Maryna Starodubska’s Post

"Practical evidence-based learning helps us see our organizations' future clearly"; "we recognized our team dilemmas in cases we worked on and suddenly all 'puzzle pieces' fell into place"; "we view our organizations as systems now through 'values-culture-generations-feedback-conflict resolution' framework". This is a small part of participants' feedback after yesterday's completion of my 4-module 👉 "Internal Communications and Organizational Culture" course at Kyiv-Mohyla Business School for top-management and 10 partner organizations of "Innovations for combatting HIV epidemic", implemented by Pact Ukraine, FHI 360, and International Charitable Foundation “AIDS Foundation East-West” (AFEW-Ukraine). Consulting profession is immensely rewarding, but most our projects are confidential. We are invisible experts, mentors, and assistants, who (publicly) stand aside and rejoice in our clients' achievements. Teaching is a different story - the public side is extremely important here as it proves that systemic learning can produce quick and long-term results. For me, teaching at kmbs is reality testing for scholarly evidence and proof that solid and properly 'packaged' theoretical models do work in practice. 📌 During 4 program modules, program participants studied the following: ➡️ MODULE 1. Organization's internal communication system: components, workings, role of values:  ▪️values of Ukrainians in times of war - societal trust, degree of cohesion, polarization and its consequences; ▪️8 components of internal communication system - the "skeleton" that enables contact and adaptability of the organization; ▪️mutual impact of cultural and organizational values - making values actionable, 'behavioral models' for values, why compatibility of organization values is no less important than what those values are. ➡️ MODULE #2. Effective teams communication practice in different organizational cultures: ▪️what organizational culture is and how it develops; ▪️ what to do with a "salad" of organization's cultures some which are incompatible; ▪️ how organizational culture type influences behaviors, communication formats, and leadership styles. ➡️ MODULE 3. Managing multigenerational teams: ▪️what are "formative events" and how behaviors of different generations at work emerge; ▪️values profile of generations in Ukraine's workforce - how they manifest in subordinate and leadership roles; ▪️how to manage a team of 4 generations and keep your wits. ➡️ MODULE 4. Feedback, "toxicity" prevention, and conflict resolution at work: ▪️providing feedback in Ukraine - impact of cultural relationship orientation and low public trust on perception of what is said; ▪️5 feedback types by purpose and 3 feedback levels (behavior, task, process); ▪️4 types of conflicts (informational, emotional, ideological, strategic) and resolution tools. 💙💛 Working with people giving hope and comfort to those who need help, is always an honor and a privilege.

Week 7 of my eight-week course on organizational development and change management in the International Business Administration, Master of Arts program at TalTech School of Business and Governance, TalTech – Tallinn University of Technology is the last content-rich activity before the course ends. Topic 👉 “Goal setting in effective organizations, organizational transformations, strategic change, challenges for future organizations”: ☑️ Goal-setting systems' evolution - from MBO to KPIs and OKRs, what effectively formulated goal looks like:  - co-created with employees; - clearly and measurably stated; - moderately complex (easy and unattainable goals demotivate); - prioritized by leaders and teams; - negotiable and open to modification should input conditions change; - subdividable into smaller goals for different teams. ☑️ Top-down and open-source change: although 80% organizations implement change in downward “cascade”, only 43% of changes are successful, with awareness gap between different organization levels is 31% - 51% at executive level and 20% at line level. With “open” approach, 58% of change is successfully implemented, it takes 33% less time, engagement grows by 38%, retention - by 46%. Change awareness gap is also minimal: 63% at executive level and 60% at line level (Gartner). ☑️ Organizations can be transformed using 4 different models: - Participative: Microsoft transformed this way when Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer. - Charismatic: was at the heart of famous Zappos culture transformation by Tony Hsieh. - Forced: used in Mittal Steel-Arcelor takeover, publicly presented as a “merger of equals.” - Dictatorial: Elon Musk is heading down that path with turning Twitter into X. ☑️ During large-scale transformations, compatibility of planned changes with organizational culture is paramount, as strong culture can seriously hinder or stimulate desired change. There are several strategies here as well: (1) ⬆️ need for change + ⬇️ compatibility with culture: managed risk, focus on engaging influential people and changing key processes; (2) ⬆️ need for change + ⬆️ compatibility with culture: managed risk, focus on demonstrating logic of change and maximizing involvement; (3) ⬇️ need for change + ⬆️ compatibility with culture: low risk, focus on strengthening culture, and most employees will drive change voluntarily; (4) ⬇️ need for change + ⬇️ compatibility with culture: unmanageable risk, different strategy needed, change is not compatible with culture and is undesirable. 📌 We complete the week having mastered a volume of material: 6 workshops on various organizational change aspects, quizzes, reflections and exam presentation are behind us. The greatest vote of confidence in a professor is when majority of students who have taken your elective course (of several dozen to choose from) remain engaged, complete assignments, and work in class until its completion. So, I am grateful to my offline group for their trust.

