Is your organization going through a merger, an acquisition or revamping its focus? The culture integration should not be ignored. The biggest challenge is that conducting due-diligence is a tricky aspect of moving forward and many executives are unprepared for the time, energy, and effort it takes to manage the process successfully.

Conducting cultural due-diligence involves investigating, assessing and defining the cultures of two (or maybe more) distinct business units through a cultural review to discover areas of similarity and difference that will impact integration efforts and the achievement of strategic objectives. The results can be used as a foundational tool for creating integration plans and a baseline for measuring organizational progress in the integration effort over time. Conducted as early as possible in the process, the process can be used as a benchmarking tool throughout the integration effort to measure progress and confirm that human systems are being aligned to business objectives correctly.

A cultural due-diligence process covers essential cultural and organizational effectiveness such as:

Leadership: vision, mission, values, business strategy development, leadership effectiveness and ethics

Relationships: trust, collaboration, inter/intra group relationships, community and customers

Communication: feedback, information sharing, employee trust in information
Infrastructure: formal procedures, processes, systems, policies, structure and teams Involvement & Decision Making: authority levels, accountability, expectations and the decision making process

Change Management: creativity, innovation, recognition, continuous learning and diversity

Finance: perception of financial health and the role of the employee and the level of financial comprehension and impact on the business

Cultural Descriptors: a list of predetermined values which can be customized to reflect the organization’s values.

Climate: open-ended questions that capture the stories and suggestions from employees.

The goal is to end up with a kind of cultural resume that lays out the unique organizational culture of each business unit and integrates them into one clear message. While the process of conducting this cultural due-diligence won’t fix an organization that might be pursuing the wrong strategy, it can cut down on informal practices, internal politics, lack of trust, resentment and just plain bad management that could sink the right or better strategy.

Like any assessment that is conducted, the information is only as good as what you do with it. The efforts involved however, can be well worth the time, energy and effort. People are the backbone of any business and are at the heart of integration effort. While most of my clients would say that “People are our most important asset,” I often wonder if that’s true. The financials are reviewed every quarter and customer satisfaction surveys are completed every quarter, but employee satisfaction surveys are conducted every 18 months at best (and not at all – at worst).

Conducting a cultural due-diligence works. If you are undergoing an integration effort, some strategies that will improve your potential for success include:

• Involve your HR/OD department or an external HR/OD consultant in the integration process from the start.
• Focus on finding the best practices within each business unit that support the achievement of objectives rather than illuminating areas of weakness.
• Use a validated assessment tool that collects both quantitative and qualitative data.
• Include culture as part of your due-diligence process. Be prepared to address the incongruences and gaps between business units with observable action.
• Communicate…communicate…communicate! Keep employees in the loop about the progress of the integration effort.
• Involve employees in the integration effort.
• Allocate dedicated time and resources for this project (culture change/transition).
• Measure and report on project progress regularly.
• Communicate results and progress. Seek input on areas of improvement on what you are doing.
• Share and celebrate successes.

Joni Daniels is Principal of Daniels & Associates, a management consulting practice that specializes in developing people in the areas of leadership and management, interpersonal effectiveness and efficiency, skill- building, and organizational development interventions. With over 30 years of experience, she is a sought after resource for Fortune 500 clients, professional organizations, higher education, media outlets and business publications. Joni can be reached at http://jonidaniels.com