Positive Cultures are MORE Productive
Are you experiencing a positive culture in your workplace, or, in view of what has taken place during 2020, have the screws been tightened? Reactions to circumstances can unfortunately create negative outcomes for staff such as increased stress, reduced wellbeing and a high turnover. All of this can be managed effectively by creating positive work cultures. When you manage your culture as well as your people, it creates an environment which supports and guides teams to do their work properly. A strong organisational culture has a direct impact on employee performance and as a leader, you have the opportunity to bring your team with you on your journey!
“There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.” – Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group
A Positive workplace is MORE SUCCESSFUL
A HBR article by Emma Seppala and Kim Cameron gives “Proof That Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive.” Too many companies bet on having a cut-throat, high-pressure, take-no-prisoners culture to drive their financial success. But a large and growing body of research on positive organizational psychology demonstrates that not only is a cut-throat environment harmful to productivity over time, a positive environment will lead to dramatic benefits for employers, employees, and the bottom line. Although there’s an assumption that stress and pressure pushes employees to perform more, better, and faster, what cutthroat organizations fail to recognize is the three hidden costs incurred:
- Health care expenditures at high-pressure companies are nearly 50% greater than at other organizations
- There is the cost of disengagement. In studies by the Queens School of Business and the Gallup Organization, disengaged workers had 37% higher absenteeism, 49% more accidents, and created 60% more errors and defects
- Lack of loyalty. Research shows that workplace stress leads to an increase of almost 50% in voluntary turnover
For these reasons, many companies have established a wide variety of perks from working from home to office gyms. However, these companies still fail to take into account the research. A Gallup poll showed that, even when workplaces offered benefits such as flexitime and work-from-home opportunities, engagement predicted wellbeing above and beyond anything else. Employees prefer workplace wellbeing to material benefits. Wellbeing comes from one place, and one place only — a positive culture. Creating a positive and healthy culture for your team rests on a few major principles. Our own research on the qualities of a positive workplace culture boils down to six essential characteristics:
- Caring for, being interested in, and maintaining responsibility for colleagues as friends
- Providing support for one another, offering kindness and compassion
- Avoiding blame and forgive mistakes
- Inspiring one another at work
- Emphasizing the meaningfulness of the work
- Treating one another with respect, gratitude, trust, and integrity
As a boss, how can you foster these principles? The research points to four steps:
- Foster social connections
- Show empathy
- Go out of your way to help
- Encourage people to talk to you – especially about their problems
In summary, a positive workplace is more successful over time because it increases positive emotions and well-being. This, in turn, improves people’s relationships with each other and amplifies their abilities and their creativity. It buffers against negative experiences such as stress, thus improving employees’ ability to bounce back from challenges and difficulties while bolstering their health. And, it attracts employees, making them more loyal to the leader and to the organization as well as bringing out their best strengths. When organizations develop positive, virtuous cultures they achieve significantly higher levels of organizational effectiveness — including financial performance, customer satisfaction, productivity, and employee engagement.
Tighten the GRIP or, CREATE a Positive Work Culture
William Craig a former contributor to Forbes shows “3 Reasons Why Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive.” As CEOs, business owners and professionals, we’re always looking for new ways to be more productive. When we’re able to operate at maximum efficiency, we can get more done, achieve our goals faster and create strong foundations for our companies to build on. But getting an entire team to be productive can be a challenge! Productivity in the workplace is something many managers and professionals struggle with. Trying to encourage employees to work harder and stop wasting time can be frustrating. However, if employees find it difficult to be productive at work, it may be a sign that something is wrong with the culture of the office. Creating a positive work culture can do wonders for productivity in the following ways:
- Employee happiness
- Collaboration
- Creativity
When an office isn’t being productive, the first reaction of many managers or business owner is to make things stricter. While having some guidelines and rules is important, tightening your grip too much can cause people to have negative feelings about working with you. If someone isn’t happy with their work environment, they’re likely to do even less for the business. By fostering a positive work culture that encourages all three, your employees can become more invested in what your business creates. And the more invested they are, the more productive they will become.
Do YOU invest time in the CULTURE that you WANT?
Organizational culture effects business performance as shown in my blog. It develops over time as a reflection of the way managers and teams learn to do things. It reflects behaviours, routines, and standards that have come to be seen as preferred. As organizations grow, the culture starts to change and often not for the better. Confusion sets in because things that were once acceptable are not anymore. What would happen if you, as a leader, were managing the evolution of your organizational culture? How much more smoothly could your teamwork be if you planned for the culture change instead of letting it just happen?
A 1992 study by Kotter and Heskett reported that companies that managed their cultures well saw revenue increases of 682% versus 166% for the companies that did not. An even more recent survey by Denison Consulting concludes that companies demonstrating higher levels of performance in key areas of corporate culture, including adaptability, consistency, mission, and involvement, deliver better results when it comes to return on assets, sales growth and increased value to shareholders. Why are the results much better for organizations that manage their cultures? It’s simple. When you manage your culture as well as your people, it creates an environment which supports and guides teams to do their work properly. A strong organizational culture has a direct impact on employee performance as follows:
- It creates an environment of trust and cooperation
- There is an agreed understanding of process, standards, and goals
- Clarity leads to more efficient decision making
- It boosts individual and team confidence
- It establishes a common ground for every member of the organization
- Employees become committed to the organization’s goals and purpose.
- Communication is less complicated so messages are readily understood
When you create a positive organizational culture you help people work together constructively and cooperatively. It allows them to grow, contribute and adapt to the environment around them. If your organization can adapt to change and harness the energy and positivity of its people, it is far more likely to be successful. Have you invested time and energy into creating the corporate culture that you want?
Change your Leadership skills, build New Cultures
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Stay Kind. Stay Courageous.
Sonia x
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