It’s the most rewarding and humbling feeling when the participants of my programs at Kyiv-Mohyla Business School apply learned insights to practice and share their experiences! There’s no better motivation to go on :)

Week 6 of my eight-week Organizational Development and Change Management course at the International Business Administration, Master of Arts program at TalTech – Tallinn University of Technology, TalTech School of Business and Governance - is exam time 🔥 My students delivered first parts of Organization Change Strategy Presentations based on the "Twitter acquisition by Elon Musk" case, they have been working on since the course began. Case package includes ~40 analytical and media articles, 10 videos, and content from 6 class seminars on the case. Since TalTech expected me to combine in-depth theory and application practice, the course does not have one final exam. Instead, the material is mastered through:  👉 4 independent multiple-choice tests (category - difficult); 👉 1 structured reflection with a set word count;  👉 2 presentations with analysis and conclusions on the case; 👉 1 comprehensive report with strategy recommendations for case-related changes. 📌 This week's task was not easy: analysis & conclusions document is evaluated independently of how students present it because it must "speak for itself." In practice, change recommendations and proposals are approved by several decision-makers who often will not interact with their authors. However, to get inspired by each other's preparation experience, students made their presentations, gave and received feedback on two questions: (1) what makes this presentation effective? (2) what can we suggest to strengthen the document you saw? To ensure students were in fair and comparable conditions for preparing presentations, not only they worked with the same case package, but also were given a certain final document structure in terms of content (each item below is a specific template) and length: ➡️ Situation analysis: key events and their factors, professional assessment of the impact of events on companies, conclusions from expert and analytical materials (1 slide). ➡️ Analysis of 5 stages of change: in particular, assessment of the need and diagnosis of culture and propensity to resistance (1 slide). ➡️ Determining the model of adaptive orientation at Twitter before and after Elon Musk became a shareholder (1 slide). ➡️ Comparative analysis of values and "points of conflict" in endemic Twitter culture and the culture "imported" by Elon Musk (1-2 slides). ➡️ Preliminary "diagnosis" of current changes: forces of influence, changes on goal-setting, values, psychosocial systems, and structure levels (1-2 slides). This week's assignment grading is based on the above criteria and 15-minute presentations revealing the depth of course material understanding, tools and concepts used. ☑️ Overall, we had fun, although everyone was a little nervous, as change management is a complex discipline. Serious decisions and significant costs depend on mastering tools and understanding how to identify and enact change. Students did work hard, but the results were worth totally it!

