Firstly, you will note that this is not just about what the employees want, but also what the employer needs. I am a big believer that a business’s health reflects the Founders health and if they are not happy no one else is going to be either. As a result, it is important that there is a focus on what both need to ensure that the entire workplace ecosystem is successful.
From experience with over 200 organizations, there are four things I have heard consistently from Leaders and employees that they want.
Surprisingly, or maybe not, it is the same thing. Often presented differently but the actions required to achieve the outcome are the same. This is what I have heard from each group.
‘As a Leader I want my company to’:
- have the right people engaged in our journey and be all heading in the same direction
- be structured for achieving employee and client results and growth
- have a team of high performing people who are clear on what to do and how to do it
- be diverse in its thinking and leveraging our strengths
‘As an employee, I want to work for a company’:
- that knows where it is going, and I understand the vision and choose to be on that journey
- that makes sense structurally and allows me to achieve career goals that are unique to my skills and contribution
- where I can be successful and know when I have done a good job
- that values and leverages differences in background, experience and thinking
The consistency of this feedback drove me to double down on creating this experience within my own businesses and for our clients.
These are four areas that employers and HR professionals should focus on to achieve a peak performance business where both the needs of the employees and employers are met:
1. Clarifying and connecting to the company vision, mission, and values, and not how you think!
These should not be fancy words on a wall. In fact, if you need them on the wall to remember and use them they haven’t been implemented properly. These are tools that should drive decisions. If they are not, there is more work to do here.
2. An organizational structure that makes sense!
Nearly every business I walk into has not taken a good hard look at their org structure in a while. This means there is usually wastage! Too many roles, roles in the wrong departments, roles reporting to the wrong leads, roles that don’t make sense and the list goes on. Every org needs an annual review and makeover!
3. Bin the job descriptions and implement Outcome Profiles!
In this day and age, we are incredibly resourceful and smart. We have google! There are lots of tools to get stuff done so we don’t need to be telling our people what to do or even how to do it, we just need to tell them what needs to be achieved. Changing your jobs from having descriptions of tasks to a list of outcomes to achieve each day, week, month or year will actually mean your business and team are hitting peak performance!
4. Understanding who is who in the zoo!
How much do you really know about the natural behavioral traits of your people, and yourself? By knowing how people need to be communicated with to be their best can significantly increase a person’s success in a company. Take that one step further and everyone understanding how to communicate with each other means we have more harmonious and effective teams! Who doesn’t want that? Best way to do this is with behavioral profiling. We use Extended DISC which I love because it’s simple and powerful.
The reason I chose to double down on these in my business and for my clients is that if these four areas are in order, the performance and engagement of the company will skyrocket. I know because I have seen it over and over again.
Forget overcomplicating culture and engagement and focus on what everyone really wants!
