The number one driver of employee engagement and workplace performance is culture, so why do so many companies fail at establishing one that wins?
When your workplace culture is working, it is something that the senior leadership propagates and leverages as a competitive advantage. However, when your company culture is not functioning properly—or not working at all—it becomes a deterrent to productivity, innovation and employee morale.
Being that the culture you construct at work is one of the most pivotal cogs driving the success of your business, why, then, do so many companies fail at building one that wins? It’s because, frankly, many business owners, managers and CEOs are unaware as to how big of an impact culture really makes. So how do you build a culture that wins? It begins with you, as a leader—you must become the M.O.R.T.A.R. that holds it all together.
Motivate
Leading begins with clearly envisioning the overall mission to accomplish and then communicating that vision and purpose in a way that moves, touches and inspires followers to align with and support that vision.
The mark of a great leader is someone who shapes his or her work culture around a compelling and stimulating mission. A leader, who creates a compelling vision, and articulates that vision in a way that moves people into alignment and action, is a leader that gets high quality, mission-fulfilling work done, through others.
There are two keys to creating a culture of people who are intrinsically motivated and operate in service of delivering on the purpose of the enterprise. The first is the leader’s capability and commitment to communicating the vision his people in a way that generates enthusiasm, inspiration and alignment. The second is the leader’s ability to link each individual in the organization to the purpose of their specific role, and that role purpose to the overall purpose of the organization. When this happens, people accomplish great feats, and enjoy themselves while they are doing it.
On Boarding
When a new hire comes on board, the most powerful way to connect them to the bigger purpose and vision is to make it a priority for the business leader to share the purpose of the business and the reason it exists as well as the core operating values that each and every employee is expected to demonstrate in their day to day implementation of their role. When a new hire begins with the end in the mind and formulates an early connection to their role as it pertains to the fulfillment of the mission of the business, they are set up for success because they are taught from the get go that it is about much more than the task at hand.
Rein in negativity
Every business deals with setbacks, challenges, breakdowns and disappointments, the real difference between leaders who carry their people through those tough times and leaders who have carnage to clean up along the way, is the leader who takes the time to check in with how people are feeling and the leader who intervenes in the negativity and works to reverse it.
When it comes right down to it, all negativity or upsets step from one of three incidents, an unfulfilled expectation, a thwarted intention or an undelivered communication. When managers are present and aware of their employees’ feelings and work-style it is very apparent when someone is off kilter or upset. The astute leader is right on top of those upsets and provides support for their people to overcome and get through these motivational killers.
Inspiring people is a core competency of great leaders; great leaders who foster alignment and engagement in employees do this by inspiring people to bring their best self to work.
Therefore, leading others for the long term requires that you are able to recognize and bring this energy. People become inspired when they start believing they have more ability than they thought they did. If you’d like additional tips on how to build a winning workplace culture, check out this video and share your success stories in the comments below.