Having completed his Master’s in Business Economics from Delhi University, Uday boasts of an extensive three decades long career, and is a trusted advisor to Corporate Boards and CEOs on a range of critical areas, including succession planning, corporate governance, and board evaluation.

Be it a company, family, country or a religious group, everything has its own unique culture. With many, contradiction is possible; therefore, it is particularly important for a business to have clarity on the kind of culture they want to inculcate across their organization. Most companies which have been highly successful in business that have an effective culture, it is definitely driven by an individual - often from the top management. As new employees join the company from diverse cultures, it is important to maintain a continuum in practicing those aspects under it which have played a significant role in the success of the organization. To have a successful culture at workplace, you should first have a clear vision/mission statement in place, identify the kind of culture that might achieve those objectives, and most importantly, the top management personnel must lead by example by practicing that culture themselves.

Additionally, one must keep in mind the critical aspects such as current market dynamics, customer preferences and latest tech advancements while selecting a culture to implement across the organization. In most large organizations, there are multiple sub-cultures underlying the main company culture. Thus, having seamless and hassle-free communication between different departments of the organization is paramount to build a culture of mutual trust and respect among the employees of various departments.

Developing a Culture of Open-Mindedness to Change
There are distinct reasons for changes to happen within an organization. Dynamic environments such as the company getting acquired by another company or when a modern technology/process is implemented, it will demand significant changes to be made within the organization. Thus, organizational culture becomes vital to facilitate this change, as people not being open to change will cause a major hindrance to overall business growth. Also, the top management team has a huge responsibility of encouraging employees to be nimble, open-minded and cultivate a culture of continuous learning, which are a few key characteristics that all

employees must possess for a successful change management within the organization.

Whenever there is any kind of change happening within the organization, individuals being averse to change is one of the biggest challenges that businesses grapple within terms of successful change management. This is often perceived among the middle management, as they have a false notion that any new change that is being incorporated within the organization is going to take away their jobs. Additionally, a few employees also do not want to come out of their usual comfort zones or even feel they might not be competent or productive enough once the new change is implemented. Since people are at the center of every change management strategy in an organization, it is important for the top management to understand why those employees are not open to change and guide them accordingly.

It is essential to prioritize the company over a particular individual to achieve an enhanced organizational sustainability because any bad occurrence to the company will have a direct impact on the workforce, and even their families.

Succession Planning for Long-term Organizational Sustainability
While having the necessary capital and the right product/solution are important, succession planning at all levels of the company is the primary factor that drives other aspects to achieve organizational stability. It is essential to prioritize the company over a particular individual to achieve an enhanced organizational sustainability because any bad occurrence to the company will have a direct impact on the workforce, and even their families. Thus, effective succession planning is paramount for every organization to have a competent person to succeed if any particular employee within the company is leaving his/her position.

There are three key phases for an effective succession planning – before, during and after. ‘Before’ concerns identifying potential candidates to succeed a particular individual once they are promoted. ‘During’ deals with molding them to be successful leaders by helping them develop the necessary skill sets (in case of existing employees) or recruiting candidates from outside and quickly on-boarding them. Lastly, ‘After’ deals with introducing the newly hired candidate into your company culture and to make him aware of the various responsibilities in his new job role. Although hiring experienced professionals from within the industry helps, the best strategy for any organization to have an efficient succession plan in place is to grow and upskill the existing talent within the company.