Kreating New Collaborations

Tailored interactive learning solutions in Leadership, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Customer Service, Building Workplace Relationships etc.    Coaching for group cohesion and purpose & individual growth professionally.

Please enjoy an article I have written for your interest …

Building a Culture of Performance and Inclusiveness

Recently I had the pleasure of presenting at MBN’s breakfast on a topic close to my heart and vitally important to the longevity of any business – building a culture people want to be part of.

We discussed the Good, the Bad and the Ugly in how cultures evolve and present themselves.  The aim of any great culture is to involve all employees in driving the company’s success – that means seeking their input, asking for their experience and what they see we can do better.  All too often walls go up in defence when someone offers alternative ways to what’s been established – we can become stuck in ‘tried and true’.   This is a dangerous place to be, the world is constantly changing, giving us more challenges, changing client/customer expectations and businesses need to have a culture where everyone offers their expertise.

One definition of company culture is  ‘The way we do business’ – The collective norms of behaviour, beliefs and attitudes of your team.   How they get ‘stuff’ done.’    This often is left to chance which is a great opportunity lost.   If we are forward thinking of how we want our workplace to feel, how we want to work together, we can create magic.  As they say in one of my favourite Aussie movies “It’s the vibe of the thing!”.

So how can a business create or drive a culture of feedback (yes two-way authentic conversations) and engagement?  It’s all about putting our focus on what matters most.

Your people are your most expensive resource in any business, think about the cost of lost knowledge and experience when people leave, not to mention the exorbitant cost of onboarding new staff members.    Involving our workforce in building a culture they want to be part of is our best weapon against competitors.   Picture walking into a friend’s place for dinner, they’ve just had a barney and the awkwardness and angst is palpable – same thing for your business.  If your team are not cohesive, customers/clients ‘feel it” and if they have alternative places to go, they will.

We spoke about the wonders of a great culture – joyful interactions, job satisfaction, balance, sense of community, feeling recognized for contribution, feeling valued, being heard, and collective problem solving.   As a wise person once told me “Magic happens when you bring in all the wisdom that’s often left in the carpark”.   Those doing the job are your best reference for what is working and what is not – don’t squander the opportunity to have them help drive your success.

Curiosity is your friend, ask your team how they would describe the culture of your business – just ask them for a few words, collate the list and check if it’s in alignment with how you want to be seen.  If yes, celebrate it, recognise it, and thank your team for their input and dedication.

If no, here’s a few ideas to help you re-engage and generate a shift –

• Have authentic conversation with team members 1:1 and as a team
• Set ways of working / expectations with your team’s input
• FEEDBACK (BICK   Behaviour / Impact / Collaboration / Keep in touch)
• Reward & Recognition
• Build trust through transparency
• Empower / Autonomy
• Team interactions / Communications / Call out inappropriate behaviour
• Keep your best people engaged – wellbeing
• Flexibility
• Exit toxic team members

I encourage you to make time for your culture, put it front and center and allow your team time to ponder this too.   Creating a joyful, purposeful and cohesive team increases productivity, keeps your talent engaged, excites your clients/customers to be included in your ‘community’, and most of all gives you and your team a ‘great day, every day’ experience.   It really is so much nicer to go to work with vigour and optimism than “oh no, it’s Monday….everyday”.

If your team needs help in realigning reach out to a trusted trainer/facilitator/coach and explore the tools to help the transformation.   Some of the tools I use to align language and expected behaviours are the DiSC behavioural model, HBDI thinking model, and emotional intelligence tools (ECR & Genos).   The more we know of the people we work with, the more commonalities and empathy we find, and in turn the more effective we become in collaborating and problem solving.

Best wishes for your journey!   Reach out if you’d like to discuss a path forward or to undertake an assessment tool to help you be the best you to lead your team’s success.

Kerrie Nobes
Kreating New Collaborations