It’s Contagious.
You may not have thought about it this way, but your company culture is contagious. That can be good news if it’s a healthy current flowing throughout your team members or serve as a detriment to the organization.
What is spreading within the walls of your company culture and within the people who are part of it?
I am frequently approached to work with leaders of organizations seeking to create a healthy culture. It is at that point that I share with them that the culture has already been created. The question is what kind of culture has been created? Getting answers is relatively easy to do when I am granted a couple of “discovery days” to meet with key staff members. This allows me to gather key insights and to steer my approach.
I recently spoke at HR Florida—which is one of the largest SHRM Chapters in the country—about culture. This was the perfect audience to share some of my experiences of working with organizations and highlighting those who have done a fabulous job of creating and sustaining a culture of well-being and high engagement:
As an executive coach, I speak to many top performers around the world. A key step is to consistently seek out what they want to see within their culture and what would they look for most if they were looking to make a change. The following bullet points are the most common answers I receive from these top performers:
Career Growth and Development: This topic is just about guaranteed to surface when speaking with an audience featuring the Millennial generation. They are looking for their future and want to see that they are on a path where they can grow and learn new things. If you aren’t prepared to let them grow, be prepared to let them go.
Flexibility: Of course, this one comes up frequently especially when considering the accelerated pace that our world is changing. Employees are tired of spending time commuting back and forth now that they are aware of what can be accomplished during that hour commute. If being in office is a requirement of the role (i.e. restaurant teams), that is one thing. By contrast, I have recently worked with several companies where they are requiring staff to return regardless of their role. With such a requirement, are you sending the wrong message by telegraphing the unintentional message of you are not working hard enough? As of late, many companies have cultures that are sending all kinds of mixed messages.
Salary: Compensation shifts are moving at light speed right now. In the old days – 18 months ago – you might be able to get away with competitive analysis being conducted twice a year. Those days are gone. In fact, the most aggressive and resourceful teams are looking at this subject quarterly if not more. Are your employees being paid their true value, or has it been a while since you evaluated the compensation structure? Don’t let your competitor catch you asleep at the wheel. Outdated compensation plans that do not fit today’s reality and cost of living have become a huge liability to many organizations. You get what you pay for sometimes and this is something employees are very smart at researching and looking up market values based on what their expertise is within. You won’t attract a high performer if you are paying way below market value. Money isn’t everything to a lot of employees, but it is a huge differentiator for those organizations who lag behind.
Leadership: I could write pages on this topic but the one that comes up the most often relates to employees who are feeling that they aren’t cared for and appreciated. Leaders provide plenty of direction, but they are not connecting with their employees. Even worse, most lack a fundamental understanding of what it is their employees need. Make enough one-on-one time for them so that you better understand what challenges they are facing and what they would like to learn more about. When they do get a call or an email from their manager, most share that it is because they aren’t doing enough or have placed a new lofty goal on them without asking about them as a person and how they can help them. Remember, management is about correcting, and leadership is about connecting.
As I close, ask yourself what the culture within your company spreading? Whether it is good or bad, just remember it’s contagious and others are catching it.
Lead with Love,
Kelly
