Time To Flourish

Women-owned business

Is It Time For a Culture Make-Over?

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Every organization has a culture.   Whether you have 10 employees or 10,000 employees, your organization has a culture.  Some cultures are methodically and strategically designed and maintained by the organization. Other cultures happen to the organization. The question you must ask yourself, is the culture at your organization what you want it to be?  Is it productive?  Are the employees engaged and happy?  Do employees stay? Do employees refer others to work there?

In reviewing culture surveys, a consistent theme is that executives tend to have a much higher opinion of their workplace culture in comparison to the feedback from their employees.  In other words, there tends to be a gap between how executives think their employees feel and how the employees actually feel. 

An organization’s reputation for workplace culture is usually well-known in their local community or even on a global scale.  If you asked your friends or colleagues to list companies with a toxic workplace culture and to list companies with a great culture; they would easily create that list based on either their own personal experiences or stories from others.  But what about the rest of businesses?   By definition, toxic means “containing or being poisonous material especially when capable of causing death or serious debilitation”.  While many organizations don’t necessarily have a toxic environment, they often do have much room for improvement.  They are in need of a culture make-over!

Sometimes organizations start out with a dynamic workplace culture but overtime it shifts.  When an organization goes through rapid growth in a short period of time, or experiences a change of ownership, or the founder retires; all of these types of events and others can cause the culture of a workplace to shift dramatically.  And if the culture isn’t a priority and culture isn’t part of the strategy then that shift is often for the worse.

Many organizations do a lot of things right, but they fall short on being a “best of” or top-tier company to work for because they have not made their culture a part of their strategy.   SHRM reported that approximately $223 billion has been lost by companies in the past 5 years from costs associated with employees leaving due to the workplace culture.    So, even if you don’t consider your workplace to be toxic, it’s probably worth evaluating.  If you have not conducted a comprehensive and inclusive survey of your employees in the past 12 months, then it’s time for a culture survey.  All improvements start with knowing your true baseline. 

Here are 10 signs that your organization needs a culture make-over:

  1. There is poor and/or haphazard communication.
  2. It is sometimes unclear to employees how decisions are made.
  3. There are instances of favoritism.
  4. There are instances of nepotism.
  5. Not all the bosses maintain the open-door policy.
  6. Employees feel unappreciated at times.
  7. Some of the good employees have been resigning or are job hunting.
  8. There is no clear succession planning in place.
  9. Employee professional development and career pathing is non-existent or lacking.
  10. There is high volume of gossip and drama.

If any of these resonate with you, then your organization is ready for a culture make-over. Contact Time To Flourish to learn more about how to “Makeover” your workplace culture.

Workplace Culture and Remote Workers – How To Make It Work

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Building a productive and collaborative culture is undoubtedly a difficult initiative requiring the commitment of everyone, from the very top to each branch and department.  Business owners and CEO’s acknowledge that employee engagement is crucial.  They are allocating resources to build a great workplace culture such as staff positions focused on people and culture, and talent optimization resources such as The Predictive Index.

One workplace trend that is presenting a significant challenge is the move towards greater numbers of employees working remotely.  There is great value in this trend including increased productivity, employee satisfaction levels and decrease of fixed real estate costs.  In fact, one study found that 73% of all departments will have remote workers by 2028 (Upwork, 2018).  So, the obvious question is, how do you build a productive workplace culture when you are managing employees who telecommute? 

Here are a few recommendations for building a great workplace culture for your remote teams.

  • Review/create Organizational Values:  If your organization has not selected a set of values that guide direction and mold workplace culture, then, make it a priority to create them.  If possible, involve all your employees in the process of selecting your values which will result in a sense of ownership across the organization.  This process will boost your culture in a positive way.  If you already have organizational core values, ensure that they are integrated and evident in the day-to-day business. 
  • Communicate culture:  Workplace culture is kept alive by including it in our conversation and our actions.  The challenge is to create a virtual world reflect the same values that exist in the brick and mortar world.
    • Incorporate workplace culture into each meeting by integrating core value and mission into the meeting objectives.
    • Ensure that the values and mission are evident and visual.  (incorporate them into presentation slides, emails, intranet portals, internal forms, etc.)
    • Ensure that remote workers are subject to the same culture as if they worked onsite.  For example, if your organization has an open-door culture at all levels, create a virtual open-door policy providing the same access and transparency.  If the culture is high energy and fun, then plan for ways to extend this to all remote workers.  For example, a virtual “State of the Company Pep Rally”, or maybe a virtual “Let’s go to the Movies” afternoon.
  • It’s crucial to foster a team environment from Day 1
    • Introduce new team members using video conferencing.  Have your team introduce themselves and mix it up sharing fun facts.
    • Devise a system where new team members are required to interact with other team members early on (mentor system, committee contribution, etc.)
    • Encourage sharing of best practices among the team to draw new team members into the fold.
    • As the leader, learn about your team members, strengths, areas for development, preferences, etc. 
  • Communication:  The challenge of managing remote workers is the tendency to have one-way communication.  Encourage open and multi-direction communication to eliminate feelings of isolation and separation.  Isolation and disconnection will lead to disengagement.
    • Establish a very specific system of communication
      • One-on-one calls/meetings
      • Group/team meetings
      • Weekly status updates
    • Schedule regular “all staff chats” using video conferencing as frequently as possible
    • Employ chat tools such as “Slack” to encourage communication and exchange of ideas
    • Keep it fun – for example, trivia question of the week, predictions of sports outcomes, discuss cliffhangers on commonly watched TV programs, etc.
  • Employ solid management skills
    • Get to know each member of your team
    • Quickly identify atypical behavior to catch potential issues
    • Learn individual strengths to create best partnerships/groupings within the team
    • Be cognizant of the need to vary management styles when working with a multi-generational workforce.  Ensure that you are sensitive to their “comfort zone” and work to draw everyone into the same space for highest productivity.

