Managing Director at SMA Consulting. I help build high-performing teams that deliver successful outcomes.
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A high-performance culture requires continuous refinement. In today’s increasingly high-paced and constantly changing workplace, an organization’s culture can be a major competitive advantage. It sets the tone for how employees work together and interact with each other. Staying on top of a hybrid workforce can be a challenge for many leaders as concerns about a lack of productivity, innovation and overall performance need to be addressed through cultural improvements. Organizations must also constantly evolve and transform as their needs grow and as external factors change regularly.
Behaviors are what make up a common set of practices for an organization to follow. People react based on the mindsets that hold one group together in an ever-changing world. There is compelling data that healthy cultures increase employee engagement and overall profitability significantly. According to a Gallup meta-analysis (download required) of 2.7 million employees across 96 countries, companies in the top quartile of employee engagement are 23% more profitable than those in the bottom quartile. This meta-analysis also notes an 81% difference in absenteeism between the top and bottom quartiles. Furthermore, highly engaged workplaces see a 10% increase in customer loyalty and an 18% increase in sales.
The key is building a healthy culture in which all staff understand the organization’s core values and how they are being reflected in daily activity. It’s about how people interact with each other, how they behave and how they communicate. In today’s disruptive environment, organizations need to attract, develop and retain talent with varying skill diversity. However, the difference between success and failure will come down to a shared purpose, shared values and implied assumptions. What does this mean for leaders?
Leaders play a critical role in creating and sustaining a culture that is aligned with the organization’s mission. They have a responsibility to set the culture for the organization and to create an environment that supports the organization’s purpose, values and implicit assumptions. In this new world of hybrid work, leaders need to be forward-thinking and agile — able to adapt to the changing environment.
Here are four tips for building a high-performance culture:
1. Consider the warning signs indicating culture erosion.
The warning signs for culture erosion can be extremely visible, especially due to the ease of exposure that social media provides. As organizations deal with disruption and transformation, it can be difficult for them to maintain initial values. Assess the tools and processes for new ways of working. For example, there could be visible elements of being required to “always be available” through remote work or not appear amicable because there are fewer physical displays of emotion. It is important for a leader to ensure there are transparent ways to communicate, including being a role model for protecting their own personal time and that of their colleagues.
2. Shift the mindset to embrace a hybrid culture.
Today, with technology making it possible to work from anywhere, many of the organization’s traditional values have become more important. Collaboration, trust and agility are at the center as team camaraderie, empowerment and quick decision making become more prominent in supporting a high-performing hybrid workforce. Organizational change is often a struggle, and it requires a concerted effort to make the changes in the culture of an organization. To do so, leaders need to share the aspirational vision and undertake a systematic review of the current culture, including leadership behaviors.
3. Implement continuous employee listening and feedback.
Consider the concerns of employees and their organizations when planning and executing any culture change. Define the culture you want to create while ensuring that the teams who comprise it are well-aligned and empowered to create it. Communicate and debate the strategies for change. Evaluate your progress and the impact of your efforts through regular employee surveys that are transparent and demonstrate commitment to listening and valuing feedback.
4. Commit to closing gaps and embed culture in day-to-day processes.
Challenges that are unfamiliar to us can be enriching, dynamic, challenging goals that can serve as inspiring purposes for success. Leaders need to avoid the temptation of treating culture as a checklist of things to get done. Instead, make culture an integral part of the conversation, strategy and execution of every one of their plans and actions.
Adopting cultural diversity in the workplace is not enough. Understanding cultural competency and fostering inclusion throughout each part of your organization will be key to the successful execution of a high-performance culture in a hybrid workplace. Organizations are becoming more global, more diverse, more innovative and more customer-focused. This shift is increasing pressure on the organizational culture to become more flexible and adaptable.
Finally, it is imperative for the leadership team to be role models for the improvements in organizational culture and reward teams that demonstrate adaptability and finding new ways of working that align with the shared purpose and beliefs of the organization.
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