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It’s not just #metoo that has company culture rising as a Board level concern.
This time last year HBR devoted pretty much the entire issue to culture, with definitions, models, frameworks (as only HBR can do…), and the direct connections between culture and outcomes.
Long a soft and squishy notion championed by HR and some renegade, ahead-of-their time CEOs (Patagonia’s Yvon Chouinard comes to mind), the importance of culture is no longer a question. The question is what to do about it. How to begin, or do more. How to hardwire healthy culture into the fabric of the business.
Self-driving companies?
Work that chases workers?
Conversation strategy bots?
Talent “rediscovery”?
What?!
“Organizations are a kind of technology on the verge of disruption.”
Have you met Devin Fidler? I did a couple of weeks ago, when he spun our heads around at the Human Resource Leadership Forum’s session talking about The Impact of New Technologies on Society and Work in 2030. Devin is the founder and CEO of Rethinkery Labs, a research and consulting firm that is “is leading the definitive investigation into the forces shaping future companies.”
Meet Vito Politano. I’ve been going to Vito’s classes for years now, and while working on my Warrior Two or crow pose I find myself noticing what Vito does to get our diverse class of yogis to do what he has in mind for us, the behavior he’s looking for, to take us somewhere purposeful. Just as good leaders strive to do in their organizations.
It happens all the time. A big announcement, a new campaign, and everyone forgets to tell employees until the last minute, not to mention involving in the planning in the first place.) And then it's a half-assed effort that lands with a thud or worse, at the minimum, squandering a tremendous brand authenticity and awareness opportunity.
Some communications agencies get it, and Greenough Brand Storytellers is one of them. I was talking with Jamie Parker and Phil Greenough recently. Here's some of what we hashed out.
Here in Boston it doesn’t feel like it, but it is officially spring. New Englanders start to emerge from their wintry cocoons, and dare to imagine flowers and flipflops again.
And everyone from Martha Stewart to the Container Store to Marie Kondo impress upon us that it’s time for spring cleaning – getting rid of stuff we don’t need it, lightening our material loads a bit, and generally making room for fresh air and new energy. Same sensibility happens at work. Here’s the advice I shared in a webinar for the Boston IABC professional communicators network on “Breaking through Employee Communications Clutter and Overload.”
At this time of year we naturally take stock and think about what we’re thankful for. What we’re grateful for. What and who we appreciate. We recognize what matters to us.
Gratitude. Appreciation. Recognition. Let’s have more of all, please. But what’s the difference, actually, it occurred to me to ask, especially in the context of the organizational culture and communication work I do. What is gratitude at scale, so to speak?
An HR Unconference and a DisruptHR event. On the same day. In Boston. Both very well attended by very energetic HR people. What’s up?
If we were talking about a hackathon or tech start-up fest it would be unremarkable to see some messy meeting formats happening. But we’re talking about Human Resources here. Leaders and up-and-comers who seem to be emerging from their reputational backwater as the function of “No” and summer employee picnics. (Disclaimer: I LOVE HR people and all they do, and I work with them everyday to make their workplaces better.)
Quick pause for comedic context: here’s an example of what HR is overcoming:
Q “How many HR people does it take to change a light bulb?” [Read on…]
The just-updated Gallup State of the American Workplace report is out, all 214 pages of it. And we’ll be quoting its employee engagement factoids and workplace trends non-stop as we have with its 2012 predecessor. (Spoiler alert: engagement rate is stagnant from the 2012 report, with still only a third of U.S. employees engaged; 51% indifferent; and 16% actively working against the organization.) It’s a valuable accounting of what matters and works (and doesn’t), and do read it all when you can.
I’ve read the whole thing and was in the process of summarizing it for myself and my clients but realized two things.
"Maybe you’re just ready for something different.”
There’s a new book out from the career center of my alma mater, Wake Forest University. It’s called Five for Your First Five. Buy it immediately for any recent grads you know. And then buy it for everyone else, too, as I’m finding it a great read and roadmap for anyone, at any stage in his or her career.
I was just at my class reunion on the Wake Forest campus and got to meet author Allison McWilliams, who is a leader of the University’s Office of Personal Career Development.
Last week the Boston Globe announced the 2017 Top Places to Work in Massachusetts. One hundred and twenty-five companies are very happy to have made the lists. Perhaps even more important, these companies (and hundreds of others that didn’t make the lists this year) gained critical insights into what their employees think and feel about working there, so the organizations can take action and improve. (This is the heart of an employee engagement strategy.)
It's really simple: Employees who experience higher levels of well-being = higher performance well-being for the organization. And then there's the virtuous circle of engagement <-> well-being...
Mari Ryan, founder and CEO of Advancing Wellness, and I are in wild agreement about the role of employee engagement in wellness program success (and overall organizational performance.) Mari and her team help organizations walk the well-being talk, with program design and operating strategies that flatten healthcare costs, improve morale and increase engagement. She’s a petite powerhouse I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know recently.
Here’s our advice and synthesis from experts about what’s working in the brave new world of #remote work.
First: What’s always been true is still true, just more so.
We’re all different yet the same.
We’re all human. We’re social animals. We seek safety, recognition, and meaning. We want to be helpful.
And we come in many flavors, we humans. Introvert, extrovert, all sorts of personality styles (Some styles are readily suited to more solitary work settings and some need to work at working at a distance. Here’s a take on introvert/extrovert/ambivert remote work types.
It’s nearly impossible to over-communicate.
Once is never enough, but it’s especially true in dynamically changing and unfamiliar times.
It’s all about clear expectations, transparency and trust.
And now all three are being put to the test, requiring more and different effort on the part of leaders, managers and every worker. Here’s a look at how trust builds differently in virtual teams.