Blog Post from John Henderson, EANE Director of Learning & Development
Last month, while sitting down to breakfast with 20 senior HR professionals from around the Northeast region, it became apparent that organizations across size and industries struggle with the universal question: How do we create a culture that engages our employees? One of the points that everyone agreed on was that to be successful your culture needs employees to feel valued, accountable and respected.
Valued
We all want to feel valued for our work, contributions and for who we are as individual contributors. One of the breakfast participants shared how their organization shows value to their employees not only while they work there but when they retire as well. The company has sponsored and FUNDED a retirement club! The club meets regularly for breakfast and other gatherings, while all expenses are covered by the company – now that demonstrates a culture of “value.”
Accountable
A culture that values employees is one that ensures that everyone knows what they are responsible for and that they, and others, will be held accountable. I’m a certified trainer for the Totally Responsible Person program which focuses on holding ourselves and others accountable for our actions and performance. While the concept is very simple, it is not always easy. We sometimes need to remind ourselves to be the totally responsible person and to hold ourselves accountable no matter what the circumstances.
I once worked for an organization where the joke among staff was “the problem here is the leadership doesn’t know the word accountable.” The leadership did not hold people accountable to complete their work – this was not a culture where accountability was valued. I value accountability and that is why I sought out workplace culture that aligned with my own values.
Respected
Last week I facilitated a webinar on Growth Through Failure which focused on how important it is for leadership to respect and trust their employees to take calculated risks – even if they fail. An organization that celebrates both successes and failures shows they respect their employees by honoring their contributions — and potential contributions.
Results
So what’s it all mean? When employees feel valued, accountable and respected they are highly engaged at work. According to Business2Community organizations with highly engaged employees outperform those with low engagement by a whopping 202% — enough said.
Some of EANE’s most popular public trainings that directly impact workplace culture are :