Special Audio Book Supplement

2 | Culture Spark Special Audio Book Supplement

Culture Spark: 5 Steps to Ignite and Sustain Organizational Growth

by Jason Richmond

Copyright © 2019 Jason Richmond

All rights reserved. No part of this book, in part or in whole, may be reproduced in
any written, electronic, recording, or photocopy form without the prior written
permission of the publisher except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Published by

Chicago, Illinois

www.culturespark.io

contact@culturespark.io

ISBN: 978-1-7337105-0-3 (hard cover)

ISBN: 978-1-7337105-1-0 (soft cover)

ISBN: 978-1-7337105-2-7 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-7337105-3-4 (AudioBook)

LCCN: 2019934186

Edited by Melanie Mulhall, Dragonheart DragonheartWritingandEditing.com

Book design by Nick Zelinger, NZ Graphics, NZGraphics.com

First Edition

Printed in the United States of America

3 | Culture Spark Special Audio Book Supplement

Welcome!
Thanks for listening to the audio version of Culture Spark:
5 Steps to Ignite and Sustain Organizational Growth.
My book contains tools, charts, and templates which, to be
fully appreciated and used, need to be seen rather than
heard. You will find them all in this special supplement—
chapter-by-chapter.
—Jason Richmond
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Getting from Here to There

Measure
The template below, Culture Shift Strategy, illustrates the concepts of leading indicators as a
means to track your culture change progress. In this fictitious example, the business strategy is to
shift from an operational excellence, process-driven culture to one that is more customer-centric.

One of the key measures our sample organization uses is Net Promoter Score and, as such, you
will see it mentioned several times in the template. Net Promoter Score gauges the loyalty of a
firm’s customer relationships. It serves as an alternative to traditional customer satisfaction
research and is correlated with revenue growth.
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Culture Shift Strategy

Leading
Strategic Desired
Current State Planned Actions Indicator
Goal State
Measures

Shift from Business Outcomes Net • Company-wide Business

operational Customer satisfaction Promoter communication Outcomes
excellence to scores as measured Score 9 plan on new Monthly NPS
customer- by Net Promoter strategy and its surveys of
centric core Score 6 ties to company customers
competency values

70% of our business 90% of our • Customer Monthly data on

is repeat business business is service training repeat business
repeat percent
business
Quarterly turnover
of CSRs

Behavioral/ • Training for Behavior/

Qualitative managers on Qualitative
Outcomes how to coach Outcomes
customer-
service skills

Customer Service 10% • Revamping Pulse survey on

Survey: 80% feel hiring process reaction to
our policies are not for CSRs communication
customer-friendly

Customer Service 85% • Review and Quarterly CSR

Rep (CSR) Survey rewrite top 15 survey on policies,
Engagement Scores: customer training, and
70% are engaged or policies management
highly engaged coaching

60% would take 35% • Customer focus Quarterly

another job if they groups evaluations by
had the opportunity managers on
service
performance

40% feel they are 80% Quarterly

adequately trained engagement pulse
and coached on how surveys of CSRs
to provide better
service
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Defining Your Culture through Purpose and Values

Purpose Statement Criteria and Evaluation

Purpose Statement

Criteria Evaluation:
Yes/No

1. Is it a contribution to society? (not a product or service)?

2. Does it answer this question: Why is this work important?

3. Is it brief and memorable?

4. Does it use powerful words?

5. Does it unite efforts and inspire action?

6. Is it truly authentic to us?

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XYZ Company Communications Plan

Action Who Timing

Town hall meetings led

by CEO and other CEO Quarterly
executives

Values listed and defined

Highlight a new value
in a conspicuous place on Communications Team
monthly
the company intranet

Posters of the values

Executive Assistant Monthly
hung in breakrooms, etc.

Talking points
PowerPoint for Human Resources Quarterly, following town
department managers and Communication Manager hall meetings
HR Business Partners

Employee contest on
what values mean to
Human Resources/
them with the winner Quarterly
Culture Committee
selected by Employee
Committees

Human Resources
Train managers and
(consider using an outside
employees the values and Quarterly
vendor to design and/or
their associated behaviors
deliver the training)
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Diagnose
Cultural Diagnosis Diagram

Purpose

Values

Company Communication Codes of Office Setting Organizational

Policies Styles Conduct and Design Structure

Operating Internal Systems Number of

Stories We Tell Position and
Procedures and Controls Layers from
Level Driven vs.
CEO to Front
Equality
Line
Collaboration
HR Policies
and Teamwork
Emphasize
Collaboration
Celebration of vs. Individual
Unwritten
Success/ Contribution
Practices
Support of
Failures

Recognition and
Rewards
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Cultural Walk Tool

Indicator Observations

Management Interaction with Employees

• Formal or informal?
• Only in the manager’s office vs. manager often on the floor?
• Senior managers speak with all levels of employees regularly vs. only
though their direct reports?
• Open door environment vs. employees have to knock or make an
appointment?

Engagement and Emotion

• What are people excited about?
• Are they laughing and energized?
• Are people morose or withdrawn?
• If you walk by desks, are people friendly and comfortable interacting
with you and other senior leaders?

