Culture to Engage

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Business Culture
A business culture starts with the genesis of the business. Business leaders may carefully define, sow and landscape the culture. Employees may cause it to grow rampant and randomly, fertilized by the attitudes and behaviors of the more prominent members.

The culture exists in both formal and informal forms. Formal culture is composed, published, and distributed, usually in such documents of Policy and Procedures, Employee Orientation Guide, Annual Reports, and Communications to Community and Clients. Informal culture is recognized, respected, and followed without ever being printed and rarely being spoken.

Informal culture typically exerts greater influence on factors including, but not limited to, employee motivation and satisfaction, community respect, customer satisfaction and loyalty, candidate recruitment and employee retention, management success, financial success (revenue, expense, profitability)

Values and Value
Culture provides fundamental values from which the business operates. These values—behavioral, operational, interpersonal, and ethical—determine the value the business generates (financial, community, political, commercial, spiritual, etc.)

For example, a hospital may epitomize the values of appreciating the worth of the individual and committing to the continuous well-being of its community. By doing so effectively and throughout its entire employee population, that hospital experiences valuable loyalty and respect among its employees, its patients and their families, and the members of its community.

Similarly, a hospital may operate with attention to the procedures and processes that keep it running but without attention to the culture (and values) from which it makes its decisions and choices. That hospital is more likely to experience indifference (at best) from the several customer bases it seeks to satisfy: patients, physicians, employees, shareholders.

Culture Impact: Typical
Many organizations (hospitals included) ignore their culture. Consequently, it goes unrecognized until a problem arises. It is sensible to pay attention to the needs of the business, yet it is strategically significant to pay attention to the business culture.

Consider how rarely organizations hold conversations among all levels of employees concerning what the business stands for; what values are most critical to fulfilling the business purpose, vision, and mission; what values at the individual level contribute substance to the business values; what daily behaviors exemplify those values.

Such rare attention (or inattention) limits successes the organization can achieve. Such cultural indifference means putting out more fires, solving more problems, dealing with greater dissatisfactions.

Culture Impact: Potential
An organization that keeps its culture—the purpose, the values, the behaviors—clearly in its view gives itself more chances for greater successes. Knowing the culture at the three levels allows all employees to operate with both a macro- and micro-view of living the culture and therefore satisfying the culture’s intentions.

The three levels are

• What does the culture contribute to the business’s overall purpose? How?
• What values support that culture and are expected by that culture?
• What behaviors manifest and implement those values?

A business can experience almost unlimited potential success by attending culture conscientiously.

Management & Culture
A hospital can expect employees to engage fully in their work.

Managers can tell employees they are expected to engage fully in their work.

Employees can hear and comprehend the instruction to engage fully in their work.

The hospital may still garner typical returns on an employee engagement survey (+/- 30% of employees fully engaged; +/- 70% of employees only neutrally engaged and/or actively disengaged).

The significance is that Employee Engagement leads to Performance Improvement and so Desired Results.
The fact, however, is that employees must engage themselves. Engagement is not and cannot be third-party. For the employee to engage s/he must know specifically what engagement is expected and s/he must have the opportunity and the resources allowing engagement.

The hospital organization that successfully defines and continuously refines its culture (top down) increases its chances of engaged employees.

The hospital organization that engages its management team in the concepts and the skills of managing for engagement by the employees (not merely for completion of desired tasks) increases those chances further.

The hospital organization that focuses on strategic plans including communication, opportunities, resources, and encouragements for employee engagement (by leadership and management) increases the chances the furthest yet.

When You're Not on Thin Ice

Let's get tactical.

We all have (too many?) meetings. We all want the meetings to have  meaningful, effective, and productive results. We all know that sometimes the way we start the meetings directly impacts those results.

I was asked yesterday by a long-distance client if I could suggest "team building icebreakers" for a major staff meeting next week. Considering that engagement directly relates to both team building and ice breaking, I said, "Sure."

Figured I'd share them with you, exactly as they were e-mailed to the client.

Use them as you wish...

I've operated on these givens:

1. A 15-30 minute time frame.
2. Approximately 12 participants.
3. The intent to focus on "communications among team members" and to make at least minimal transference to the issue of inter-group communications.
4. The desire to engage and energize the meeting and participants from the get-go.

Know Me More
Have individuals stand in either a circle or a large U-shape.
Explain that each individual is invited to share some bit of information about her/him that no one in the group already knows.
Emphasize that the information does not have to be deeply personal, does not have to be "secret" and does not have to be "major."
It only has to be something no one else already knows.

Allow time for every individual to share information. Allow as much laughter, interplay, etc. as possible.

Debrief with such questions as...

