01.07.23
IT IS About Your Culture!
Much like life, workplace culture is made up of many moving parts, experiences and individuals. Success and problems are bigger than just one person, toxic or not.
“Unsatisfying work is a product of an unsatisfying workplace,” writes SHRM’s CEO, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. in a recent article, Conversations That Change Culture in the summer issue of SHRM’s HR Magazine. Are you looking at your culture for your successes and opportunities to improve? Or are you focused on the symptoms of your culture?
Is it your culture? Yes, it is.
Is your turnover great? Are you turnover stats at, below or above your goals or the industry average?
Regardless of your answer – it is your culture!
Are you retaining top talent or losing them?
Regardless of your answer – it is your culture
Are your Glassdoor reviews and market reputations as strong as you desire? Is it top, best of the best or needs some work?
Regardless of your answer – it is your culture!
Is the training and development inside your company growing your future leaders or pushing them away?
Regardless of your answer – it is your culture!
One reason why the millennial generation is tagged as job hoppers is that, unlike older generations, they are more likely to demand respect and a balanced lifestyle.
“People leave their workplaces when they feel unappreciated, overburdened, excluded, unsafe or besieged by personal conflict,” Taylor writes. “After a bad day at the office, 45 percent of employees who had been with their companies less than a year admitted to applying to new jobs, according to a 2018 study by the Work Institute.”
So, what can you do?
The answer is in your culture.
“Skilled people managers are essential to creating better workplace cultures,” Taylor writes. “And when workplaces have great managers, HR has more space to purse its strategic and leadership roles.”
I would add, this is true not only for HR, but for all leaders in every role of the company. All leaders must become more strategic and aligned to a defined, intentionally designed company culture.
To do this, first DIAGNOSE the gap between business objectives and results. Second, DESIGN the workforce structure around those needs you uncovered in the diagnosis phase. Third, intentionally HIRE your workforce from a behavioral standpoint to align with your needs, maximize your strengths and fill gaps or blind spots. Four, continually INSPIRE your team as individual contributors around team dynamics. Last, take pulse checks to reassess and diagnose for any necessary pivots along the way.
All of this must include conversations, including tough or critical ones. They are collaborative in nature to foster and maintain the culture you want, need and desire. “We can’t know if our workplace culture is working for everyone unless we foster open discussions with those who experience it every day,” Taylor writes.
Let’s recap.
The turnover, retention, brand reputation, succession planning, training, agility, innovation, accountability, inspiration, and/or mentorship that happens or doesn’t happen inside your company is all culture driven.
Better work yields better lives, which yields better companies. For more information about Diagnose, Design, Hire, Inspire and the entire Predictive Index program and other solutions, contact Shelley Smith, PI Midlantic Talent Optimizer and Predictive Index Senior Analyst ssmith@pimidlantic.com, www.pimidlantic.com.