Objects and Artifacts on Desks and Walls

• Desks/cubicles personalized?
• Meeting areas interactive or sterile?
• Family pictures or personal items on show?
• Plants, toys, or knickknacks displayed?

Allocation of Space
• How much space is allocated to whom?
• Is employee position clearly delineated by furniture style or office size?

Displays and Common Areas

• What is posted on bulletin boards?
• What kind of artwork is exhibited?
• How are common areas utilized?
• Are breakrooms used?
• Are breakrooms attractive and comfortable?

Communication and Interaction

• Is there a sense of energy in the room?
• Do people talk with each other or communicate mostly by email?
• Is email typically formal or informal?
• Is hierarchy clearly delineated by where people sit in conference rooms?
• How much do you see people speaking with each other? What is their
tone?
• Are people talking and laughing?
• Do people suddenly get quiet because you or another leader walks by?
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Process and Policy Review Discussion Guide

Key Behaviors Processes and/or

Purpose Discussion Points
Values Supporting the Policies to be
Statement and Issues
Values Reviewed

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Diagnosing Your Recognition and Reward Programs

and Strategies

Way Currently
Values Recognized or Frequency Current Impact Gaps
Rewarded

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.
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Planning: Strategy and Process Alignment

Employee Job Posting Process

HR Revised Job Posting Posting Open and Close

Requisition Approved if Needed Date Determined

Posting Flows to
Posted in System Employee Applies Employee Manager for
Approval

Eligible: Recruiter Interview Positive:

Once Approved, Schedules Interview; Schedule for Manager
Application Moves into Not Eligible: Advises Interview; Not Positive:
Internal Applicant Pool Applicant Advises Applicant

Positive Interview: Mgr.

Advises Recruiter; Not Recruiter Guides Recruiter Advises
Top Candidate: Mgr. Manager on Offer, Current Manager of
Gives Feedback to Compensation, Start Start Date and
Date Coordinates Backfill
Candidate
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Employee Job Posting Process
HR Revises Job Posting if
Needed (Missing Step: Req
Received)
Posted in System
Once Approved, Application
Moves into Internal Applicant
Pool (See previous note re:
bottleneck.)
Postive Interview: Mgr. Advises
Recruiter; Not Top Candidate:
Mgr. Gives Feedback (How well
do mgrs. do this? Consistent?
Give feedback to whom? How
can we improve?)
Requisition Approved
Employee Applies
Eligible: Recruiter Schedules
Interview; Not Eligible: Advises
Applicant (How do we advise?
Needs to be more than a
boilerplate.)
Recruiter Guides Manager on
Offer, Compensation, Start
Date
Posting Open and Close Date
Determined (What is the
right close date for
internals? Key employee
touchpoint.)
Posting Flows to Employee
Manager for Approval
(Potential bottleneck. Not
very trusting of employee.
Why should mgr. have
approval rights? Maybe just
inform or leave it up to
employee to decide.)
Interview Positive: Schedule for
Manager Interview; Not
Positive: Advises Applicant
(How well do we do this?
Consistent? How can we
improve?)
Recruiter Advises Current
Manager of Start Date and
Coordinates Backfill (Potential
bottleneck; negotiation
challenges when releasing
mgr. does not want to let
go.)
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Typical Initial Touchpoint with Company

Type of Kitchen Account

Website Showroom
Customer Designer Manager

Consumer X X X

Home Builder X

Lumber Yard X X

Cabinet Dealer X X X

Example of Start-to-Finish Customer Touchpoint Experience

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Measure
The Culture Journey Game Plan
The Culture Journey Game Plan below will help you lay out your strategy. Remember, tracking
culture change is just one part of your planning and measurement process. Your goal is to see
positive culture change trends over time that correlate with positive business metrics or KPI
changes throughout your journey. A sample scorecard to track progress follows the game plan. I
have also provided you with a sample completed game plan for steps one through six (the
additional steps will be very specific to your organization, making a sample difficult to provide)
and a sample completed scorecard. In both the Culture Journey Game Plan and Scorecard
examples, I have selected business imperatives and metrics relevant to the sample company, a
specialty retail organization.

1. Purpose: Why does your organization exist?

2. Top three business imperatives. (Below are typical ones.)
• Revenue growth
• Market share
• Profitability
• Customer retention
• Time to market
• Quality
• Customer satisfaction
• Productivity
• Other
3. Select three corporate values you want to focus on. Choose values that will be particularly
impactful in driving your top three business imperatives.
4. Use business data to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the top three business
imperatives you selected.
5. Use data and information from employee surveys, focus groups, and your observation tools.
6. Develop tactics to address each of the business imperative strengths and weaknesses and each
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of the values you identified. After developing the tactics to address your strengths and
weaknesses, try to anticipate and identify potential barriers to their execution. Document
approaches to overcoming these barriers should they occur.
7. Develop a communication plan for sharing your plan throughout your entire organization.
8. Goal Setting: Each relevant work group develops 3-5 goals for each of the business tactics.
Relevant work groups will vary depending on your organization. Examples might be
departments, business units, geographic regions, or a combination of these. Goals need to be
focused on measurable outcomes, such as KPIs, cost reduction, percent increases, etc.
9. Develop rewards and recognition strategies for the goals identified.
10. Clarify the key metrics you will track and report on.
11. Develop celebration strategies and activities as milestones are met.
12. Develop interventions for goals and initiatives that are not moving forward or being achieved
as quickly as is needed.

