Most of us leaders are on the quest to attain the organizational culture that makes us the best place to work or have the best ratings with our customers. It’s been a hot topic for years. There are millions of books on the subject and countless strategies you can implement based on evidence-based best practices. In any position, you can count on every organization to have an initiative that you will be using to tackle organizational culture.
As I reflected on my recent Press Ganey scores, you guessed it; organizational culture was an opportunity for us to continue to address. I pondered on strategies to help my department and developed an action plan.
Like other leaders looking to improve employee engagement and organizational culture, we are participants in organizational committees or seek consultants to assist us with their expertise to “nail” the best approach. We delve into the journals and forums of various associations for a review of best practices and, in some cases, phone a colleague to discuss their strategies in the hopes of mimicking and having the same success. With all of this information, we develop and implement an action plan with SMART goals to improve our organizational culture with associated metrics. Yes, we can’t forget those metrics to support our efforts!
While all of these strategies have return on the effort placed, improving culture does not have to be a complex strategy. A simplistic approach can yield a significant impact.
One simple and straightforward tactic is a 30-second conversation between an employee and their leader. Adding senior leaders and executives amplifies the positive impact! Yes, back to the basics of using conversation to yield results.
Organizations are often viewed as a series of problems to be fixed; therefore, many conversations between a team member and their one up is negative, such as addressing a complaint from another department, or resolving conflict with other colleagues, or addressing a quality assurance concern.
As a result, when the employee finishes one of these “negative” or performance management conversations and returns to their work area, they may be set loose like a fiery canon! The employee will most likely engage in a less than a favorable recount of the conversation with their colleagues. This allows everyone prime ground to chime in their opinions to include emphasizing their issues with leaders and the organization, not to mention their perceived lack of appreciation and support.
Regardless of the facts in that initial conversation with their leader, details will be skewed, usually favoring the employee. Consequently, misinformation and negative emotions wear on the existing department culture like hot water on ice. Much of what the leader or organization accomplished for employee engagement can be undone so easily.
Therefore, to ensure the foundation of organizational culture remains strong, we can use simple conversations to foster a positive culture using this same wildfire strategy. Consider selecting employees to come to the office for a chat with their lead, but instead of addressing a concern, take a mere 30 seconds to let them know face to face about a recent recognition or just a pause to recognize their work or to check in and connect with them. This 30 seconds is beneficial in a multitude of ways.
Can you imagine the reactions when they return to their areas after this meeting with the “boss” and answer the proverbial, “What did the boss want to see you for?” question! Instead of spewing negativity and maybe an expletive or two of the boss, their coworkers, or the organization, they may very well answer, “Wow, would you believe the boss called me to thank me and to recognize my efforts!” If senior executives are involved, employees will feel like a human with a name, rather than a worker bee or just an employee.
As leaders, we know how much conversations matter, but we overlook these simple ones. This simple 30 seconds of conversation can drive a positive culture with a significant positive impact on the team and, ultimately, the organization!
So, want to try a tactic that isn’t labor-intensive and does not require consultants and academic research? Then, try the 30-second tactic rather than relying on action plans, mission statements, committees, and other complex, lengthy methods for employee engagement and cultural change. Simple conversation is a pillar in the foundation of organizational cultural change.