1. Why do you suppose we did this? (Any/every answer is correct, for the base purpose is for participants to experience whatever they experience.)
2. What effects might this brief exercise have on us as a team and our work as a team?
3. How might we extend what we've learned from this activity to our future as a team?

The Communicator in Me

Introduce by reminding that communication has two parts: sending (expressing) and receiving (listening).
Distribute 3x5 index cards.
Ask everyone to write a statement on one side of the card that praises a specific aspect of her/his expressing and a statement that praises her/his listening on the other side.
Remind them that the invitation makes bragging fine!  You want everyone to praise a single aspect of her/his expressing and listening.

Collect the cards, shuffle them well. Redistribute the cards randomly.

One person at a time reads either side of the card held. The person reading guesses whose card it is. If incorrect, the entire group can volunteer guesses. If nec. have the "owner" of the card identify her/himself.
After the "owner" is known, the flip side of the card may be read to the group.
(NOTE: This activity may require a close eye on the clock. It could run over 30 minutes if not well monitored.)
(NOTE2: The flip of this activity, for a subsequent meeting, is to have every participant honestly write a critical statement of expressing/listening on the card.)

I Hear You! What?
In advance, draft function-specific statements, equal in number to your participants. The statements do not need to be long, detailed, or complex; they need merely relate somewhat to the participants' work. (Example: The new Policy and Procedures book will benefit every employee.)
Write the statements on individual index cards. Distribute one card to each participant.

Offer instructions such as these:
Partner up. If we have an odd number of participants, one group will be a trio.
Decide with your partner who will go first, who will go second.
When I say 'go' the first partner reads his statement to the other partner.
The listening partner responds either by stating back what he has heard, accurately, in her/his own words or by stating back something completely off target, not even closely related to what's been said. It's your choice as the listener.
Immediately after, the second partner reads her statement. The listening partner chooses to restate accurately or miss the mark completely.
 
NOTE: Be sure you are comfortable giving the instructions. You need not follow that script; you may vary it to suit you as long as you have both partners experience making the statement and receiving either true listening or non-listening.

Debrief with these questions:

1. If your partner reflected back that she/he listened carefully and accurately to what you said, how did you feel?
2. How did you feel if your partner demonstrated she/he had not been listening at all?
3. How might we transfer this to our everyday communications? What do we need to do to make the transfer "stick"?

 

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_tahoe_guy/249255831/

Brand EE

OK, I admit I receive more publications than I can keep up with. I hate it when I discover really good information and want to share it, and then I realize it's at least a month "old."

Julie Norquist Roy's article, Your Brand Here: Why Employer Brand Is Critical to Retention and Engagement, in the May issue of Talent Management makes the point that the degree of employee engagement is both cause and effect of successful branding. (And successful branding means successful marketing, successful revenue production, successful goal achievement...)

But I most loved this statement, early in the article:

The employee's...first impression may extend far beyond company offerings in position, salary and benefits. Today's workforce is equally concerned with opportunities for career advancement, rewards and recognition, management style, and company culture. Together these blend to make up the employer value proposition and employer brand, that impact the employee experience and, ultimately, the hire's decision to join and remain with an organization.

(If you read my posting from Monday, 6/16, The Difference Difference Makes (all the way to the end!), you probably recognize shades of Frederick Herzberg's 40-year-old research in Ms. Roy's statements.

I especially enjoy that her phrase "today's workforce" stretches across generations: from Boomers to Millenials, and back.

Roy distinguishes between consumer branding that draws customers and employer branding that draws employees. She makes the point that a thorough and formal on-boarding program can provide "a perfect opportunity to reinforce the employer brand and generate a positive employee experience." Roy cites successful on-boarding examples that include company mission, culture, history, products, values, mentors, expectations, behavior guidelines...and more.

I know too many companies who feel a one-time exposure to the on-boarding information is sufficient. Even though it presents information critical to continuous employee engagement (the "employer brand"). Consequently, I salute Roy's statement:

A company's strategic objectives and mission should be clearly communicated early and on a continual basis throughout the employee life cycle because they make up the core components that drive the employer brand.

I would extend Roy's idea(l) communication content to include

• Expectations
• Values
• Company moves, adds, and changes

Roy's makes the case for employer branding to stimulate employee satisfaction >> engagement >> retention. She stresses the connection between employer branding and successful customer attraction and satisfaction.

I would dovetail my emphasis on communication. No employer, no manager, no leader, no supervisor can communicate too much with employees. This means

• Communication in formal and informal settings,
• Communication that is business and non-business,
• Communication that recognizes, reinforces and rewards engagement,
• Communication that introduces, informs, explains, clarifies, and supports.

