Many organizations are at a loss when it comes to building culture. CEOs are quick to put their top leaders into a room for a couple of days, even a couple of weeks, and expect a culture change. As an upper-tier leader, what you know and what can you do to influence change are often two different things – no fault of your own.
Culture is the combined sum of the minds and behaviour of the entire organization – from the front lines to the CEO. If there is a need for culture change it can’t just happen in the minds of top-tier leaders, it has to happen in every single mind of every single person that makes up the organizational culture. Changing minds is a slow and arduous task. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for all. And at the very least there needs to be a common vision and a common vocabulary shared and understood by every employee from the client-facing people to the CEO.
Leadership theory has for decades pointed to the emotional needs of employees that must be met for a high-functioning engaged culture. Here they are with a brief explanation.
1. Inclusion and belonging. People have a fundamental need to be in healthy and supportive relationships. At work, this includes being part of the discussion and decision making that affects their job.
2. Appreciation and Recognition. Everyone has an emotional need to be appreciated and recognized for who they are as a person, as well as for their gifts, talents, and abilities.
3. Challenge and Achievement. Having challenging work provides the opportunity to be your best. Data suggests that every day a vast majority of people go to a job and hate it simply because it does not challenge them mentally or give them an opportunity for achievement.
4. Trust and Accountability. Productive relationships cannot exist without trust. You need to know you can count on others and that all playing on a level field. Gallup studies confirm that trust is the number one trait employees seek from their superiors, followed by compassion, stability and hope.
5. Growth and Learning. Continuing education and training dollars is often the first sacrificial offering in a cost-cutting initiative. But in fact, learning and development are fundamental emotion-based needs. What’s more, in today’s constant changing work environments, learning and improving our skills is a must.
6. Power and Control. Everyone wants to be empowered enough to control their own work processes and to have a say in how those processes should change.
7. Meaning and Purpose. People want and need to know that their daily work contributes to a larger effort, one that is more valuable than merely making money. In today’s complex, ambiguous and fast changing organizations, meaning and purpose is easily lost.
These needs are specific and must be confirmed by your staff as to being met. Providing your people with a common language with which to discuss each need can be helpful. The skill of Positive Presence is a tool that will provide the language necessary to address these needs.
Catherine is the President and CEO of CORPORATE HARMONY, providing virtual solutions for leadership development and organizational culture change. Her leadership and coaching experience as a Project Manager in an ever-changing, fast moving technological organization with unrelenting demands drove her to the realization that a positive mindset and strength-building behaviors are essential for today’s complex and chaotic organizational systems. CORPORATE HARMONY’s virtual platform of programs, coaching and performance measurement, is an innovative online technology of tested proprietary content. The world-class content of CORPORATE HARMONY’s Positive Presence Program develops the skill of ‘Positive Presence’ and the necessary ‘Positive Presence Behaviour Competencies’ for maintaining a positive and energized mindset and increased performance in today’s complex work environment, and leading to a culture of collaboration and connection. Catherine’s vision for Corporate Harmony is to bring the skill of “Positive Presence” to the corporate world as it becomes more complex, ambiguous and chaotic. Catherine is uniquely positioned to impact organizations’ productivity and long term success, with her powerful vision of eliminating bad stress from every workplace around the globe, bringing purpose into the people equation to promote healthy, productive and meaningful work cultures and turn the tide on the neglect of mental health on a global scale. Catherine is author of the book: “CORPORATE HARMONY – The Performance Link for Today’s Modern Organization” Catherine can be reached at: Catherine.Osborne@corporateharmony.ca or go to ‘contact us’ on our website www.corporateharmony.ca. Catherine is available for consultation, and can be reached by 519-695-3407.