Global teams across multiple time zones experience similar challenges and certainly could benefit by similar strategies to open two-way communication.  Focusing on the workplace environment that you build for your remote employees will increase the advantages of a remote workforce.  The alternative will create issues which will negatively impact your growth and financial success.

Time To Flourish Becomes Newest Certified Partner of The Predictive Index

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Time To Flourish Uses The Predictive Index to Help Clients Maximize Workforce Productivity

Time To Flourish is now a Certified Partner of The Predictive Index (PI). Time To Flourish will provide talent optimization services with PI’s science-based methodologies to empower clients to align their people strategy with their business strategy to achieve optimal business results.

Offering over 35 years of collective management experience, Sandi Rapp and Maria Veglia help businesses accurately define the true competencies needed for specific positions. With data from PI, the Time To Flourish team can help businesses greatly improve their success in hiring top talent, designing winning teams, managing change, influencing productivity, and ultimately driving growth to achieve their business objectives.

Time To Flourish is a women-owned business offering consulting and performance improvement services. We partner with our clients to develop significant and lasting solutions to impact financial performance, employee retention and engagement. These custom solutions are developed in partnership with our clients and are based on an extensive, multi-faceted assessment. Schedule an appointment to learn more here.

About The Predictive Index

The Predictive Index (PI) is an award-winning talent optimization platform that aligns business strategy with people strategy for optimal business results. Sixty years of proven science, software, and a robust curriculum of insightful management workshops make PI the solution for any company looking to design great teams and culture, make objective hiring decisions, and inspire greatness in their people anywhere in the world. More than 8,000 clients and 150+ partners use PI—including Nissan, Citizens Bank, DocuSign, Subway, 47 Brand, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Omni Hotels—across 140+ countries. Learn more at https://www.predictiveindex.com/.

Time To Flourish will work with clients to uncover the root cause of business challenges and to implement the data-driven tools provided by The Predictive Index to boost employee engagement, workplace culture and financial performance.

To learn more about our services, email us at Contact@TimeToFlourish.net .

How strong is your EXTERNAL Team?!

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One of my family members was recently diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and we were discussing how important it is for her to lean on her tribe.  Tragedy can show you there are people in your corner that you never might have previously realized…unfortunately the opposite is also true.  You can find out that someone you thought was a part of your inner support circle, wasn’t really up for that role.  

Conversations like this have a tendency of causing you to reflect on many things in your own life. After many other personal and professional reflections, this conversation eventually had me thinking about the many external team members that have supported organizations that I have been a part of in my past. It also made me think about just how valuable it is to build a strong external team.  Successful leaders spend a substantial amount of their time building and maintain high performing teams, internal teams. People are the most important asset any organization can have so it only makes sense that a significant amount of time is invested in them.   But what about the amount of time invested in building your external team?  Do leaders spend the appropriate amount of time vetting and maintaining a high performing external team?  By external team, I mean the professionals that support your organization through services, software and products but are not employed by the organization.

Your corporate attorney, auditor and/or CPA, your employment attorney, marketing agency, recruiting agency, insurance broker, payroll company, IT solutions, business consultants, outside trainers, the list could go on depending on the size, scope and industry of your organization.  The key is remembering that all of the people that service or support your organization are also a part of your team and require management and leadership.

When I was brought into one organization as the CEO, they were in the middle of a legal battle that was portrayed to be insignificant in both financial consequence and the amount of time to be invested to the matter.  I quickly found out both of these things were not exactly accurate.  More importantly I also learned that the organization was using an attorney because that attorney was “who they always used”.  The unfortunate truth is that the size and scope of the matter had outgrown the expertise of this attorney.  That error cost the organization considerably.  I am not implying that a member of your external team who has always been good to you can’t continue to be a solid member of your team.  I am saying that you need to continually invest the time to reassess your external team to ensure that the level of service/products you needed yesterday versus what you need today and will need in the future will continue to be met by your external team members. 