Such communication contributes to your employer brand and so to the resulting engagement by employees.

What (Would Happen) If...

What if...

• You place a cup of coffee--better, a Free Cup Coupon--at everyone's work station?

• You invite/allow your employees to chair (and set agenda for) your staff meetings?

• You try a Get It Done Day, on which everyone sets quantity performance goals for that day. When met (and meeting quality standards), the employee is free to go home?

• You create a Week of Stars for the Day? I/O/W, a Star of the Day is named (how?) every day for a week.

• You start each day with an Instant Meeting during which everyone states, Today I will accomplish ________.?

• You end the day with an Instant Meeting during which everyone states, Today I did/did not accomplish ________, and/but I did accomplish _________.?

• You make it a point, a personal commitment, to meet with one employee, informally and with no agenda for 10 each day, until you've met with all of them?

• You do it again?

• You and your team construct and play an ongoing Getting to Know game, the purposes being for everyone to know everyone else, continually better, to increase harmony and trust, to strengthen teamwork?

• You allow yourself to create your own What (Would Happen) If list such as this and tried it out?

Some mind-jugglers that just might stimulate some engagement. Enjoy!

The Difference Difference Makes

I often hear manager's I support say, in effect, "the new generation just doesn't get it." Those managers are usually my counterpart Boomers. And to be sure, in management ranks, we are of visibly decreasing numbers, but I don't think it's just fear of being outnumbered that generates the misunderstandings.

The posting below is from Cheri Baker's The Enlightened Manager. Cheryl's insights, from the Gen X/Gen Y perspective(s), are valuable.

Communicating Across Generations - Words Matter.

Posted: 16 Jun 2008 10:15 AM CDT

I've attended a fair number of these so-called "generational" talks over the last couple years. Most of these talks focus on the differences between people based upon their relative ages. Generation Xers (my group) is supposed to be fiercely independent and hard working. Generation Y (also known as the Millenials) are said to have a different notion of "work ethic" than the rest of us - focusing on outputs instead of time at the desk.

So what happens when generations collide? Misunderstandings can occur. Let me highlight a point from a recent consulting assignment.

I was working with a local medical clinic on an employee development program, and one of the issues that surfaced was that the team felt like they didn't get enough recognition. This issue kept coming up, and it frankly baffled the clinic leadership. The organization in question did spend quite a bit of effort recognizing employees, including a service award program, an annual award dinner, regular performance feedback, and a generally friendly and welcoming culture.

So there was this gulf. The clinic employees (many of them younger) who felt under appreciated, and the clinic leadership (many of them older) were confused. What did these employees expect? Daily recognition parades?

We did a group dialog exercise, and one of the things that came out of the discussion was this notion that for many of the younger workers, when they said "recognition" what they meant was that they wanted small appreciative "touches" throughout the day. Saying "please and thank you" in an appreciative way meant more than getting fancy awards. Having a boss say "thanks for your hard work today" meant more than a fancy annual dinner.

Suddenly, the clinic leadership had a little 'ahah' moment. Our workers don't want parades, they want respect. They want us to know we see what they do - and they want feedback. That may be different than what we are used to doing, but it's not a hardship.

I mentioned this story to a employee recognition expert, the talented Teresa Chambers, and she said that yes, the younger generation is looking for regular verbal approval and appreciation.

The key here was that when the employees said "we want more recognition", that the word "recognition" had a different meaning than the leaders expected.

I suspect that when it comes down to generational differences, there is a lot that can be explored simply by clarifying what each group "means" by a particular set of words. When we get to the meaning behind the language, we may be closer to bridging the gap than we ever suspected.

If you have any thoughts to add to this post - please leave a comment so everyone can enjoy it!

Methods of recognizing and motivating employees are really not that different among the generations. Frederick Herzberg  published his research on dual factors of employee motivation almost 40 years ago. He pointed out that employees derived satisfaction from the presence of motivator "touches" as Baker mentions above:

• Achievement
• Recognition
• Job Opportunity

And on a less direct-link note, employees were dissatisfied by the absence or lack of hygiene factors such as:

• Salary
• Benefits
• Working Conditions

Industrial psychologists have not denied Herzberg's accuracy. My work with employees in all 3 generational groups convinces me that motivator touches: a compliment, public congratulations, signs of personal interest (without their being probing) have recognition value to those in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s (like me, next year.)

The recognition touches Cheri distinguishes are the out-of-the-ordinary (but should not be too rewards for work well done). The hygiene factors are of-the-ordinary, presumed as part of the work package. The latter are expected, the former are appreciated...across generations, I would say.

Compliments to Cheri for making me think some more about the need for clarified communications.

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10689546@N06/2209321754/