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Describe the culture of a utility organisation and the transformation challenges

This is an answer to a question from the 2022 Scottish Water Framework Tender: ''Digital Transformation Consultancy Services Tender''

Section Max Length: 2 x A4 pages

Why Read:

This is a useful read as it highlights VISION's approach to cultural transformation, specifically in a utility organisation.

In our answer below, you will see how VISION will change the culture of an organisation from one of resignation and reservation to one of zeal and admiration by focusing on mood.

You can access the Google Drive folder here.

Brief Introduction to VISION’s work in Culture Change and Transformation

''Please describe the culture within utility organisations including identifying the challenges and cultural shift needed to deliver organizational transformation. Score 4 = Excellent response in all aspects. Area(s) of clear positive differentiation and real understanding of the utilities industry'' - Scottish Water

VISION Consulting has been bringing transformational change to the utility industry for over 30 years and within Scottish Water since 2007. Some of the utilities we have worked with are:

At VISION, we believe that effective culture change is the only way to deliver successful organisational transformation. Neither restructuring nor digitalising does it alone. We use culture change techniques to change cultures, make operational transformations, cultivate leaders, and open the space for innovation and new strategies. In doing so, our benefits surpass client expectations.

We believe that culture is powerful because it enables people in an organisation to see and react to things in similar ways and do so skilfully and habitually, leaving time for deliberation about difficult change. Culture lies fundamentally in the work practices of an organisation and only secondarily in beliefs, stories, rituals, and so forth. Certain practices are critical for conveying the culture. They are practices for making decisions, celebrating, handing-off, and holding people accountable. These practices are important because they engage virtually everyone, have a bit of drama, and when done well significantly enhance operational effectiveness. Culturally, they are important because they convey the organisational mood and style of a culture, and it is the mood and style that unifies a culture. The mood tells people how things matter. For example, in a mood of reservation or trepidation, threatening things matter; in a mood of hope, working on a breakthrough matters. The style tells people how to react to what matters. A culture of reservation with a style of collegiality appeases when threatened. An aggressive style would lead to fleeing or fighting.

Good cultures are easily drawn to decay; hence it is a strategic imperative to monitor and strengthen organisational cultures and even transform them if they are in deep trouble.

Culture Within Utility Organisations

Challenges and cultural shift needed to deliver organisational transformation

Cultures of resignation and reservation have one thing in common. When people see disruptions coming, they try to appease whoever is driving the disruption. Directorates appease one another within the company. The company attempts to appease the regulator and its customers. The company even attempts to appease its workers with promises of life-style balances. Interestingly none of this holds at times of emergencies.

Emergencies bring out a total shift. Whole organisations move into the mood of zeal. Employees become enormously sharp-eyed for catching opportunities to resolve the emergency. Energy and attention levels are high. Everyone becomes opportunistic. Hopping on a helicopter or working 24 hours; all of that seems like nothing. Life is about keeping the water flowing or the lights on, and when the water does not flow or flows too much and floods or the lights go off, then nothing else matters other than repairing the problem. Managers and employees regularly list these moments as the best times they have had at work and moments that make life worth living. Again and again, we have heard managers in the utilities industry ask why they could not have some of that mood and some of that style on a daily basis.

For several years, we worked with managers to bring a mood of zeal and style of pragmatism and opportunism to our utilities clients. We succeeded and succeeded best in customer-facing parts of the organisations where the thrill of the emergency comes most frequently. There we made changes that lasted for years.

Shifting the Cultures of Resignation and Reservation

In both cultures of resignation and reservation, the most important new cultural conveying practice concerns decision-making. It is in decision-making forums that those moods are most clearly displayed and strengthened, so it is there we go to work first.

To shift the moods of resignation or reservation, we have two different coming-to-resolution or decision-making practices that convey admiration or zeal. The admiration practice focuses on making a decision quickly, getting something piloted successfully or on trusting the word of a highly experienced practitioner. The zealous version of the practice focuses on identifying the minimum number of decision-makers, setting up a meeting, setting and keeping a deadline, and lastly on getting a decision made before the deadline.

We will describe these practices in more detail in our value proposition.

Key Information

Title: Describe the culture of a utility organisation and the transformation challenges

Topic: Cultural Transformation

Keywords: Scottish Water, culture, challenges, transformation, tender, tender response, proposal

Type: A4 text

Date Produced: June 2022

Additional Details

Scoring Percent: 7.5%

Max Length: 2 x A4 pages

Writers: Jennifer Cassidy & Reena Sequeira

Reviewers: Charles Spinosa & Peter Luff

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