The world is filled with organizations that have great strategies but less than 15 percent execute those great strategies.
Organizations that are very successful at building and sustaining powerful workplaces focus on creating and sustaining a winning workplace culture. If we get the culture right, we can create the conditions for excellent execution.
List in this article are some questions to acknowledge when creating and sustaining powerful workplace culture.
Does your team feel that they belong to something that matters?
Human beings naturally seek out something bigger than themselves to belong to. We can help fulfill this need by creating a unique workplace where others are inspired by the work we do, and can see how their work is tied to the big picture.
Knowing how important this sense of belongingness is, when taking on new employees, we should also pay close attention to whether or not a person would be a good fit for our culture. If a person doesn’t feel that they fit in, they could quickly become disengaged.
Does your team feel safe in the workplace?
It’s obvious, employees need to know that they’re physically safe. But they need to know that they are emotionally and psychologically safe, as well.
A winning workplace must include an environment where employees know that they will not be attacked emotionally, and they need to know that they can openly and safely share ideas.
On what group does your energy focus the most?
All employees need to be coached and mentored. But most would agree there is one group of employees that should receive a little more attention.
It’s not the A’s-They are an expert in their field already so the best thing we can do with A’s is to make sure they have what they need and then get out of their way.
It’s not the C’s (or D’s)-It is unlikely that they will ever become an A player.
It’s the B’s! The employees that are close to being top performers, but just aren’t quite there yet.
By focusing a little extra energy on moving the B employees to the A level, we can make a huge impact toward creating a high performance team.
Do you appreciate your team frequently and authentically?
Employees need to be appreciated for the tasks they accomplish, for their ability to display emotional mastery, and for their ideas.
Leaders of the most successful teams create a culture of catching employees doing well in all three of these areas and they make it a point to offer some type of genuine praise at least once every 7-10 days.
We can take the power of appreciation to the next level by making sure that we have a conversation at some point with each employee to find out how they like to receive appreciation. One employee may like public recognition. Another may prefer a simple written thank you. No matter what technique is used, it will help each and every employee feel recognized and important.
