The Secret to a Sustainable Workplace Culture

February 07, 2013

The buzz right now in corporations is to focus on employee engagement and positive workplace culture. It is a necessary conversation and does enhance the ability of a company to be innovative, productive and a desired place to work. You can find great examples of businesses that are getting it right. And the research supports the cause. Deloitte offered a great report in 2012 revealing the opinions of executives and employees on the value of culture. See the Deloitte Report. Here is one insight that they found:

83% of executives and 84% of employees rank having engaged and motivated employees as the top factor that substantially contributes to a company’s success.

The research also suggested that employees who reported being happy at work were those that felt valued by their company. I like that report! When we sense that our work is valued, we have a greater sense of contentment in the effort we give.

Employee engagement and a positive workplace culture are both important. However many employees are tired of the buzz and would like for you to get past the rah-rah games and techniques.

Promote the ideals of engagement and positive work culture all you want, but what matters most to employees is that you promote them.

Promote their ideas, talents and contribution.
Give audience to their thoughts.
Authorize permission to try new things.
Involve them in conversations about improvement and process.
Teach them to be leaders.

This is the secret. A sustainable workplace culture and fully engaged employees is the result of developing their leadership abilities. Great organizations create a Leadership Culture as opposed to a workplace culture.

Developing leaders will raise the quality of the workplace culture. Teach and train people to be leaders in their departments, teams, work group, and with clients. Even if they may never become a leader of a group or be given a title, help them become leaders of their own work objectives and goals.

Here are two free resources that will help you fast track this idea of creating a Leadership Culture.

1) Great leadership starts by listening to your employees. The free "Leaders Listen" download introduces you to 5 Key Tips on improving your listening skills and the immediate benefits you will experience.

2) A link to an article I wrote about Leadership Lessons from a Rock Band. Some quick tips on leadership from U2.