The Impact of Leadership on Workplace Culture and Engagement

by Maddie Dixon

In my last post on The Catalyst, I shared about the tough times we're facing in healthcare and why investing in human development is essential to creating lasting change. Today, I want to dive deeper into the "how." How can organizations leverage human development strategies to create that change? What does that transformation look like in practice?

At Practicing Excellence, our approach to human development is built around understanding our partners' unique challenges, aligning our strategies to fit their organizational goals, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill-building.

For example, one of our recent partners came to us with the following goals: to improve leadership; enhance team collaboration; and increase clinician and leader engagement and retention.

With these goals in mind, we crafted a roadmap:

• To improve leadership, we would provide Practicing Excellence as a tool to help clinicians and leaders grow, offering practical strategies to enhance professional fulfillment.
• To improve team collaboration, we would help team members reconnect to their "why," fostering collegiality and teamwork, and establishing a shared vision where everyone feels mission critical.
• To boost engagement and retention, we would focus on building competencies to reduce turnover and burnout, aiming to create a culture where clinicians and leaders find meaning and value in their work – experiencing joy, energy, and engagement.

We decided to start with leaders first because they are the driving force behind organizational culture and change. When leaders actively demonstrate the behaviors and values they wish to see in their teams, it sets a standard for everyone else to follow. According to a Gallup study, managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores. This means that leadership behavior is a key determinant of how engaged and motivated employees are in their work.??

By having leaders pave the way, we can aim to foster a culture where positive behaviors are exemplified from the top down, leading to increased employee engagement, productivity, and overall organizational success.?

With this in mind, we started a five-month leadership development program to cultivate skills like increasing impact, modeling desired behaviors, appreciating teams, and shifting mindsets. These skills are designed to accelerate the growth of leaders at any level, helping them to clearly describe the attributes, characteristics, and behaviors of effective leadership. Through this program, leaders learn to apply practical strategies and principles to show genuine appreciation, effectively teach and mentor others, actively listen, and confidently lead their teams toward success.?

Recognizing the importance of engagement, we emphasize to all our partners that this initiative goes beyond simply watching videos or checking boxes. It's about committing to continuous learning, applying new insights, and starting meaningful conversations within teams.

We know that leaders are often stretched thin, and we aim to minimize their burden by providing resources such as communication templates, program toolkits, and reflection questions for team huddles. This makes it easier for them to integrate skill-building into their daily workflow.

We maintain momentum by tracking engagement and celebrating achievements. Recognizing progress—both big and small—is key to fostering a culture that values development. Celebrations honor individual contributions and serve as a collective reminder of why human development matters, keeping energy levels high and reinforcing the value of growth as an ongoing journey.

But how do we know when we’ve made progress, or if we’ve met our goals? With each partner, we determine how we want to measure success.?

This client wanted to use pre- and post-program assessments, monitor program participation, and examine organizational data like patient experience metrics and Gallup Survey results. Beyond the numbers, they wanted to feel a difference. Is there a shift in culture? How are people feeling when they show up to work each day?

They’re only a few months into their journey with us, but we're already hearing stories of how impactful this work has been—stories of renewed energy and leaders feeling more connected to their teams.

The journey of human development is ongoing. It's not about quick fixes or temporary improvements, but rather, it's about creating lasting cultural shifts that continue to benefit both individuals and organizations long after their programs have ended.?

To better understand how we partner with organizations to deliver measurable results in human development, please contact us at [email protected].