Awara Group provides corporate culture audits to help clients identify weaknesses and develop plans to upgrade their culture. They take a holistic view of the business, examining organizational structure, processes, policies and behaviors. The audit identifies issues across key areas like strategy, communications and HR. After discussing findings, Awara helps shape a change strategy engaging employees. To succeed, companies need a clear vision and strategy, communicated throughout the organization.

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A corporate culture audit -
Awara’s unique approach
Jon Hellevig, Managing partner of Awara Group
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonhellevig
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonhellevig
E-mail: jon.hellevig@awaragroup.com
Website: http://www.awaragroup.com
Awara has the expertise, resources and in-depth under- Awara’s approach:
standing of the Russian business environment needed to considering a business in its entirety
help our clients build a modern, innovative and winning
corporate culture. By a corporate culture audit, we can Awara is different to other organizational consultants be-
identify the weaknesses in the corporate culture and helpcause we look at a company’s entire corporate culture
draw a plan for upgrading it so that the company can in our audit. This is in line with our conviction that a
reach its full potential on the Russian market. corporate culture is the aggregate reflection of all actions
of a company, decisions and behavior of its management
In this paper, we explain how Awara carries out a corpo- and all of its employees, as well as all the business pro-
rate culture audit and how we can help you to implement cesses. That corporate culture is the sum total of all be-
a desired corporate culture in Russia. havior and operating practices (formally sanctioned or
not) of each individual employee as part of the collective
of employees. We do not, as the typical organizational
consultant does, restrict the concept corporate culture to
psychological issues such as “the mindset and instincts”
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2. of employees and soft-issues as corporate traditions and tomers and former employees; and we may even act as
rituals. We thus look at every element of the business a mystery shopper making test purchases of goods and
in unison to understand what part of its culture needs to services.
change in order to reach its full potential. This, whereas Below we present the main categories of issues that we
the psychologically bent organizational consultants con- focus on in a corporate culture audit.
centrate merely on the psychology of behavior, relying
on surveys and casual interviews. CHECKLIST OF MAIN CATEGORIES OF ISSUES
IN A CORPORATE CULTURE AUDIT
We believe that really business management skills are
needed in order to identify and change the issues that Main Categories of Issues in a Corporate Culture Audit
affect a company’s culture. We analyze the key aspects
of the company’s business in terms of how they are or- 1. Mission, vision, strategy
ganized, and how they function and engage the best spe- 2. The organization model
cialists in the relevant fields of business to do so. In this -Corporate Organizational Structure (legal entities)
work we engage the best -Staff organization
specialists in the under- 3. Level of Teamwork in the company
lying fields of business. 4. Decision making systems
Our team consists of -power hierarchy – decision making processes
management consultants, -authorizations
organizational consult- -delegations
ants, lawyers, tax spe- -empowering – taking ownership
cialists, accountants and -supervision
IT specialists, as well as 5. Internal Communication practices, procedures and
human resources special- rules
ists. 6. External Communication practices, procedures and
rules
We then describe the pre- 7. Brand Image
sent reality in regards to 8. Adequacy of IT-Systems for the corporate culture
those issues and identify (ERP, CRM, etc.).
problem areas. This con- 9. Accounting procedures and systems
cludes the audit part of 10. Reporting procedures
the work, and after that we move to the change process 11. Corporate policies, rules and other norms
which starts with discussing the audit findings with the -Formal policies
key executives. After the dialogue with the company ex- -Actual policies (i.e. formal vs. actual policies)
ecutives we develop an action plan, and then we go on to -The degree to which the policies are actually adhered
assist the company in actually implementing it. to
12. Document flow
The main audit highlights the flaws in what should be the 13. Human resources policies
primary aim of each firm: to profitably satisfy customer 14. Interactions with customers at each stage
needs. We ask the question: is this company organized 15. Degree of risk optimization
for success? We look for obstacles preventing a business 16. System of Corporate Governance
from reaching its full potential. We reveal what stops the 17. Internal Control systems
company from having a modern and flexible business 18. Creation of organizational capital
environment in which innovation can thrive.
