The CLEMMER Group has been working with the Canadian division of an internationally owned services business. The company has been in Canada for just ten years and growing very rapidly. Early in our consulting to this company, we started working with them to define and more effectively shape their organizational culture, after one of the senior executives read my Globe & Mail article on “Team Spirit Built from the Top” (click here to read the article).

A key part of any culture shaping is clearly defining and living a core set of four values (there should never be more than five). We started the process during a two-day off-site retreat (that included other assessment, priority setting, and strategic planning activities). The CEO and EVP then put together a lengthy first draft refining rough vision, mission, and values we did at the retreat.

We had another follow-up day with the full management team in October where the values were finalized and we directly or indirectly focused our discussions on living the values through their ongoing organization improvement and business planning processes. The CLEMMER Group is now working with them to refine core competencies, extensive communication strategies and processes, leadership training programs, an “(ABC) Way” cultural awareness program rolled out through the whole company, project teams developing and steering detailed implementation plans around the company’s key business and culture shaping objectives, and the like. All of this will revolve around their core values.