How Do You Change Your Culture?
Lots of companies and organizations are processing the results from their annual employee engagement surveys and are realizing they need help in addressing deficits identified in their workplace culture.
The Importance of Culture
We know that a healthy, positive culture is foundational to a healthy organization. The Sloan School of Business at MIT found that workplace culture was 10x more predictive of employees leaving than compensation and benefits. Research shows that when people don’t feel connected, negative results follow: higher turnover rates, it’s tougher to get things done as a team, more miscommunication, mistakes and tasks falling between the cracks increase, and just an overall sense that this is not going as well as it should (or did in the past).
It isn’t that they (or you) haven’t been trying, but what they (and you) have been doing isn’t working.
So . . . how do you change your culture?
More of the Same Won’t Get It Done
Doing more of what you’ve been doing (most likely, traditional employee recognition activities) won’t make much difference. Employee engagement scores have plummeted, and staff turnover continues to be high. Why would you think doing more of the same will change future outcomes?
And be careful about pursuing some newly renamed “appreciation” activities that are actually the same recognition actions wrapped in a new package with a different name. How do you tell the difference?
First, true appreciation is about an individual person and is from an individual. Not from the company, not from someone in HR, not from a manager you don’t have a relationship with. Appreciation is from a person to a person.
Secondly, authentic appreciation flows from a sense of valuing the other person and is best communicated in specifics, not vague generalities or pre-designed emoji’s that have little (or no) meaning. For example, receiving a peer-to-peer message, badge, kudos of “Great job!” is not going to communicate that you truly value a colleague.
Consider Using Tools Already Created and Shown to Be Effective
I grew up in a family where the mantra was “we can do that ourselves!” which led to both a path toward learning and adventure, but also (at times) resulted in frustration, wasting time and energy, and eventually purchasing the “store bought” version. I suspect some of you may be familiar with this.
Let me encourage you: we have developed tools and processes over several years that are efficient, effective, low cost and which lead to the positive results you are seeking. Our Appreciation at Work Implementation Kit has all of the elements you need for a turn-key training process: instructional videos, handouts, slide decks and a facilitator’s guide that provides discussion questions, group activities and homework assignments. It also includes a simple, self-paced online training course (only 1 ½ hours long) that walks you through how to use the training materials. Click here for more information.
While the cost is already among the lowest you will find for work-based training programs ($995), we are offering an additional discount of 20% ($199 off) through the end of February. Use the code 2025TRAINER at checkout.
Take Practical Steps to Create More Positive Workplace Culture
As a psychologist I can tell you we absolutely do know how to help people change their behavior. Creating a healthier, supportive culture involves the following components:
- Information. People need to have a framework for thinking about their actions and accurate messages to tell themselves about their daily life.
- Examples and Modeling. Information alone doesn’t change behavior, but seeing examples of others modeling the desired actions helps us visualize ourselves doing the same things.
- Social support. We are more likely to initiate and continue healthy patterns when we have a supportive social environment, with others practicing the same behaviors along with us.
- Visual cues and reminders. When we have visual reminders (written sayings, images of the desired results), they help us make those small, daily choices toward our goals.
- Habit formation. Developing repetitive habits is more powerful than almost any other activity for changing behavior. Creating the cues, structure and reminders within your team’s daily work life will be a powerful change agent.
- Rewards. Short-term and longer-term rewards, both intrinsic and external, reinforce us to continue to make good choices over time. And the absence of pain + pleasurable experiences at work are key to seeing long-term change occur.
Our resources (the 5 languages of appreciation book, online assessment, and training materials and more) utilize these components (as does a new program to facilitate habit formation). As a result, we continue to hear positive reports from our clients about how their culture is healthier than it has ever been! Join us in the journey of creating a more positive and healthier workplace wherever you work.
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Categories 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace, Appreciation, Employee engagement, Managing By Appreciation, Workplace Culture
