with the quality
of work-life. This affects what motivates people.
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE:
Level of discomfort members of a society have with
uncertainty and ambiguity. This affects their support
of promises of certainty.
The Five Dimensions of National Cultural Values is a model developed by Hofestede between 1980-2001. The cultural
dimensions theory is a framework for cross-cultural communication, developed by Geert Hofstede. It describes the effects
of a society’s culture on the values of its members and how these values relate to behaviour. “Culture is the collective
programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others.”(Hofestede)
*Scores according to The Hofstede Centre. http://geert-hofstede.
com/countries.html
As change activities are initiated
and carried out by individuals within
organisations, one must measure
change readiness and commitment
at an individual level.
Start by asking these three high-level
questions designed to determine an
individual’s desire to support change.
AUSTRALIA
CHINA
INDIA
INDONESIA
Fig. 2 Levels of readiness and committment to change
Fig. 1 Five Dimension of National Culture Values
Source: Haworth
Five Dimensions of National Culture Values.
4. 76
australia
As a highly competitive and individualistic culture
with an almost flat hierarchy, Australia’s loosely
knit society expects people to be self-reliant and display
initiative. Superiors are accessible and look for proactive,
success-orientated perspectives with details on how to
succeed. When looking to change, value is placed on past
evidence. Australians also tend to focus on achieving quick
results. Communication is informal yet direct, often uses
humor and places emphasis on opportunity and positive
vision. People expect to be consulted on decisions and
typically feel responsible for success beyond the execution
of specific instructions.
It’s best to consult both employees and managers
equally for their project buy-in. Focus on facts,
figures and trends as proof of transformation
benefits. Be careful not to over-exaggerate or force
a decision on the team – this will reduce trust and buy-in.
Speak in terms of opportunity backed by past results and
outline the greater strategy.
achangeprocesstailoredtoyourneeds.
Involve the whole team as equals, highlighting what’s
important to individuals then empower people to
use unique skills to find solutions. Focus on a plan’s
details emphasizing goal achievement, productivity
and profits. Break down the process into achievable
quick-wins to maintain momentum and communicate
regularly with teams. Give team members
responsibilities that may be outside their official
position description and deal with any potential
conflicts on a direct, individual level. Highlight
transformation benefits in terms of individuals’
improved quality of life and monetary gains. Failure is
fairly accepted as step in progress, provided you get
up and try again.
Many drivers trigger Australia’s ability to
move faster than other APAC countries
to more‘activity-based’workspaces that
support diversity, reduce CRE costs and the need for
flexibility and mobility. Australian workplaces are
generally open plan and are increasingly moving to
non-assigned or free-address work environments.
Managers are expected to sit alongside teams as an
equal and engage with them in an informal manner.
Central offices that provide a selection of places and
ways to work and meet should also be equipped with
adequate technologies that enable this type of mobile
workforce.
China
China is a strongly structured, highly competitive
collective society that is very pragmatic. The
Chinese are comfortable with ambiguity and can easily
adapt to changed conditions. Hierarchical in nature,
individuals are influenced by formal authority. Society is
organized around being loyal to your‘in-group’and giving
preferential treatment to those who belong. Thrifty and
practical about achieving results, Chinese workers are driven
and have a high need for success.
Strong hierarchical structures effectively rule out
participative and democratic learning activities. Instead,
focus on buy-in from the top and mid management to
achieve a commitment to change. Clearly show how the
transformation project will save money and how investment
in workplace learning and skill development now will
provide set the groundwork for future achievements.
Establish early on the measures of success and
communicate clearly how individuals can achieve
this benchmark. Always give clear directions
and ensure individuals will be seen as hardworking
and successful by their in-group. To ensure everyone can
‘save-face’, approach feedback and deal with any negative or
weak attributes of the process quietly through a third party
intermediary.
In very controlled environments,
departments can tend towards silos,
that is, separated from one another.
Management offices are a symbol of
hierarchy and status; meeting rooms will often
be behind closed doors. In more progressive
offices, change messaging focused on investment,
savings and measurement of success creates clear
communication and will provide good motivation
for teams. Also placing semi-enclosed meeting areas
between teams and close to leaders can help foster
collaboration and innovation, keeping in mind these
spaces will need a formal process and clear policies
around how they are used.
solution.
5. 98
India
India’s cultural values are a balance of
contrasts. They are hierarchical in power,
control and direction, yet organized around collective
groups that govern individual expectations.
Furthermore, the concept of Karma means individuals
are self-directed to lead the best lives they can.
With a view to the long-term, people are patient
and comfortable with imperfection and a changing
game plan. While not generally driven to take action
initiatives, visual and material displays of success are
important, but reigned in by the nation’s longstanding
spiritual values of humility and abstinence.
Communication is top-down with preferably clear
directives.
In India, people trust management to lead and
look after them. It is best to begin by gaining
buy-in from senior and middle management.
