Using a scale of one being the lowest and ten being the highest, what is the level of love in your organization's culture?
We all know that every employee wants to feel appreciated, valued and loved in the workplace. We all know that most organizations have positive intent to be a great culture. However, it is hard to prioritize if it is not organic in your everyday human resource strategies.
SagePros is here to help! Below are five ways to accelerate your organization to a level 10 on the love meter.
💜 Wait for the perfect match. You want the best candidate for your open position. Job seekers want the best career opportunity for their career goals. Companies get in a hurry to fill an open seat because the business needs help now. That sense of urgency leads to a bad hire, a performance improvement nightmare and a big fat bowl of regret. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, emphasizes the importance of starting with the "who" then focus on the "what". Use the 'slow to hire' methodology to show love by finding the best candidate for your organization and the best organization for the job seeker.
💜 Connect new hires to your organization immediately. Think back to the start of Kindergarten. Likely, your biggest concern was to find someone you knew either in class or at lunch? You strived to belong. You felt anxious to find a connection. You feared being the loner on the playground. Adults in the workplace have the same concern.They want to belong when they join a new organization. You have 30 days to capture the heart and commitment of your new hire. Show love by connecting new hires to the organization, its mission and its people with a strong onboarding program with camaraderie activities.
💜 Pay your employees to perform, not conform. Your compensation philosophy drives your performance culture. Do you pay to perform? Do you pay to conform? Do you reward the 'A' players? Do you profit share when the revenues are grand? Money incentivizes employees to excel which helps your organization excel. Without your employees, your organization will die. They make the wheels turn. Use your compensation program to show love by rewarding for performance and sharing in the profits.
💜 Protect your workplace and your employees proactively. Safety is the second layer of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Employees need to feel emotionally, physically, and mentally safe and secure at work. Your leaders drive an environment of safety in two ways. First, your leaders must value and care about the employee through their words, actions and behaviors. Second, your leaders must have a crisis management plan known by all employees. It should explain what to do in the event of a fire, inclement weather, intruder, active shooter and many other tragic situations. Your people are the front line victims to a crisis. Remove the insecurities of what to do in a crisis and show love through a transparent crisis management plan.
💜 Listen to your employees' feedback even when you don't want to hear it. 'Oh, I didn't hear you.' Does that response sound familiar when you ask someone to do something that they don't want to do? This is exactly how an employee feels when they share feedback that falls upon deaf ears of a leader. Your employees have a voice and need to be heard. Your employees want to help the organization excel. Your employees desire to be part of a team. Your organization should promote, and even require, one-on-one meetings at least every two weeks between a leader and an employee. That time builds trust and respect while opening the opportunity for open dialogue. Take time to show love by listening to your employees.
Love in the workplace starts with your organization's values and your leadership team's behaviors. It grows when you hire, connect, pay, protect and listen with love every day. Take a few moments to show your love!
Happy Valentine's Day from SagePros!