Dear Syed,
Ok. You wanted to do whatever HR can do? Fine. Go through the following points:
a) If you wish to create interdependent and cooperative culture then first and foremost, you should ensure that all the departments are treated equally. There should not be whip hand of any department.
b) Secondly, focus on creating the culture of performance. People should speak through their performance. They should be retained for their performance.
c) Create a strong induction training. Show the videos of the current or past employees wherein the newcomers get examples of the contribution by the employees from all the departments in the development of the company. As a part of induction you can also give examples of employees who have lived with values and improved the brand image of the company.
d) You may make job rotation compulsory. After every three years, each person should work in some other department for at least for three months. This will help them in understanding the work and intricacies of other departments.
e) You can make policy on job rotation within the same department also. I have seen in many companies how work becomes person centric. People become egotistic because they start thinking there is no replacement for them and the certain work will come to standstill in their absence. Therefore, every department should have proper process manual.
f) Next thing you can do is to create SOPs for all the departments. Work should be carried out as per SOP. No person should have authority to change the SOP. Many times when a person at the top like VP or Director changes, he starts making his rules and regulations. He makes his own SOPs as well. This should be forbidden.
g) Many times posts on this forum have occurred that show how problems happen when proper HR policies are not there. I can quote example of "
Personal Question By Colleagues? - Business Etiquettes" or "
Company Assets Policy - - Fixed Asset Register"
h) Next thing you can do is to create atmosphere of justice. Follow the principles of justice while dealing with the cases of discipline. There should be no room for on spot dismissal. You should implement
progress discipline while dealing with indiscipline.
i) High standards of recruitment is another way of shaping the culture. Remember, quality of the goods and services depend on the quality of the manpower the company has.
j) Next, imbibe on the employees that they are the real brand ambassadors of the company. What they do and what they do not do enhances or reduces the brand image of the company. For outsiders all the employees are same.
k) Lastly, what I will tell you now is very difficult but not impossible. To foster culture of cooperation, your managers should know how to avoid and negative conflict and substitute positive conflict in its place. This is much easier said than done as it requires tremendous maturity. For this you need to ensure that some professional trainer trains them on "Conflict Handling Skills". I have done this training for couple of my clients. If you wish you can organise my training for your managers.
The key to cooperation lies not in qualification or experience but "maturity" of your managers. A person may be well qualified and may have long service but may not be that mature. All the troubles start with immature thinking or behaviour.
All the best!
Dinesh V Divekar