Why training and culture change are at the heart of teams' growth

Priority Activator Consultancy (PAC) Client Engagement Manager Celine Alobo (left), PAC Managing Partner Erick Ngala and Hopstede Insights Africa Vice President Okechukwu Okere during the CEOs forum. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Experts and business leaders have underscored the role of culture transformation in driving growth in organisations. They say it brings out the best versions of workers and helps firm's tap into quality talents.

A peer-to-peer roundtable held on Thursday in Nairobi, and which was attended by more than 30 top business managers, heard that culture, learning and strategy are a key part of professional background.

The managers were tipped on the changing organisational cultures and how they can leverage culture to drive and sustain growth.

Mr Egbert Schram, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Hofstede Insights, who was the keynote speaker, asked managers to ask themselves the critical question of 'what's my purpose?' and how they would close the gap between what they have and what they need.

Open-minded

"A thriving organisational culture is about social psychology from an academic point of view. It is how you relate to the work you do, your colleagues and the world," Mr Schram said, adding that CEOs should adopt an open-minded approach rather than operate in silos.

Mr Erick Ngala, the Managing Partner at Priority Activator Consulting, which hosted the event, said biggest assets to organisations is their human resource hence the need to seek a corporate culture that makes people who think differently work together in boosting efficiency.

"There's a correlation between great cultures and robustness," he said, adding: "Our team is keen on working with CEOs and leaders to recruit, align, and develop high-performing teams."

Those in attendance, who included executives from pharmaceutical, banking, construction, NGOs, academic institutions, insurance and other sectors, were urged to take up the culture conversation and the need for continuous training within their teams.

Participants, at the same time, called for deliberate efforts by managers to improve corporate cultures and use data to visualise desired change, with Schram presenting studies that had shown consistency is key to achieving a thriving corporate culture.

"From a study by Columbia University, 90 per cent of CEOs in a sample size of 2,000 agreed culture adds value while just 15 per cent said they culture was where it should," Mr Schram told the meeting.

Higher Education Loans Board CEO Charles Ringera said discussions around culture were critical for the board, especially now that plans are afoot to establish a National Skill and Funding Council that amalgamates the board, TVET, and the University Funding Board.

Mr Ringera said the digitisation of government services puts the onus on state corporations to develop a culture-driven workforce, hence the need for such training for managers.

In attendance were Prudential Assurance CEO Gwen Kinisu, Nairobi Hospital CEO James Nyamongo, HFC MD Peter Mugeni, Philips Pharmaceuticals CEO Newton Siele, Amaan Khalfan of Goodlife Pharmacy, Management consultant Mike Eldon and Catherine Musakali, a corporate governance expert.