Cultivate 5 Drivers for a High- Performance Culture

A firm's organizational culture is comparable to the foundation upon which everyone and everything in the organization rests; it is the bedrock upon which sustainable business thrives. The issue is that well-intentioned leaders prioritize asset preservation and efficiency optimization above culture in times of turmoil.

Naturally, leaders must protect some basics to be viable. The best leaders, on the other hand, do not remain on the defensive; rather, they play offence by recognizing the importance of cultivating a healthy organizational culture and committing resources to initiatives that support it. That is, they see disruption as a source of sustainable development.

Gallup has identified five cultural factors that may aid CEOs in gaining a better understanding of their own culture's nuances. Leaders have the opportunity to use particular strategies that improve how people behave, make decisions, and do their jobs.

Here is what Gallup says:

1. Leadership and Communication

Communication about an organization's purpose and brand fortifies employees, instils resilience, and positions employees to emerge stronger than ever. Unfortunately,?only 13% of employees strongly agree that the leadership of their organization communicates effectively with the rest of the organization.?That is, most leaders are dead-wrong when they assume their communication efforts are sufficient.

If employees have questions, and there is a lack of leadership communication, they will talk among themselves rather than stay focused on their mission and work. Consistent, ongoing communication from leaders?prevents rumour mills?and positions employees to understand what is expected as they push the company forward.

Consider some "Divergent Thinking"( fluency?– the ability to develop large numbers of ideas, flexibility – the ability to produce ideas in numerous categories, originality - the ability to produce unusual or unique ideas, and elaboration – the ability to adapt abstract ideas into realistic ones) supported by neuroscience. The idea behind this is WOMBATWays: you are basically priming your brain to ask the question, What Might Be All The Ways That.... I can solve...

2. Values and Rituals

Too often, a company's values are unclear:?Just 23% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they can apply their organization's values to their work every day.

This is problematic because a?value-driven culture is better prepared to navigate crises. Alignment on core values can sharpen decision-making and drive mission-oriented behaviour. Strong values enable leaders to stay aligned in communication and messaging to teams. That is, clear values are like landmarks that guide employees and illit.inate the path ahead.

"How does this value behave?" you may wonder. And if you can't explain it in layman's terms, it's not worth your time. accountable for it Ask yourself, "How does this value behave?" If you can't express it in practical, implementable terms, IT'S NOT YOUR VALUE.

3. Work Teams and Structures

Work teams and structures matter a great deal to the effectiveness of culture. Structure dictates who communicates with whom, how frequently and on what topics. Such structures are the air everyone breathes daily to bring the company purpose to life. In the best company cultures, these work teams and structures function as seamlessly as oxygen does -- they feel invisible to employees and customers alike -- but they remain essential for companies to flourish.

On the other hand, as customers, we know what it feels like when work teams and structures do not function as oxygen. We know what it feels like when we go to the register to check out but for some reason, our product is missing a price sticker. Either the clerk is empowered to help us by making a call in the moment (we can exhale) or we suffer as she works through a cumbersome process to determine what to do. That latter experience leaves us choking for air as we try to get on our way. Processes and structures affect how customers and employees perceive and experience the organization.

4. Human Capital

Changing organizational culture requires leaders to engage their teams in productive ways that help them flourish individually. These days, leaders must see developing their people as perhaps their greatest opportunity -- as?traditional HR systems are outdated. Leaders have an opportunity to shift to cultures based on performance development -- where individuals are able to grow as they achieve outcomes for the company.

5. Performance

When leaders get performance management right -- the "how things get done" becomes a powerful motivator for everyone. But, when they miss the mark -- like when rather than celebrate successful outcomes, they instead manage by control -- everyone loses trust.

This is rampant in a culture that does not value trust and people know it -- where keystrokes or computer times are tracked to be sure workers are working and employees stress more about their boss tracking keystrokes on their keyboard than producing great work. Cultures, where trust is lacking, are vulnerable at best. Even if leadership says that trust is a value, micromanaging says otherwise, causing a misalignment that ends up wasting everybody's time and energy.

Resources(gallup.com)

I feel that now, more than ever, we need to incorporate leadership at all levels of our organizations. We must remember that leadership is a skill that can be taught and learned from the C-Suite all the way down to the ground level. The more actively we equip employees with leadership abilities, the better your employees will be able to lead your organization into the future.

Compiled by Kevin Britz - Leadership by Design