Sample Plan for Steps 1-6 for XYZ Women’s Boutique

1. Purpose: Why does your organization exist?

To make fashionable, professional apparel affordable to working women.
2. Top three business imperatives.
• Revenue growth
• Profitability
• Customer satisfaction
3. Three corporate values to focus on
• Customer-centric
• Teamwork
• Positive Work Environment
4. Business imperatives: strengths and weaknesses
Strengths:
• Revenue Growth: Up 12 percent against goal of 10 percent
• Customer satisfaction: Net Promoter Score 9.2; average customer spend-up 2
percent over LY
Weaknesses:
• Profitability: 27 percent vs. LY 32 percent and goal of 35 percent
5. Values: Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
• Customer-centric: Rated 4.5 out of 5 by employees on values survey
Weaknesses:
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• Teamwork: Feedback from focus groups not consistent. Varies significantly from
department to department. Employee Values Survey rating 3.2.
• Positive Work Environment: Engagement Survey work environment rating 3.0;
lowest scored category. Turnover of high performers at 33 percent.
6. Business Imperatives and Values Tactics

Business Imperatives Tactics Potential Barriers Overcome Barriers

Weaknesses: • Do deep dive into Some managers may not Assign a coach or mentor
focus group and be very adept at building to help them.
Teamwork values survey data to teamwork.
determine where
teamwork is weaker.
• Set up managers’
meetings to discuss
and develop action
plans with HR.
• Review exit interview
information for
further data.
• Determine if
management training
is needed on how to
lead and develop
teams.

Positive Work • Do segmented

Environment analysis of
engagement scores
in this category.
• Where are the lowest
scoring departments
and regions?
• Train managers on Managers do not follow VPs hold them
how to develop and through on plans. accountable; build into
implement action goals and formal
plans to improve.
expectations for
• Review comments Performance Reviews.
from employees on
this topic to look for
patterns.
• Work with employee
committees to
develop
improvement plans.
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Scorecard
The purpose of the scorecard is to help you create a simple, visual tracking and reporting tool to
measure progress on an ongoing basis. What you call certain sections will depend on your
organization and what you currently measure as well as the business drivers for your industry.
The key to making this process work is consistent monitoring of progress as often as is needed.
In the example I provide, the tracking is quarterly. There may be metrics you need to track more
frequently (monthly, for example), and you simply adapt this template accordingly. You may also
need to add or delete key metrics depending on what your organization tracks.
In addition, let your normal reporting approach determine how you report results. Some
organizations prefer to report actual numbers, while others prefer a green-yellow-red color
coding for their scorecard.
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Culture and Business Imperative Scorecard

CURRENT DESIRED
SOURCE Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
STATE STATE
CULTURE/
Engagement scores
VALUES
Pulse survey score
Undesirable
turnover*
Focus group
feedback
Unique visits to
company intranet
where new values
are posted
BUSINESS Sales/Revenue
METRICS** growth
Net profit
Sales per employee
Customer
satisfaction
Stock price
Market share
KPIs Quality scores
Complete shipment
scores
Inventory Turnover
CULTURE/
Engagement scores 80% 90%
VALUES
Undesirable
33% 20%
turnover*
Unique visits to
company intranet
68% 75%
where new values
are posted
BUSINESS
Revenue growth 10% over LY 12%
METRICS
Net profit 35% 27%
Sales per employee 100K 120K
Net Promoter Score 9.2 9.4
KPIs Complete shipment
97.5% 98%
scores
Inventory turnover 8 8

*Undesirable turnover is defined as turnover of employees you do not want to lose. These can include top performers,
high potentials, and/or hard to fill critical positions.
**The business metrics and KPIs you track will vary depending on what you identify in your Culture Journey Game
Plan. What I have included here are the most common ones.
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5 Steps that Will Ignite Your Business Culture and

Inspire Employees to Drive and Sustain Growth
Great companies set themselves apart from competitors by recognizing the key to continual success is
energizing and empowering their most important asset …their people.

In Culture Spark: 5 Steps to Ignite and Sustain Organizational Growth, business development expert,
Jason Richmond, delivers proven insights that help you define, diagnose, plan, measure, and sustain an
enterprising culture that breeds employee achievement and peak success.
Through tips, templates, case studies, and action plans, he shows you step‐by‐step how to:

• Understand what culture really is and why a great one is essential today
• Recognize why fulfilled employees are your key to growth and customer
• satisfaction
• Develop a culture where purpose and profit are of equal value and importance
• Define and shape the culture you want and unleash the full power of your people
• And much more!

For interactive versions of tools

found in this supplement
and more, visit our website at
www.culturespark.io