Conscious Culture - How To Connect to Create Competitive Differentiation

As we enter the post-pandemic season within the backdrop of great political divides, war in Eastern Europe, looming economic uncertainties, and threats of other diseases of epidemic proportions, business leaders are facing a myriad of unprecedented business challenges. One that many are grappling with is how to create connections within their teams and employees to successfully work together.?

Many organizations began with attempts to address the “how we connect to work together” dilemma in very tactical ways as the world emerged from the pandemic. Identifying what to do about work location was top of mind for most and is an ongoing discourse. Should it be a remote, in-person, hybrid, or other blended work arrangement, with the goal of expanding the talent pool by hiring in other cities, regions, or countries, or compressing into specific hub locations???

While the physical work location was and continues to be an important discussion,??business leaders are realizing that this decision is not enough to attract and engage talent.??The focus on and investing in meaningful and connected cultures is ever more critical.?

Record-breaking employee attrition (no matter which work location strategy), employee disengagement, and “quiet quitting” are having devastating impacts on business growth and success. It has become painfully evident to business leaders that creating connection and engagement with employees, customers, and communities is essential to business success.? This has never been so profoundly important.? Yet, many organizations have neglected or ignored the foundation necessary for this connection: a conscious culture.?

Many remarkable businesses believed they had incredible, and perhaps invincible, cultures, yet the fabric of their cultures is now tattered and marred, and customer service has suffered from it. Others have been bystanders as their culture twisted and morphed into something nearly unrecognizable and now uncontrolled stifling collaboration and innovation.? Others have been distracted with little conscious investment into their culture and find their teams are misaligned, causing significant inefficiencies and precious financial resources wasted.? While the reasons or scenarios may differ in these examples, there is one thing in common: the absence of commitment to a healthy and sustainable conscious culture.?

Rigor and intentionality are a must to cultivate a healthy and sustainable conscious culture.? But to do this, and to do it well, it is first helpful to understand the primary elements of a conscious culture.? Simply put, it is the conscious practice of THINKING, ACTING & CONNECTING. To assist in understanding what is meant by each of these, let us describe them briefly to you as follows:

THINKING:?

Thinking is the foundational building block for your conscious culture.?It is your organization’s culture codified, specifically expressed in written words.?

A few examples of what these may be referred to within your organization are:

• Organizational Values
• Company Beliefs
• Guiding Principles
• Ways of Work

ACTING:

Acting is the operational building block for your conscious culture.?It is actions and behaviors explicitly exemplifying? and reinforcing your culture within your organization.??

A few simple examples of acting within your organization are:

• Communications consistently reference your culture thinking
• Recognition programs reward performance aligned to your culture thinking
• Training service behaviors consistent with your culture thinking?

CONNECTING:

Connecting is your culture manifested.??It is the bond employees, customers, partners, and the community make with your organization because of their? experiences and interactions with you.??A few examples of what these may be referred to within your organization are:

A few examples of how you can measure this are:

• Customers talk positively about your services using language consistent with your culture
• Customer NPS and retention are exceptional as your culture creates? a competitive differentiation
• Employees refer great talent to work at your organization
• Employee engagement surveys and retention improve as does innovation and productivity

Now you have a high-level understanding of each element of practicing an intentional conscious culture. Yes, it is simple, but we never said it was easy. It requires consistency, commitment, and intention.? It may require many working sessions and iterations to define your 'culture thinking' in words, and it may take lots of input and brainstorming to identify and implement actions that reinforce your culture.? It will take tools to measure your progress, from culture assessments, engagement surveys and customer satisfaction inputs, etc. These help you make improvements and adjustments in your actions.???

There are many phenomenal companies well-known for their cultures, and certain elements can be gleaned from them.? But, just as each business is unique, so are the types of employees needed to contribute and the target customers they wish to attract. Therefore, there is no one-size-fits-all culture.? However, as you look closely at best-in-class cultures, there is one thing that is true for all of them:

Each consistently and consciously practices thinking, acting and connecting their culture.? This is what sets apart extraordinary businesses from the ordinary.? Just as you invest time and resources in other elements of your business, so must investments be made in your conscious culture.? It is no longer a nice-to-have, it is a must-have to create competitive differentiation.

We are always here to share some best practice ideas to help you form your culture thinking.? Reach out to us anytime to help you ideate and implement practices, programs, and tangible actions to help you exemplify and sustain your remarkable conscious culture.? Please feel free to connect with us.? We love to grow our professional network.

About Us:Adrianne Court has extensive US and international business expertise as a result of 30+ years of Human Resources and leadership experience with large public and high-growth private equity companies.??Currently, she serves as Chief Human Resources Officer for Tealium with customers and employees spanning the globe and is responsible for elevating employee and customer experience through a heightened focus on company culture as well as overseeing the HR function.? Prior to joining Tealium, she led HR and culture experience programs at Alkami Technology (ALKT) and was also part of the team bringing Alkami public in 2021.?

Due to the sustainable HR and culture programs she has championed, she and the organizations she has worked with have been recognized with numerous awards, including Best Places to Work, Best Places for Diversity, and Best Workplace Culture.? Most recently, Adrianne was named a Top 10 Influential HR Leader by Industry Era Magazine and a Top 50 Women Leaders of Dallas. She co-authored a best-selling book, Bravely She Flies, Sharing Stories of Resilience. She is currently co-authoring with Kim? Conscious Culture, Think, Act, Connect to Inspire Uncommon Business Results.?

Kim Zoller is the CEO and founder of ID360 and The Kim Zoller Method , Kim’s digital and online platform.??Since the founding of ID360 in 1992, Kim and her team have trained over 300,000 individuals and have caught the attention of national media including CNN , CNBC , 纽约时报 , The Washington Post , Forbes , American Way, and The Dallas Morning News , among others.?

ID360’s client roster includes notable clients such as Tealium , 凯捷咨询 , State of North Dakota , 世界银行 , Vans , Mattel, Inc. , GameStop , 微软 , American Airlines , 强生公司 , and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts , among others.?

Kim is also a contributor to undergraduate, MBA, and law school programs at a variety of universities, which include The University of Texas at Dallas , 美国哥伦比亚大学 , 美国德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校 , Southern Methodist University , and Texas Christian University . She is also the co-author of “You Did What?” The Biggest Blunders Professionals Make, “You Said What?”, and Enhancing Your Executive Edge: How to Develop the Skills to Lead and Succeed. She is currently co-authoring her 4th book with Adrianne, Conscious Culture, Think, Act, Connect to Inspire Uncommon Business Results.

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Adrianne Court (she/her) Kim Zoller