👉 What to do when the majority of managers in the organization, focused on developing high-potential employees, do not meet the HiPO criteria? 👉 Are there personality traits defining employee propensity for high performance, potential, or certain types of toxic behavior? 👉 What does EVP for a problematic organization look like? 👉 What factors of managerial motivation should be balanced to increase productivity? 👉 Identifying and dealing with "toxicity enclaves" in the organization. These are just a few of the dilemmas we analyzed with the participants of my "Employer Brand as an Asset" program 2nd module. In the 3rd program season, people from business, government, and non-profit sectors were learning and sharing their experience 🔥. 📌 April 10-11, 2024, Margarita Postupaieva, FCCA, Deloitte Ukraine Audit Practice Director, and I discussed the following topics with program participants: ➡️ Cultural underpinnings for EVP in Ukraine - which (mostly Western) employee branding practices will not work in Ukrainian business without adaptation. Adjustment of HR practices to the specifics of other national cultures. ➡️ The productivity-potential paradox (HiPRO vs HiPO) - how to strengthen an organization not just with productive performers, but also with strategic skills and knowledge for future development. Challenges in identifying and "growing" high-potential employees in Ukraine. ➡️ Combination of personality traits that underpin HiPO behaviors: conscientiousness, adjustment, curiosity, competitiveness, ambiguity acceptance, courage (High Potential Traits Inventory). ➡️ EVP "control points" at three stages of interaction between candidates and employers: pre-application, application, post-application experience. ➡️ Prevention and elimination of "toxicity" and 8 toxic manifestations of employees and managers: "obsessive talkers", "gossipers", "rebels without a cause", "aggressive", "hyper-anxious and suspicious", "obsessive perfectionists", "narcissists" and "pathological procrastinators". Eliminating systemic stimuli for such behavior in the organization. As always, the module ended with a real-life case study on creating an EVP for different types of candidates for a company with imperfect (to put it mildly) working conditions and serious organization culture challenges. It is truly rewarding to see how a cross-sectoral audience thinks and shares practices and experiences 💙💛. Olena Diadikova and I are already planning the next, 4th season. You are welcome to follow the dates here: https://shorturl.at/gDNOS

Heightened demand for justice, person-company fit over person-job fit, public disclosure of work problems, "toxicity" as protest, values-based management are just a few employee communication trends in focus for the participants of Module 4 "Effective Communication: Reputation Management Practice" program at Kyiv-Mohyla Business School. In program's 14th season, a seemingly counterintuitive insight emerged: emphasis on 'hard skills', competitive pressure in culture, and 'people are cogs in a machine' approach are increasingly failing in times of war and reduced talent market. We spend too much time at work for it to lack meaning and bring constant distress. 👉In module #4, "Internal Communications and Culture: Employee as a Reputation-Builder, Opinion Leader, and Influencer," Kateryna Duboiska (Dmytruk) and Margarita Postupaieva, FCCA (Audit Practice, Deloitte Ukraine) and I worked with participants on the following : ☑️ Wartime labor market context: predominantly 'in-group' trust in and across teams, search for values match with employer, external polarization permeating teams and causing conflicts, remote work "eats away" at corporate culture and engagement - if you manage those using offline era methods. ☑️ Building internal communications system from scratch and uniting generationally, professionally, and geographically diverse teams. Be it a family company or a corporation, resources of "heroism" and "informal connections" are finite. Without procedural connection between values, business goals, team objectives, job requirements, and KPIs, internal communications will lack relevance and impact. ☑️ When an HRD tells you about values-based approach to managing talent, it's no surprise. But when Deloitte Ukraine Audit Director does so - it's a different kind of insight entirely. When 'big 4' largest company shows you how corporate values affect productivity, it's a big 'reason to believe' for C-level. ☑️ Preventing and reducing "toxicity" on peer and superior level: effective and destructive leaders' roles and characteristics, identifying systemic and procedural causes of organizational "toxicity". ☑️ 4 types of justice in the employee-employer relationship: distributive, interactional, interpersonal, and procedural. If company culture resembles "game of thrones", it's worth checking employees' justice preceptions. 💙💛 Designing and teaching at kmbs programs is my way of supporting our people professionally. Participants join us from different sectors (business, government, NGO) locations, and time zones. When people choose to learn when they are sick, have urgent matters, or when it's 3:00 am on their end, it is a "vote of confidence" that I and our speakers appreciate. 📌 There is one module "Measuring communications efficacy, designing and evaluating social programs" left till the end of season 14. Евеліна Григор and I have already booked season 15 dates starting December 12, 2024, registration is open at: https://shorturl.at/eBCQU.

