Society has changed more in the last decade than ever before. Without question, technological innovation is responsible for the upturning of every way we once communicated, worked, commuted, and lived. If organizations don’t keep up with a society that has its foot on the accelerator, they will lose. Period. Advanced technology has created a global marketplace. The global marketplace has generated a hypercompetitive environment for businesses. Hypercompetition demands innovation as the best strategy for keeping up in today’s marketplace. But, innovation only blooms in the brains of individuals when they can show up to work as themselves–as human beings. For that to happen, they must feel known, valued, appreciated, heard, and recognized for their unique contributions at work.
“A person who brings his or her whole self to work will feel more respected, empowered, and inspired. And that, in turn, will drive companies to new heights.”
–Making Work Human, 2021
According to IBM/Workhuman data, a more positive employee experience is linked to better performance, extra effort at work and lower turnover. Organizations that rank in the top 25 percent of employee experience, see returns on their assets that are triple those in the bottom 25 percent. Another Workhuman study found an incredible correlation between recognition and retention in the high-burnout profession of nursing. Turnover was cut in half for nurses who received just 3 to 4 moments of recognition a year versus those receiving no recognition. Workhuman also found that stronger recognition cultures are correlated with high inpatient satisfaction. (Mosely, Eric, Derek, Irvine. Making Work Human: How Human-Centered Companies are Changing the Future of Work and the World. McGraw Hill, 2021.)
Social recognition is not the only instrumental piece in creating a healthy and high functioning team. Creating a sense of community is also a vital piece. Former US surgeon general Vivek Murthy once pointed out, “At work, loneliness reduces task performance, limits creativity, and impairs other aspects of executive function such as reasoning and decision making.” Murthy recommends that to fight the loneliness epidemic organizations begin strengthening social connection, encouraging coworkers to help others and to accept help when it is offered, and creating opportunities for employees to learn about their colleagues’ personal lives. Shawn Anchor from the Harvard Business Review says, “Lonelier workers reported lower job satisfaction, fewer promotions, more frequent job switching, and higher likelihood of quitting their current job in six months. The economic impact of loneliness is indeed staggering.” (Mosely, Eric, Derek, Irvine. Making Work Human: How Human-Centered Companies are Changing the Future of Work and the World. McGraw Hill, 2021.)
This research and information proves that investing in the human beings at our workplaces will generate better revenue, keep our organizations in line with a fast-paced global market, and provide higher quality service.
As a marketing consulting company, we’ve found that many marketing issues resolve when company culture improves. Press releases become easier to write when the communications department becomes a genuine and thorough cheerleader for the company. Companies curate better ideas and create better methods and strategies when employees feel they can follow their curiosity at work, try things, fail at things, and then share their vulnerable ideas. For these reasons, we want to help the organizations we serve enrich their culture by providing cultural renovation consulting. This work digs deep into personality to help leaders understand their employees, provides tools and guidance for healthy feedback and rumbling strategies, and unlocks every employee’s creative potential.
Here is a snippet of our program:
3 Phases of Cultural Renovation
Using the Enneagram
Phase 1
There You Are
Session 1
–Enneagram intro
-Enneagram test and overview
Session 2
–Combining the Enneagram with the BRAVING Inventory
-Introduce the BRAVING Inventory tool
(Brown, Brene. Dare to Lead: brave work, tough conversations, whole hearts. New York, Random House, 2018.)
Session 3
–One-on-One Enneagram coaching and Value Shaping
-45 minutes with each individual
Session 4
–Integrating Personal with Professional
-Go over company values
-Your personal values working at work?
Phase 2
Safe to Be You
Session 5
–Creating a culture of Good Feedback integrating the Enneagram
-Square Squad exercise
-How can we RUMBLE well?
Session 6
–Implementing Thank Talk Celebrate
Thanking
-A recent international survey from Workhuman reports when employees are able to recognize and thank each other, a sense of belonging goes up 21 percent.
Talking
-How we share our sense of meaning between organization and individuals
Celebrating
-Is how we share our humanity and our common purpose
Session 7
–Implementing New Meeting Structure
-Meet with top leaders
-Set goals
-Discuss systems
Phase 3
Launching Creativity
Session 8
-Integrating creativity/leadership exercises into meetings
Session 9
-Creative Autobiography
-Jeremy Cowart: 7 steps of the Creative Process
Liminal Society Process, by Jeremy Cowart
Session 10
-Integrating 7 Steps of the Creative Process with Enneagram
Session 11
-Introduce book you will read together
-Introduce reading archaeologically
Session 12
-Thank Talk Celebrate
-Reflect on the culture work
–Scratch for an idea, Dig Down Deep, Find “the older text”
-Celebrate
We’ve combined the work of Brene Brown, tools from the Workhuman Charter of Workplace Rights, The 7 Steps of the Creative Process from Jeremy Cowart, creative exercises from Twyla Tharp, and the Enneagram personality tool to create a dynamite program for any business looking to boost their culture, and, by default, every aspect of their business. Our goal is to help organizations thrive by creating a positive employee experience and giving leaders tools to transform their leadership.
As Brene Brown says,
“Leaders must either invest a reasonable amount of time attending to fears and feelings, or squander an unreasonable amount of time trying to manage ineffective and unproductive behavior.
Work on it now, or work on it later. Either way, you will have to work on it and we would love to be the ones guiding your team to the limitless world of trust, community, belonging, innovation, and ultimately, success in every area!