Transform your corporate culture
Did you know that if your employees are not happy in their work environment research shows you are losing as much as 12% productivity? That unhappiness factor is estimated to cost American companies 300 billion each year in lost productivity, Ouch! Not to mention what unhappy employees and a poor corporate culture costs companies in turnover and other factors! Where does employee happiness come from?
While it is a fact, that everyone has the ability to control their own feelings, therefore their own happiness, it’s also been show that people are emotional creatures that can think logically not logical creature that can think emotionally. Neither management nor anyone else can make people happy, however, management can adopt a corporate culture that makes it difficult to be unhappy. Happiness at work really equates to personal comfort.
Companies try all kinds of amenities to make people happy from daycare to dry cleaners. While pools and nap rooms may be icing on the cake, it’s more the core comforts that affect peoples’ moods and emotions. What are these core factors?
- Low stress
- Personal freedom
- Pleasant surroundings
- Variety in tasks
- Ability to excel as an individual
- Emotional comfort
Since the days of Fredrick W. Taylor (“Hawthorne Experiments“) organizational leaders have held a school of thought espousing the organizations needs over that of the worker or individual. Only recently have scientists and sociologists revealed that the organizations productivity is directly linked to the perception and feelings of the workforce. Simply put, a happy workforce produces significantly better than an apathetic or unhappy workforce.
It goes without saying that company leaders also must look to the best interests of the company. So, the question is, how do we meet the needs of the organization and those of the individuals in its workforce? The simple answer is, remove the obstacles for the people while enhancing their capabilities for the organization.
It’s a proven fact that people leave leaders not organizations. The biggest source of stress for people is not the work it’s the people they work around. Leaders of course have the largest affect on individual comfort and happiness, having the ability and responsibility to control the interactions people have in the workplace. For most people when they start a new job or position, it’s enjoyable until they are exposed to the people in their new environment. When the interactions in the environment are not kept pleasant and professional, it erodes the comfort of the environment.
To build a comfortable work environment requires adopting a leadership style and set of standards that ensure that the individuals focus at work is the organization’s goals and not the behaviors of others. Leaders ensure the standard of everyone being treated with dignity and respect at all times is enforced and maintained. They provide direction, guidance and support keeping everyone focused on the mission while also seeing to the personal welfare of each individual. Leaders influence others to create outcomes allowing everyone to make their own decisions. Thus, the individual can give themselves credit for their successes as well as their failures. The leader serves as a catalyst and source of support not one of authority and punishment.
So what standards must be adopted?
- A clear standard of positive behaviors
- A solid influence leadership system
- A positive interpersonal communication standard
- A positive people-centric outlook toward all
- An acceptance and commitment to diversity and personal responsibility
These are the most influential variables on the happiness of individuals. There is always room for the extras like pools and playrooms but even with those items, it’s the factors that provide personal comfort and a feeling of belonging that pervade the path of least resistance for people. A great tool is TLI’s “Workplace Performance Success System” provides an organization trying to build or change a current toxic culture to a successful organizational culture. This online training system provides the organizational behaviors and standards, influential leadership and interpersonal communication systems, along with the training for all employees to coalesce into a positive productive culture.
Corporate culture is not a buzz word, it’s your environment, just like your home environment. Some homes have a pleasant and comfortable environment that allows all family members to interact happily as well as grow and live peacefully together. Some households are chaotic and very unfriendly. Culture is simply the emotional and physical environment that is the present norm of a group of people. A happy culture is a productive culture. An unhappy culture ranges from unpleasant at its mildest to a nightmare at its worst. What do you want your workplace to be? If your corporate culture isn’t a comfortable and engaging place for all then act and transform it! At TLI we specialize in creating and transforming highly productive and engaging corporate cultures. Contact us and get started today.