Week #5 of my eight-week Organization Development & Change Management program at TalTech School of Business and Governance was about "Work team development, high performing systems & Learning organizations". As the course is approaching completion, we are looking at making larger organization's systems conducive to and capable of effective and lasting changes: ☑️ Job enrichment & characteristics theories and practice - combining 'hygiene" factors and motivators to boost team performance based on its members' specific needs - be it recognition, challenge, advancement, etc. Balancing task variety, identity, complexity, and significance with the right degree of autonomy produces intrinsic drive to do well even when the job itself is not easy. ☑️ Self-management teams - any manager's dream or nightmare? How can a team with no structure, hierarchy, status symbols, privileges, strict controls, or layoffs perform productively? Turns out, with transparency, evidence-based approach, shared decision-making and profits - many things are possible. ☑️ Corporate culture as a 'key' to unlocking performance potential. MIT Sloan data show that toxic culture is 10x more predictive of attrition than compensation; 20% employees departures are caused specifically by company culture; most prominent feature (66%) of destructive cultures is disrespect. ☑️ Learning as a way to boost organization systems' capacity has a strong business case. LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report-2023 shows that strong learning culture produces 7% increase in promotions to management, 23% - in internal mobility, and 57% - in retention. Key skills for L&D success in 2024 are: interpersonal (+73% year-on-year), presentation (+64%), problem-solving (+57%), people management (+57%). ☑️ Systems 4 analysis of team management in organizations based on the following system types: authoritative exploitative, authoritative benevolent, consultative, participative. The template helps to analyze who really makes decisions, how information moves around, formal vs informal leadership, and how responsibility is (not) shared. We completed week 5 with understanding of how 'big systems' inside an organization function, the role of appropriate motivation for team performance (and no, money does not motivate, it prevents dissatisfaction), as well as benefits and limitations of highly productive self-management teams. Believe it or not, not every organization is ready to let go off micromanagement and presenteeism in exchange for high results. And, systems 4 analysis serves as a good background for discussions around systemic internal (in)efficiencies and how to handle them. Course details: https://lnkd.in/djeSKhBj

You may have noticed that I measure my programs at Kyiv-Mohyla Business School in "seasons", akin to TV series. The reason is my re-working program content and cases to meet the context in which our participants operate. So every next season of the program becomes a "sequel" to the previous one - same topic, but a bit different content. 📌 "Internal Communications and Corporate Culture: Strategic Level" program has completed its 17th season or 8th consecutive year, and we are already preparing for the 18th, which will take place this June. 👉 In the 2nd module of the program's 17th season, jointly with Viktoriia Sydorenko, Head of HR at Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine | Suspilne Ukraine and Diana Berman (DTEK Grids), we worked with 35 participants from 10+ industries on the following: ☑️ Leadership in Ukraine in times of war - what is and is not leadership, what types of leaders there are (they are not always crazy visionary charismatics) and under what conditions they are effective, what people do not fit in a team under a certain type of leadership. ☑️ Middle management and its involvement in talent management and communications. BCG and HR Institute data shows that ~80% of employee engagement depends on the behavior of middle management, and trust in them should be ~10-20% higher than in top management - in a healthy organization. ☑️ Employee engagement - its incentives, types (intellectual, social, emotional), and support tools. By the way, that not all types of engagement require employee alignment with company values, but only with such alignment will they work for "their" company and not "until the first offer comes along." ☑️ Toxicity - 8 possible behavioral manifestations in the workplace, stimuli and impact on productivity (one toxic person in a team of 20 is enough to cause a ~30-40% drop in productivity). Predictive Index data shows the most toxic manager behaviors include favoritism, lack of open feedback, non-transparent work demands, and lack of work ethic. ☑️ Our guest speakers shared their experience of communicating unpopular measures and difficult decisions to employees and reorganizing internal communications system during the war in a regionally dispersed company with tens of thousands employees. ☑️ The large group case was a real-life task to transform corporate culture of a large company, where the "top" wants to change, the "middle management" resists change, and the "bottom" has no clue about any change happening ))) Евеліна Григор and I are grateful to program participants for their trust and active engagement in the audience. 35 people at the program in wartime is about continuous development and seeking ways to support their teams in three sectors - business, government, and nonprofit 💙💛. Therefore, my goal is to create a safe space for them to enable sharing of experiences, asking questions, and expressing thoughts and doubts. More about the program: https://shorturl.at/befj6