Company Culture That Drives Workplace Synergy:
Can you really define the working culture of your company? Not your brand, not your story, not your revenue targets, but rather the inner workings of your company or department that defines how it operates and seeks to advance itself. Is it self-sustaining? Does it require constant supervision? Without your presence, would it seek to always be learning new methods and ways to move forward? The vast majority of businesses operate on a hierarchy and authority system only. It's the standard business model of a boring org chart that organizes employee positions, that need filled by a human resources department that is mostly administrative in nature, with a "culture" of employees and managers showing up to work to complete daily tasks. Snore, did you fall asleep, well that's the majority of businesses. Is yours one?
Talent
Acquisition
If there is anything I can say about having worked with hundreds of companies and observed the inner workings and how they operate, it is that the Human Resources department is almost always, hands down, the most undervalued department in the company. The department that is supposed to be responsible for attracting and growing highly talented individuals so that the organization may prosper is turned into an administrative function of payroll, health care, and other essential but mostly secondary functions. In order for an organism (in this case the business) to flourish, it must continually replenish itself and have the life-giving energy that is required in order to expand. Without it, the organization stays stagnate and never improves or advances. Your business needs to ALWAYS be open and searching for new talent. It's not just what your business is an expert at now, but will also be in the future, and you won't advance if you're not always attracting high quality individuals.
Let's be clear. The life blood of your company is revenue and profitability. Period. When people speak about company culture it often falls on deaf ears by management, because their focus is on the P&L of the business. "I don't have time to think about culture, just get the work done." This authority management style is what runs 80% of businesses, with some employee birthdays and company events thrown in for good measure. It's also what creates a largely uninspired workforce that is not loyal and is there just to collect their paycheck. All of the ideas are generated from the top down, and dished out for execution. These companies can be successful and miserable at the same time. An inspired workforce on the other hand can be creating and ideating new approaches in every part of the business. When you set aside your management ego that says you have to create everything, and instead harness the creativity of your entire organization, you'll discover new revenue channels you previously didn't consider, new production methods you missed, cost savings that were always sitting there for the taking, and new leaders that were waiting for the moment to shine. When you empower your workforce to create and be inspired, the business progresses itself forward, and creates the profitability and abundance you're seeking.
Inclusive
Ideation
Motivation Or Inspiration
What's more important to the identity of your company, Motivation or inspiration? There certainly is a place for both, but which comes first sets the tone of your workplace culture. Motivation is what we see every day in every company. Those who want more, want to get a raise, want to advance their position in the company, or want to have the best of everything. But "wanting" doesn't mean all that much. It can serve as temporary means to learn new things or try a new approach, but the effects of a motivation-only styled person will always fall short if it doesn't work out the way they "wanted." And inspired individual can achieve those ambitious rewards but does it in a way that they feel "on purpose" with their work. When your employees are inspired, they don't need to be tasked by others to achieve. Rather, they feel personally empowered to intelligently design their way to success. Inspiration must come from the leadership as a means to develop teams that don't require detailed oversight because they have a 'buy-in' from their employees that goes beyond just attacking the next goal they're told to.
As the leaders of the organization, what do you value more, authority or intelligence? The answer to this question defines your leadership style. There are positive and negative connotations from each. In organizations that are run on intelligence first, the management, structure and ultimately the authority of leaders of the company may be compromised and running ineffectively. In organizations that are run authority first, the innovation and progression of ideas may be lagging behind your industry competitors, due to a lack of creative opportunity and time to intelligently problem solve, let alone have vision for the company. Finding the right balance of each is key, and this ultimately drives what the business represents.
Authority and Intellect
Problem Solving
All businesses are built on solving some sort of problem through the creation of a product or service, and it needs to be valued as a core commitment for the entirety of the business. Your business will be as successful as the people who problem solve. Creating an operating philosophy to do so takes practice and time. Depending on the type of business you operate, this isn’t necessarily a skill that’s taught in school. If you’re an engineering firm, it’s built into how those employee’s approach everything. If you’re a marketing firm, it’s not necessarily something that’s taught. But it most certainly is the highest value quality I look for in people, and you should too. Designing a framework for your teams to use to problem solve can make the difference of moving past obstacles or getting stuck.
The Envision Strategies Approach
When it comes to company culture, the Envision Strategies approach is to shadow your company in its current experience, conduct interviews from the top down to get a complete picture of what the organization believes are its culture and goals. This is done in a very casual and friendly manner to bring value and empower each part of the organization. Discussions with leadership and department heads on how to create an inspirational environment to capitalize on missed opportunities and foster more ideation and problem solving within the existing framework of the business. When applicable, suggestions for a modified framework for better employee buy-in and structure that nurtures creativity and ideation that advances the departments or company's initiatives.