A great external team can be a true difference maker for your organization.  The right IT solutions can ease frustrations, increase efficiencies and even contribute to greater work-life balance for your employees.   A professional recruiting agency can reduce your stress by having candidates discreetly lined up and ready to meet with you when you need to make that important staffing decision.  Your corporate attorney, regulatory attorney and cloud-based IT solutions could be the concoction that finally helps you sleep better at night knowing you have all the proper regulatory and safety precautions to protect your organization.  And if you live in any of the states (like NJ) with ever-changing employment laws, your labor attorney might quickly be a person you keep on speed-dial!

Your external team is an extension of your organization.  Make sure that team is properly staffed with all the right players!

Accountability – The Key To A Positive Work Culture

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Accountability in the workplace is recognized by all as a critical component for success.  I once had a supervisor who was razor-focused on accountability.  It was part of every conversation, call, meeting and email.  The problem was that we never did anything to achieve accountability other than talk about it. All talk and no action is a sure way to fail.  So, as a manager, how do you successfully promote a culture of accountability?

Workplace accountability is defined as the responsibility of employees to complete the tasks assigned and duties as required in order to fulfill or further the goals of the organization.  As a manager, displaying personal accountability promotes a culture of accountability.  Your team is likely to emulate your actions and follow your example of accountable behavior.  As an employee not in a management role, demonstrating personal accountability is important to demonstrating their value to the organization.  The key to a culture of accountability is based on the following:

  • a true understanding of accountability
  • a consistent and equitable expectation of accountability
  • a process for assessment and communication

Where to begin?  Ensure that each member of your team has a solid understanding of his/her role, responsibilities and performance expectations.  Be specific with the processes and methodologies used to achieve these expectations.  Set SMART goals for each employee.  Draw the correlation between the employee’s specific responsibilities and the goals and objectives of the organization.  Each employee must understand how they contribute to the overall mission of their department and company.  Each team member must be able to explain how their tasks and responsibilities impact the overall performance of the team.

Next, ensure that performance expectations are equitable and consistent among the entire team.  A sure way to damage employee morale is to hold inconsistent expectations throughout your team.  To demonstrate higher expectations for certain individuals will corrupt the overall sense of teamwork and will impact productivity.  In time, this lack of consistent accountability will tend to have the greatest impact on your strongest employees.  Recognize and reward good performance.  Implement incentives for going above and beyond and the achievement of team goals.

Finally, provide frequent and consistent feedback to your employees, highlighting achievements as well as areas in need of improvement.  Work with the individual to formulate a plan that will lead to the desired improvements.  Utilize the available data to present a clear picture and build achievable goals These meetings are also valuable in establishing rapport with each team member and a way to convey your commitment to their success.  Establish a consistent team meeting to communicate overall performance.  During the team meetings, take the time to identify shared challenges and achievements.  This dual approach will reinforce the need for personal accountability toward the achievement of team goals and performance.

Creating a culture of accountability will not only result in improved outcomes, it will deliver the satisfaction of true teamwork.  It certainly takes effort – but, is totally worth it.

“Accountability is the glue that ties commitment to results.” – Bob Proctor

Let’s Talk About Those Millennials!

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Every generation has its own unique perspective and approach to family, work, finances, and the social and political systems, etc. And every generation complains about the generation after them!  The Traditionalists complained about the Baby Boomers; the Baby Boomers complained about Generation X; and now everyone seems to be complaining about the Millennials.

I think it is time to have a different conversation.   Let’s talk about the positive attributes of the millennial generation.  I have had the pleasure of interacting with more and more millennial professionals.   They are a very fun and socially conscientious generation.   The millennials are confident, and they are not letting their age/gender/sexual orientation/disability/ethnicity/race/religion stand in their way!  They are a smart generation, both highly educated and extremely tech savvy.  They are open to change and want to learn new skills and improved ways to do things. They are highly collaborative and tend to do very well in teams.  They want to be challenged, trained and mentored.  They are creative, innovative and believe technology can drive change and new ideas.  They are highly sociable and loyal to their peers. They embrace multiculturism and globalism.  They are politically savvy. They have a strong sense of civic duty and community responsibility.

It is important to understand the strengths of a generation as much as you know their weaknesses.  And while not all characteristics of a generation will be true for each individual, understanding the generalities will help leaders become better at motivating and retaining this generation in the workplace.  After you recognize the strengths within the millennial workforce, leaders will be able to modify functions and processes and adopt programs in a manner which capitalize on the numerous strengths within this generation.

