workplace culture

For over a year, many small business owners have been focused on finding ways their business could “survive” the pandemic. And for most, the only way to survive included innovation, reinvention and a change of direction. It’s fair to say it’s been a very difficult time for small businesses but, it’s also been an extraordinary time full of creative transitions and new ideas of how to remain in business.

Now, the atmosphere is more optimistic and focused on looking forward. Where do we go from here? What is our next step? We have been stuck in “survival mode” but, now is the time to transition to “thriving mode”. With the availability of the COVID vaccine and lighter restrictions in place, opportunities are increasing. Reignite your growth mindset and strategically plan for the future. How do we position our business for success and growth in this period of recovery?

After a year of virtual meetings and remote work, it’s time to determine the model that makes sense for your organization moving forward. Does your business require that your team return to the office? Has the remote work model led to better results? Is there a blended model that will provide the best solution for your business? Here are some factors to consider as you make this decision:

Employee Retention: Although this may be like comparing apples to oranges, compare your employee retention rate now with the previous year. What are the factors that led to employee turnover? Are new employees well supported and reaching their potential in a reasonable period of time? Compare the current new employee retention with last year. Assess overall performance factors such as: meeting deadlines, quality of work, customer satisfaction, quotas, etc.
Customer Satisfaction: Evaluate your customer retention rate and level of satisfaction. Has the company’s response time to customer inquiries suffered over the past year? Survey your customers for the feedback that will help you assess the quality of customer service.
Productivity: Have your managers succeeded in keeping your employees engaged and productive in a remote environment? How has the elimination of commuting to the office impacted productivity?
Collaboration: Evaluate the collaboration effectiveness of your team. Are the remote meetings allowing for an energetic, interactive exchange of ideas? Will bringing the team together physically improve their ability to develop creative initiatives?
Employee Morale: How have your employees responded to working from home? Involve your employees in the future planning using employee surveys, small group meetings, and focused committees.
Office Space: By moving to a remote work model or blended model, you may be able to reduce facility expenses. You can redesign your office space to accommodate the work environment that best fuels the creativity and productivity of your team. If you own the building, this may open opportunity for rental income.

In addition to where and how we conduct our business, other significant considerations include:

Services and Products: The world looks very different now and there may be an opportunity for growth by providing a service or product that is currently in demand. Is this the time to modify the scope of your business? Is there a current need that you can satisfy by making changes to our services or products? Are there areas of inefficiency that can be eliminated by reducing products or services?
Business Expenses: Evaluate your current vendors and the products/services that your business utilizes. The needs of your business may be different today, allowing you to reduce certain expenses. Shop around and be sure that you are getting the best bang for your buck. Conduct an analysis of your operating expenses to identify areas of opportunity for cost savings.
Leadership: Now is a critical time to assess your leadership team to determine their effectiveness. An investment in leadership development will benefit the organization and result in a positive workplace culture. Seek feedback from your employees to determine, from their prospective, the needed areas for improvement.
Workforce Development: If you haven’t experienced it firsthand, you certainly have read about the challenges in identifying and hiring the right candidates. We are in the midst of a workforce shortage. In addition to workplace culture, another important way to retain employees is to develop their skills and provide a robust career path within your organization. Strategically assess and plan for ways to provide
Agility: A valuable lesson learned over the past year is the need for our organizations to be agile to the changing demands of our environment. What measures are needed to provide a level of agility and flexibility throughout the organization?

With the arrival of Spring, comes a feeling of positivity for the future. The time has come to move from surviving to thriving. This will take careful assessment of your organization’s KPIs as well as thoughtful consideration of the organization’s future goals and objectives. Begin the process that will drive your organization to its fullest performance potential.

Time To Flourish offers executive management services such as Strategic Planning, Small Business Growth, Turnaround Operations and Change Management. Contact us to learn more about the value we will add to your strategic achievement.

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:

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

Thriving, Not Just Surviving

Is It Time For a Culture Make-Over?