Always speak in terms of the greater plan and
leverage the values of peers and leaders. Management
should focus on providing detailed training and
clear direction of what is expected, particularly how
individual effort contributes to the wider goal. A
perfect, detailed plan isn’t always needed. Keep the
process dynamic by having managers present issues to
the team and ask individuals
Indonesia
The visible and acceptable divide between power
and non-power in Indonesia is vast. The nation has
a strong hierarchical structure – management is directive,
controlling and prone to delegation; people are expected
to follow up on tasks and instructions. A collective culture
that thrives on highly defined social frameworks, individuals
conform to their‘in-group’ideals with an emphasis on
strong family relationships. High value is placed on‘saving
face’and maintaining harmony in the workplace, where
communication is typically indirect and negative feedback
is often hidden. An individual can be upset but maintain a
smiling façade. In pragmatic Indonesian society, individuals
are motivated by visual symbols of success that enhance
one’s outer appearance, such as being given position over
material displays of success.
Like other hierarchical societies, focus on buy-in
from senior management. They are the ultimate
decision makers and the ones held responsible
for their teams’work. Understand people will
look to their in-group peers and relatives for advice before
making any decisions. Communication from leaders to
teams must be clear and direct; concentrate on money
saved and emphasize the track record and the proposed
transformation’s history of benefits. Delivery of clear details
reduces the fear of failure that would otherwise result in
long-term loss of confidence.
Highlight agreed-upon deadlines and how they affect the rest
of the organization. Clearly establish roles to ensure a senior
member would never do a lower ranked person’s task, as this
will result in‘loss of face’. As team members are concerned
with‘saving-face’(status and social inclusion through pleasing
others), feedback will not be readily provided. Instead, invite
ideas from the team gently and with praise. If negative
feedback is required, gathering it anonymously through a
third-party is best.
In more conservative environments, management
will be separated from teams and the level of finish
between the two will be apparent. Encourage
environments that support clear communication
from the top down. Depending on the level of progressiveness
this may mean co-locating in the same area but maintaining
separation (through status cues, finish, office size, etc.) or using
closed formal meeting rooms to deliver detailed and direct
communication. Introduce informal collaboration areas for
users, always ensuring there is a clear understanding of how to
use spaces, supported by a change management program that
explores and embraces new ways of working.
how individual effort contributes to the wider goal. A
perfect, detailed plan isn’t always needed. Keep the process
dynamic by having managers present issues to the team
and ask individuals how to‘adjust’the system for a solution.
Be mindful that resistance (“No”) will often be hidden. Look
for signs of non-commitment (“I’ll try”or“We’ll see”) and
encourage employees to regularly provide anonymous
feedback – this will help tailor directions clearly and allow
you to adjust the change program to suit.
Encourage environments that support visual
connection to management. Manager should
work in close proximity to their team. A visual
status divide between team and manager, such as a
generous, glass-fronted office, could also prove helpful as a
motivator. Adjacent to each team workspace, semi-enclosed
areas will support training and inclusive, problem-solving
meetings.
6. 1110
MultinationalChemicalCorporation,Relocation
andCultureTransformation.
The Brief
A Fortune 500 chemical company resided in a traditional
office facility that included private offices and high panel
cubicles. Collaboration was supported with large and extra-
large formal conference rooms. The office environment was
no longer supporting the organizational culture and the
workplace was not meeting global workplace standards.
As the organization was expecting to grow in headcount, it
decided to move to a new location and implement an open
plan space with bench style workstations and a variety
of collaboration spaces supported by technology. The
national culture of the country is highly hierarchical (high
Power Distance score), collective (low Individualism score)
and the society can be described as masculine with high
risk avoidance. However, as the company’s headquarters is
US based, the influence of organisational culture on some
of these national dimensions meant the company was
more adaptive to change.
Engage: Preparing for the change
Haworth facilitated a visioning workshop with senior
management to develop a workplace vision, taking into
account reasons for workplace change, business enablers,
barriers and major changes to space and technology. The
project was endorsed by the facility’s CEO and driven by
the head of facility management. Given the hierarchical
culture, this session was hugely important for obtaining
management buy-in. The cultural dimension of high
risk avoidance was exhibited through resistance around
discussions about implementing new ways of working and
creating a workplace of the future. It was concluded the
organization was not yet ready and a solution was found by
creating an open plan office with assigned desks.
Explore: Gathering data and insights
We conducted several interviews with leaders and middle
managers as well as focus group discussions with users.
These engagements allowed us to gather additional data
and insights to inform activities later in the process. Having
a clear understanding about the business, the type of work
people do and the national and organizational influence was
crucial to developing a tailor-made program. This stage was
important for driving an inclusive change process where people
actively participated and co-created their work environment.
While resistance continued during this phase, to fine-tune the
concept it was important for people to share their concerns and
have them taken into account by the organization.
