Client Description JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services began administering retirement plans in 1989 and currently serves over 300 plans and over a million participants. With a rich tradition of leadership reaching back to 1799, JPMorgan Chase & Co. is one of the most respected names on Wall Street and around the globe. The Retirement Plan Services division in Kansas City wanted to set a leadership role within the firm by creating a culture improvement program initiative.
Business Challenge JPMorgan as a firm had a tremendous value for organization culture. CEO Bill Harrison was quoted as saying, “The one quality that will distinguish being good versus being great, in my opinion, is culture.” The challenge was to develop a subculture within the retirement plan services division that matched the overall culture of the firm while selling this new idea to both the divisional associates and the firm’s upper management. Scott Bideau, Cephas Innovation President, created and led an effort called the “Culture Club” whose purpose was to formulate and promote a positive culture that supported and advanced the key elements of the organizational direction.
Solution The culture change program stressed the key elements of the organization – values, purpose, vision, and strategy. The first task of the program was to solicit input from individuals at all levels of the organization to gain a sense of what the current state of the organizational culture was. An organizational survey was completed by numerous associates, posing questions such as:
The individuals in my organization could recall each of our organization’s core values
Every individual in my organization knows who his or her “customer” is
Our organizational structure is so clear that every individual understands who is responsible for what as it relates to his or her role.
Next, a culture change committee was established to determine the positive cultural elements to either create or improve. The answers to the organization survey where utilized to establish a baseline for improvement. This committee was made up of volunteers from all levels of the organization, including upper management and lower level associates. The resulting output of the “Culture Club” was a core, written set of values for the organization, a detailed list of the organization’s products and services, a direction statement for both the organization as well as each of the management teams, a documented organizational structure with role definitions for each associate, a measurement plan for project success criteria as well as the employee year-end review process, and a clear rewards structure that included monetary compensation as well as non-monetary incentives. All of these cultural elements where captured on a balanced scorecard and used to measure progress toward cultural improvement.
Business Impact The “Culture Club” was considered by many of the organization’s associates to have several immediate successes. Employees and managers alike enjoyed seeing the core values and direction of the business actually written down and displayed within the organization, instead of being filed away somewhere for limited exposure. Rewards programs where setup to include a “Kudos” bulletin board and a monthly newsletter that not only pointed out the person rewarded a “Kudos,” but detailed the reason why that person was nominated to reinforce the positive characteristics of that individual that others should strive for. Continued improvement strived toward a culture that consistently produced outstanding results for the organization’s customers, motivated the associates to perform at a higher level of achievement, and enabled the organization to better adapt to changing conditions, both internal and external.
