THE POWER OF PERILS OF USING MEASUREMENT

IN ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE DEVELOPMENT

An Old Mutual Case Study

Liz Murphy

ABOUT OLD MUTUAL

Old Mutual is an international long-term savings, banking, protection and investment Group

Listed on London, Johannesburg, Zimbabwe, and Malawi stock exchanges

Primary locations: Southern Africa, East and West Africa, UK, Europe, US, LatAm, India, China

Adjusted Operating Profit (AOP) 2013 £1,612m

Funds under management (FUM) 2013 £294bn

Number of employees 2013 56,812

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BACKGROUND2008: Financial Crisis

2010: New customer-centric vision:

To become our customers’ most trusted partner, passionate about helping them achieve their lifetime financial goals

ACT NOW! Leadership Actions – our values in practice –introduced to address the shifts in culture needed to drive the achievement of the vision

2011: First Barrett Culture and Values survey conducted across the whole of the Old Mutual Group as a way of measuring culture and progress with the desired shifts

What can be measured can be managed, and what gets managed gets done

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Level 7

Level 6

Level 5

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

Level 1

Personal Values Current Culture Values Desired Culture Values

Matches

Old Mutual Senior Leaders (69)

Entropy = 27%

A FEW OF THE THINGS WE’VE DONEFour themes:

• Accountability (moving from bureaucracy)

• Long-term perspective (moving from short-term focus)

• Customer fist (moving from internal focus)

• Avoiding tough conversations

Annual Leadership conferences focusExecutive leadership teams ‘Alignment’ – self-awareness, building trust, strategic

story-tellingCulture Leads – embedding a capacity for culture change into the businessOrganisational processes aligned – Operating model, performance management,

360 feedback, leadership development, recognition, ExCo LTIPs, business planning, annual reporting…..

Team conversations, local actions and initiatives – no group-wide roll-outs!

THE OLD MUTUAL GROUP

CULTURE SURVEY5

Current Culture Values (CC) – 2012 (64)

SENIOR LEADERS: Current culture 2011- 2014Current Culture Values (CC) – 2011 (69) Current Culture Values (CC) -2014 (66)

5 limiting valuesNo customer valuesFew matchesHigh entropy

4 limiting valuesAccountability increasesCustomer values appearEntropy reducesMatches increase

Accountability and customer values continue to move upNo limiting values in the top 10Even distribution levels 2 to 6Healthy entropy5 matches

CONFIDENTIAL DATA

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RESULTS: SUCCESSFUL DELIVERY OF 3-YEAR STRATEGY

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BUT HERE’S WHAT’S ALSO HAPPENING

.Making this a great place to work

“The results of the Barrett Culture Survey, conducted recently, show that Old Mutual’s culture is strong, healthy and guided by shared values.

Our overall culture survey response rate of 85%, up from last year’s 80%. This is viewed as an excellent result that drives engagement. Our overall entropy score is still a healthy 11%, slightly up from 10% last year.• The number of matching values increased from seven to eight. This

increased alignment is a sign of a strengthening culture.• We have no limiting or problematic values.• In the next couple of weeks, you will receive the results for your particular

business area.”

What do you notice?

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IN SUMMARY: THE POWER AND PERILS OF MEASURING CULTUREPowerful for:• Tracking progress and maintaining

energy for long-term change

• Determining where to focus as described in the desired culture

• Giving equal attention to culture alongside other business goals/metrics

• Creating a common language for the ‘human’ dynamics in the organisation

But beware of:• Routine and institutionalisation

• A fixed ‘right answer’

• Narrow focus on results • Mistaken assumption about how to

‘manage’ culture

• Becoming a happy people indicator

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IN CLOSING

Revolutions in consciousness cannot be made lasting and effective

until legions of people start to work together in concert for a common

aim and, rather than relying on the intermittent pronouncements of

mountain-top prophets, begin the unglamorous and deeply boring

task of wrestling with issues of law, money, long-term mass

communication, advocacy and administration

All we can do, and must do, is to unclench, pay attention, and

take our best next step(Adam Kahane: Power and Love)

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