Change Readiness Survey
Employee Change Readiness Survey results indicated people
were satisfied with their current workplace and location. There
was a level of resistance about moving to the new location as
it was perceived less convenient. However, people indicated
they needed more variety of spaces to support activities. These
results were consistent with what we would expect from a
culture that scores high on risk avoidance.
Translate, Conceptualise & Enable
Using the survey results, we developed a roadmap for
the change initiatives as well as a series of targeted
communications that provided project information and
addressed key concerns. We leveraged existing community
groups within the organization to gather information on the
new location and developed a brochure to welcome people to
the new workspace. A participant of the user group discussion
developed (on his own initiative) a short movie to promote the
new area and building. This initiative helped create excitement
process + case study.
ENGAGE
EXPLORE
TRANSLATE &
CONCEPTUALIZE
ANNOUNCE
IMPLEMENT,
SUSTAIN &
REINFORCE
ENABLE
about the new workplace and was a great example of how
enrolling individuals can have a positive influence. As the
power distance between manager and employee was quite
high, a significant amount of time was focused on empowering
middle management to drive change. We delivered a
managers’training program on how to deal with change in
the workplace, how the new spaces would work and how
employees could use them to their best advantage. A group of
change champions were also trained as project ambassadors
and were empowered to address any first questions people had
on the work floor.
Announce
During the months before the move, the change team issued
a series of sequenced updates explaining next steps to keep
employees informed on progress. Before, during and after the
move, we used a variety of communication channels to deliver
messages and support dialogues with users.
When cultures score high on risk avoidance, it is important
to have a long-term transformation program in place to
support the journey and ensure change is lasting. The
influence of national culture on workplace behavior is
significant, so it is crucial to monitor how people use a
space and allow for conversations during the first months
of transformation.
Implement, Sustain & Reinforce
After the move, we facilitated discussions about behavior
in the new open office environment. These led to the co-
creation of office guidelines for the new workplace. A post-
move survey revealed 85% of employees were“satisfied”to
“very satisfied”with how the relocation was supported. In
addition, 80% of employees indicated their new workplace
was better at supporting them to do their best work.
7. 1312
From the beginning of your project, you should tailor your change
program specifically for your organization’s geographical location
and national cultural differences, establishing alignment via
conversation and integrating a people inclusive process with your
physical and logistical changes. Not doing so may mean it’s too late
to create a successful commitment to change. While the aim is total
inclusion, in countries with a particularly high Power Distance focus
on establishing your alignment via conversation with senior and
mid management first.
TIPS FOR DRIVING THE PROCESS
1. Understand how national and organizational culture will
influence your approach, who you communicate with first and
how you attain individual answers to these questions.
• Do I believe these changes are necessary?
• Do I believe the organization can successfully achieve
the change?
• Do I believe there will be benefits in the change for me?
2. Ensure your change program is an integral part of your
workplace project from the beginning, establishing it as part
of your vision and budget.
3. Tailor your program to your unique organizational makeup
and translate values into spaces and services by focusing on
people, culture and connectivity.
By understanding how to approach each unique culture,
we can configure and adapt the change process to the
national and company culture – resulting in a higher
overall readiness and commitment to change.
INCREASES INNOVATION AND PRODUCTIVITY by
promoting new ways of thinking and encouraging skills
growth through learning new ways of doing things.
ATTRACTION AND RETENTION identifies high
performing employees you want to retain.
ENGAGEMENT increases employee engagement and
participation.
WELLBEING delivers a healthier and more sustainable
workplace.
EFFECTIVENESS fosters more effectively engaged,
motivated and productive employees.
INCREASED COLLABORATION results in better ideas and
more efficient decision-making, increasing your bottom line.
benefits of successful change. want to find out more?
REFERENCES
Aldulaimi, Sailan (2012) The National Values Impact on
Organizational Change in Public Organizations in Qatar,
International Journal of Business and Management Vol. 7,
No. 1; January 2012.
Accessed http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijbm/
article/viewFile/14009/9757
Faghihi, Allameh (2012) Investigating the Influence of
Employee Attitude toward Change And Leadership
Style on Change Readiness by SEM (Case Study: Isfahan
Municipality), International Journal of Academic Research in
Business and Social Sciences November 2012, Vol. 2, No. 11.
Accessed http://www.hrmars.com/admin/pics/1302.pdf
The Hofstede Centre.
Accessed http://geert-hofstede.com
Kwintessential: The Translation Company.
Accessed http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/intercultural/
management/guide.html
Readiness for Change.
Accessed http://www.hrmars.com/admin/pics/1302.pdf
Commitment to Change.
Accessed http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijbm/
article/viewFile/14009/9757
For more information, contact martijn.joosten@haworth.com.
For more case studies and additional research,
visit ap.haworth.com/resources.