How we implement a strategy for change
Our work on the audit consists of an expert analysis of
the key aspects of business by looking at the facts as After the audit, we engage the company’s executives in
they can be observed. Depending on the case, and the a discussion about our findings, and together we brain-
client’s willingness, we may also employ a variety of storm for solutions. This process is carefully designed to
other methods. These include formal and informal inter- allow leading executives to better understand their busi-
views with top management, middle management and ness and its place in the market.
specialists; questionnaires and surveys; focus groups;
interviews with external sources such as suppliers, cus- Using SWOT analysis, executives identify Strengths,
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3. Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats facing the com- The mission statement defines the main purpose and
pany. Using the PEST method, executives identify Po- aims of the company, and what it will do to achieve its
litical, Economic, Social, and Technological factors that vision. It sets out the goals the company will pursue, and
affect the environment. Executives may also want to the ways it will accomplish them. It defines the kind of
consider ecological and regulatory factors. industries the company should be involved in, the prod-
ucts and services it should offer, and what change is nec-
Guided by their vision and mission statements, execu- essary for success.
tives will consider what their company will do, where it
fits into the current market, and how it will win over the There is some overlap between the vision and mission
competition. When they have arrived at their strategy, statements. They feed into each other. The main function
they engage all key employees, including middle man- of both statements is to create a sense of direction and
agement and specialists, to further develop it. opportunity for the company. They are essential parts of
the strategy-making process.
Sometimes it is also helpful for companies have a
statement identifying the company’s core values
– the principles that guide internal and external
communications and conduct. It doesn’t matter if
statements of vision, mission and core values exist
as separately published documents or not. What
matters is that they are considered, and reflected,
in the strategy for how to go forwards.
Planning a strategy is really about a deep analysis of the
It is important to engage key employees for two reasons. company’s market place, its competitive position and its
Firstly, because these are the people expected to lead and direction. Strategy is essential to understanding what a
manage the change, it makes sense for them to be part business needs to do to be a success.
of shaping the strategy. Secondly, because these are the
people who hold the knowledge that informs the strat- The strategy contains guidelines for allocating human,
egy, these people know how the business works. financial and capital resources. It gives instructions for
how the company can achieve its ambitions, and sets fi-
When putting the strategy into practice, the whole com- nancially and quantitatively measurable goals.
pany needs to be engaged. All individuals have to be
made aware of the new strategy in terms they can un- • Does the company have a pronounced strategy? Has
derstand. They need to feel the commitment to change the strategy and vision been communicated and un-
as their own. To encourage the whole company to feel a derstood? Does the company have an assessment
part of the change, leaders need to regularly and effec- of its corporate culture? Does the company have a
tively communicate the strategy to all. pronounced goal of an ideal corporate culture that it
wants to reach? Does it have officially pronounced
The importance of vision, mission, and strategy values and a mission? Does the company have pro-
nounced ethical standards, if not, does the company
More often than not, the reason a corporate culture isn’t have ethical standards that are tacitly known
working is because the company lacks a properly articu- • How do these pronouncements compare with the ac-
lated vision, mission and strategy. Vision, mission, and tual reality
strategy must be properly understood before an effective • Do staff members believe in the products and ser-
strategic plan can be put together. vices of the organization
The vision statement is short, succinct, and inspiring. It If you want to discuss this article, please contact
explains how the leaders see the future business envi- the author:
ronment, and how the company fits into this. It outlines
Jon Hellevig, Managing partner of Awara Group
where the leaders want the company to be in the future,
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jonhellevig
and the steps needed to get there.
LinkedIn page: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonhellevig
E-mail: jon.hellevig@awaragroup.com
MOSCOW, ST.PETERSBURG, TVER, YEKATERINBURG, KYIV, HELSINKI
WWW.AWARAGROUP.COM