For example, let’s say that you have a sales team that is predominantly Millennials.  Conduct a SWOT analysis with them.  You might be surprised at what they view as the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities.   Collaborate with them on each step of the process. Then take those insights and develop a strategy that maximizes their strengths and mitigates their weaknesses.

Since we know that flex-time, time-off and life-work balance are more important to the Millennials than titles and money; does your current benefits and compensation plans reflect this?  Does your employee recognition program have components of it that account for the variety of ways that each generation prefers to be appreciated?

Do you have an organized and methodical approach to staff training and development? Do you offer a mentoring program?  An organized onboarding program, staff development workshops, a leadership development series, management training, and cross-training programs are just a few examples of programs which help in the recruitment, engagement and retention of the millennial generation in the workplace.  Not to mention, quality training and professional development programs deliver a win-win for your organization by increasing your overall employee productivity and improving the consistency and therefore quality of the products and/or services.

Just think, it won’t be too long until the Millennials are complaining about the Generation Z workforce!

Mission Driven – To Be or Not To Be

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Is your organization mission-driven?   As a board member, owner, investor or senior executive did you make an active decision to be or not to be mission-driven?  Or is this a topic that requires further thought and attention?

 

Historically, many of us associated being mission-driven with non-profit organizations.  Today, more and more for-profit organizations are becoming increasingly mission-driven. I would personally argue that most organizations should be mission-driven.

 

For purposes of this discussion let’s make a few assumptions:

Assumption #1:  your organization offers a quality product or service

Assumption #2:  your product/service is either in-demand or has an appropriately sized target audience.

Assumption #3:  employees need to earn a fair paycheck.

 

With a quality product or service and a defined target audience, success for a great organization is largely dependent on the recruitment and retainment of great employees.  With the low unemployment rates and high competition for top talent, recruiting has become a greater and greater challenge at most organizations.  The cost of recruiting coupled with the expense of employee turnover is great motivation to assess and evaluate your culture.

 

Organizations who promote their mission and keep employees invested in the mission have higher levels of employee engagement. Employee engagement is a requirement for a positive and healthy work culture, and imperative for high employee productivity.  According to the most recent BLS survey, the average American employee will stay with their employer for 4.3 years.  Many surveys have pointed out that employees are happier and more satisfied in their jobs when they feel they have and serve a purpose.

 

Ask yourself, is my organization mission driven?  If the answer is no, why not?  To continue this conversation, please contact us at contact@timetoflourish.flywheelsites.com .

The Power of Good Communication

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There are several factors that contribute to creating a productive and satisfying workplace environment, however, none more important than good communication.  Effective communication is critical for success regardless of the size and structure of your organization.  Poor communication will result in lower productivity and employee morale and engagement which ultimately impacts financial performance.  Everyone will agree that good communication is key, however, the quality of communication is not always measured or considered.

Good communication typically mitigates conflict.  Poor communication fosters an environment of confusion and resentment.  When evaluating and establishing your communication strategy, include measures to avoid misunderstanding, consider communication patterns and preferences and address the emotional needs of your team.

It’s important to assess whether your message is being understood as intended.  Communication isn’t simply sharing information but measuring how the information is received.  If the message is received differently than it’s intended, confusion on the part of the receiver may lead to resentment.  I have witnessed the devastating effects of poor communication, particularly when the communication avenue is only one-way.  Therefore, an effective delivery must include a feedback loop; a means to determine if the communication was received, understood and supported.  Two-way communication is always the goal when establishing an effective system of sharing information.

The vehicle of communication is also crucial.  A multi-generational workforce makes this more complex and requires that you consider various options of how to share information. Communication methods must be effective with your entire workforce which is most likely comprised of Baby Boomers, Generation-Xers and Millennials. Is your organization relying on email to distribute information?   Are you utilizing social media and technology as part of your strategy?  Are you ensuring that your communication strategy includes face-to-face interaction?  A multi-faceted approach will ensure that you are meeting your team at the point where your message will be best received and may include regular “Team Huddles”, an intranet providing policies and procedures plus company news and events, and regular but concise emails.

Ongoing assessment and feedback methods are a key strategy for organizations determined to establish a workplace environment rich with productive communication.  Employee surveys are a great way to assess your team’s perspective.  Surveys should be conducted at regular intervals and responded to in a timely manner.  Analyzing utilization of the company intranet will provide valuable feedback on its effectiveness.  Another great way to assess the quality of communication is to create ways for the team to echo the message back to management.  For example, when introducing a new policy, ask your team to respond with how this new policy will impact their roles and their productivity.

The power of good communication in your organization is significant and will result in improved employee engagement, higher productivity and an increased sense of their value within the company.  Establishing an effective communication strategy is complex but will greatly improve performance and outcomes.