The Investment You MUST Make As A Leader Of An Organization
“An organization can only become the best version of its self to the extent that the people who drive that organization are striving to become better versions of themselves ” Matthew Kelly
When I look around many of the organizations I visit I see teams full of bright ideas, waiting for someone to give them permission….they are afraid to make decisions or offer new and innovative solutions due to the lack of leadership that fosters an environment around employee engagement. I started to ask myself why would anyone want to squash such innovation and further to that, who would want to work in an environment that doesn’t empower and engage their people? The scary reality, most organizations have no idea that they are cultivating a powerless environment. Research shows that only about 25% of business leaders have an employee engagement strategy. (Source: Dale Carnegie). As leaders we must PAY ATTENTION to the culture we are cultivating and start investing in our people, after all they are the reason our organizations function on a daily basis.
Dare To Be Different And Watch The Top Line GROW
The good news, this can change with you! More and more organizations and their leaders are starting to think differently, becoming increasingly more progressive and starting to ‘chase the people’ before the numbers. They are starting to realize that without engaged front-line team members, top line revenue will not sustain.
A study conducted by Workplace Research Foundation shows that increasing employee engagement investments by only 10% can increase your profits by $2,400 per employee, per year and that highly engaged employees are 38% more likely to have above-average productivity.
The saying “take care of your people and the money will come” is a new way of thinking and often disregarded because it is a big investment that doesn’t produce a dollar off the top- right away that is. Making the decision to invest in your people is the first step, and the easiest. We have to start somewhere, however the hard work that follows is where most organizations fall off and go right back to the old way of thinking, $$$.
Walking the talk requires time, processes, and patience. If you plan to take a stance and be forward thinking, be prepared to live up to it and own the hard work that lies ahead. Don’t give up when the going gets tough, keep at it. Your people will thank you for it and will return the favor through hard work and increasingly growing results.
Imagine a culture where you empower your people to strive for greatness, where your people are free to think outside of the box and share their innovative ideas. The possibilities of future growth and success become endless.
So What Are You Waiting For?
I have followed these six steps with each organization I have had the pleasure to work with when improving Internal Culture and have seen great success.
1. Decide to take on the challenge to make your people top priority- YOU have to believe
2. Gain 100% Executive sponsorship- without this, you won’t get far.
3. Develop the ‘how’- plan it, make an actionable step by step plan on how to make your vision come to life.
4. Make internal culture part of your yearly strategic initiatives- make it a focus, not a fad.
5. Measure success through key metrics like deceased attrition, increased employee retention, employee engagement survey scores, achievement of yearly strategic plans, and top line revenue. Remember, what gets measured gets managed.
6. Share the successes! The most successful organizations are amazing story tellers, positive behavior breads positive behavior- share the positive transformations at every level of your organization and watch it be duplicate before your eyes.
Instant Gratification or Sustained Success?
Most of us are familiar with the adage “one cookie now or 2 cookies later?” Ask yourself, do you want short term unsustainable success, if so chase the dollar. If you want to create a legacy then take care of your people, nurture and empower them. The return will not only come in a monetary form, but in loyalty, hard work, and brand evangelists who will promote your organization like it is their own.
Invest in your people and internal culture, you won’t be sorry you did.
