If strategy is the game plan for success. Then culture is the playing field.
Historically, Zeda has been known as an organisation that is driven by purpose and filled with people who are committed to their success. In 2022, their lives took on a whole new trajectory as they were listed as an independent entity on the JSE (), a massive leap for the 1967 car rental company.
This new journey, as exciting and significant as it was, came with its own challenges. Some behaviours, rhythms, leadership styles, management, and ways of work no longer served them. With growth and evolution, comes the need to mature and adapt.
Zeda Executive recognised the need to design a new culture enabling sustainable strategic performance.his new journey, as exciting and significant as it was, came with its own challenges. Some behaviours, rhythms, leadership styles, management, and ways of work no longer served them. With growth and evolution, comes the need to mature and adapt.
Zeda Executive recognised the need to design a new culture enabling sustainable strategic performance.
THE ASK
To design and embed a purpose-led performance culture that activates 1500+ hearts, connects 400+ leaders, and delivers sustainable strategic performance.
Culture is what is taught.
What is done.
What is passed on.
What endures.
THE SOLVE
A culture programme and supporting plan that demystifies, defines and aligns the culture with Zeda’s strategy for sustainable performance, in order to mature culture as a strategic capability. This would be achieved by empowering our leaders, enabling our people, and aligning the Human Capital Ecosystem.
How do we turn the complexities of organisational culture into something tangible? Something that is unique and distinguishable, yet deeply rooted in Zeda’s core purpose of Connecting Humanity, Together?
We create a manual.
A blueprint.
A playbook.
This playbook would define and decode their new organisational culture into digestible, bite-size chunks and anchor Zeda leaders and employees alike to their Big Why. Allowing their new strategy to adapt, mature, and thrive.
EXCOCONNECT AND LEADERCONNECT
It was time to communicate this culture playbook to Exco and Zeda leaders, and, based on the insights report that we had compiled, unpack how leaders would need to show up for Zeda colleagues. We would cascade this new, performance-led culture to the rest of the business so that Zeda colleagues could live with their purpose of Connecting Humanity, Together.
We facilitated two connect sessions that communicated the new strategy going forward and reflected on the insights we had discovered through our 11 focus groups, where we had discussions with 55 Zeda colleagues. After analysing the data, seven key themes emerged, from which we derived five essential values. These were communicated in these sessions. Inspiring, motivating, and igniting Zeda leaders and colleagues alike to change and to like it.
During these connects, Zeda leaders engaged in insightful discussions around these five essential values and how they could bring them to life in a palpable and visceral way. This was identified as crucial to revitalising their organisational culture and changing the lived experience of Zeda colleagues from the inside out.
Through the culture playbook, and these connects, Zeda leaders were able to show up in a new way for their people, resulting in a ripple effect through colleagues in the organisation, culiminating in a positive impact on the way colleagues showed up for the people who matter most, the customers.
