Throughout your career you’ve probably heard Peter Drucker’s famous quote “culture eats strategy for breakfast” a million times. This belief is as true today as it was the day Drucker said it – because culture still eats strategy for breakfast!
Company Culture Defined
Culture embodies the shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that shape the collective identity within a company.
It defines the way people behave and interact with each other, including actions and behaviors that are and are not tolerated.
Therefore, culture serves as a powerful force that influences employee engagement, performance, and overall organizational success.
Leadership Influence on Culture
Leadership plays a vital role in shaping your company’s culture. Culture isn’t just a passive byproduct of collective behaviors; it doesn’t “just happen”.
Rather, it is intentionally created by effective leaders that act as cultural architects – and then is consistently reinforced through leadership’s deliberate actions and behaviors.
5 Key Tools Leaders Can Implement to Create a Healthy Workplace Culture
1. Communicate and Align Values: Clear and consistent communication of a company’s values is vital to fostering a strong culture; and equally important is aligning the company’s mission, vision, and values with employees’ individual goals and aspirations. This alignment creates a sense of purpose and meaning, creating, and sustaining a culture where employees feel invested in the company’s success because they feel the company is invested in their individual success. Win-Win!
2. Foster Open and Honest Communication: Effective communication is the cornerstone of a healthy workplace culture. Encouraging open, honest, and transparent communication is vital for creating and sustaining trust, empathy, and understanding among team members.
Companies can achieve this by scheduling regular team meetings, establishing feedback mechanisms that encourage (and reward) constructive criticism, and promoting a culture of effective communication through active listening.
3. Create Real Work-Life Balance: A healthy workplace culture recognizes the value and importance of work-life balance and genuinely encourages employees to attain it. Policies must be created and implemented that promote flexible working hours, remote work options, and mandatory vacation time (Hello Americans).
Setting clear boundaries and expectations around working hours, including sending and responding to emails or messages outside of established hours (without feeling guilty) will help employees disconnect and recharge, resulting in higher productivity and engagement when they are at work.
By genuinely supporting employees’ effort for achieving a healthy work-life balance, companies will boost morale, reduce stress levels, decrease turnover and increase overall job satisfaction.
4. Collaboration: Promoting collaboration is essential for cultivating a healthy culture marked by genuine teamwork. Encourage teamwork by creating cross-functional projects, organizing team-building activities, and fostering a sense of shared purpose. When employees work together towards a common goal, they feel a greater sense of belonging and satisfaction.
Additionally, establish mentorship programs and/or buddy systems that provide opportunities for knowledge sharing and professional growth. By celebrating individual and team achievements, organizations reinforce a culture that offers a win-win – valuing high performance collaboration and recognizing the contributions of each individual employee.
5. Promote Employee Well-being: Genuinely caring for the well-being of employees must be a top priority for all companies who claim to have a healthy workplace culture. Companies can provide wellness programs such as gym memberships, yoga classes, and quality mental health resources beyond the typical (and nonsensical) 3 EAP “free” counseling sessions to support employees’ mental health.
Recognizing and addressing workplace stressors and implementing strategies to ameliorate them will go a long way in promoting positive employee engagement and satisfaction.
Effective leadership plays a critical role in creating a healthy workplace culture. It is built with intentionality, over time, and with a concerted effort on the part of leadership.
Companies must walk the talk!
Dr. Patty Ann
