Over the last few weeks, we have talked about –
Now I want to help you create a great culture where talent is lining up to work for you and customers are lining up to purchase your products by sharing 7 must-haves! The good news is that the answer doesn’t lie in sky-high salaries, ping-pong tables, and flashy perks.
7 Must-Haves
1. Purpose and values
Purpose and values are essential to defining the culture. You must not only articulate them and post them on the wall. You must live by them within the organization. Leaders and employees must be held fiercely accountable for the values in order to protect the culture. And the purpose and values must be regularly communicated and reinforced.
2. Employee recognition/appreciation
Everyone wants to feel appreciated. According to a study by Terry Berry, employee recognition/appreciation was rated the top motivator for performance by 67% of workers. Further, a Forbes study showed that 58% said giving more recognition was the top thing that leaders could do to improve engagement. Recognition efforts should be tailored to the employee’s preferences, authentic, timely, and specific. In order to increase recognition, organizations need to:
Train managers on the importance and mechanics of recognition.
Make it easy by creating avenues for recognition. For example, peer recognition programs can be very effective – and I like recognition programs that help identify exemplary performance in the Core Value areas.
3. Regular efforts to hear the voice of the employee
You must create listening opportunities to gather qualitative and quantitative data about how things are going with your culture. This will help confirm if your culture is motivating your employees or may also alert you to signs of danger. You can use surveys that measure engagement and culture to obtain honest feedback. Focus groups and stay interviews are also good sources of data. In addition, quantitative data such as low turnover, high retention, ease of hiring, productivity, and high customer engagement can help you determine that things are going well.
4. Good managers
Managers impact 70% on an employee’s motivation and act as the organization’s strongest connection to its employees. They also play a big role in how their teams view the company overall. For this reason, it’s important to spend time training and developing managers so that they nurture employees as well as reflect the behavior and culture you want to create within the company. Check out our leadership development options that can help!
5. Transitioning managers to coaches
It is critical to develop your managers to be good coaches. In fact, according to Gallup, transitioning your bosses to coaches is the number one thing that organizations can do to increase employee engagement.
Topics that should be included in this training include giving regular feedback (positive and developmental), listening well, and coaching (guiding others toward outcomes). Once managers are trained, it is important to insert expectations around regular two-way feedback opportunities into your culture such as one-on-ones, quarterly performance discussions, career conversations, and roles and responsibilities discussions at least once a year.
Check out the upcoming Boss to Coach opportunity.
6. Growth and development opportunities
Employees that don’t feel that they have the opportunity to learn and grow are three times more likely to leave.
Coaching will automatically help to elevate employee growth and development as this is an intrinsic component of coaching. To enhance the culture further, employers should consider things like:
Mentoring programs
Learning and development workshops
Job shadowing
Stretch assignments
Career paths
Career conversations
7. Wellbeing and Flexibility
Employees who feel good at work are the heartbeat of a positive company culture, so don't hesitate to invest in the holistic well-being of your people.
When it comes to benefits that improve company culture, employees consider professional development opportunities, flexible work schedules, and mental health support to be the most important, according to a LinkedIn report on global talent trends.
There are many different ways organizations can address these needs – and it doesn’t have to be expensive, including:
• Offering flexible working hours;
• Organizing mental health sessions such as meditations or training sessions;
• Providing enough paid time off;
• Creating employee support groups;
• Training managers to be empathetic leaders;
• Offering subscriptions to mindfulness apps.
Want some assistance elevating your culture?
Check out the Best Practices in the top section of my website
Ask me about the 3-Step Culture Catalyst Framework. I just worked with an organization that increase engagement scores by 20% year over year using this framework!
#culture #bestpractices #engagement #purpose #managers #leadership development #wellbeing #hrconsulting
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