Employee Road Map: How to make your culture a success!

The overall success and productivity of any team depend on the strength of your communication and collaboration channels. That said, in order to successfully implement change, you need to know what outcome you are trying to achieve. Also, what programs can you implement? How can you keep employees engaged? How can you measure productivity? Here are a few helpful tips to aid you on your journey.

Cultivate a results-driven workforce
This idea often includes recruiting the right people, building trust with your employees, and setting clear and measurable goals. Ideally, you want to hire people who are organized, collaborative, self-motivated, results-driven and focused. A few examples of how to determine whether an employee will fit in your organization can be determined through a series of actions: such as behavioral interview questions, personality test, and work history. Take your time through the recruitment process, as it is often costly and disruptive to hire the wrong people. Create employee profiles for each role, this will ensure you select the right candidates. Upon hire, ensure you have an onboarding program that instills the values of the company and expectations upfront. A results-driven company needs to embed this concept into their culture to ensure your policies and processes should be supportive of this initiative.

Motivating your employees
Now, if you want to motivate your employees you have to learn how to trust them. Now, what does this entail? This means getting to know your employee's strength/weakness/ career goals, and interest. Basically, taking an active interest in what makes them tick. Set clear deadlines and open the lines of communication; also give constructive feedback when necessary. Focus on results and less on when the work was performed. Allow your employees to work at their own pace within the deadlines you give them and try not to micromanage as it stifles creativity. It is noted that employees who work at high- trust organizations tend to find themselves less stressed, more productive, and typically tend to burn out less. That said, this is a concept worth implementing.

Collaboration
Organizational collaboration will be the essence of an organization’s success; an organization can greatly benefit from the diversity of thought and acceptance of a prospective different from our own. Embracing new ideas, concepts, and allowing contribution at every level will not only create buy-in; it will foster unity, and that is where the strength of your organization lies.

It is equally important to put tools in place that allow coworkers to socialize and support each team member’s achievements. There are several platforms that accommodate this initiative and that can effortlessly be integrated into your organization. Assembly’s peer to peer recognition program creates a platform that is supportive of employees recognizing each other’s efforts in a meaningful way. Peer to peer engagement will allow employees to connect with one another, increase teamwork, productivity and retention.

Lastly, be open to transparency within your organization. What projects are other teams working on? What do the company's financials look like? What positions are open? What are the sales targets? Not only does transparency contribute to building trust, but it also allows ideas and process improvements to come for all areas of the business and helps create buy-in. You can do this by inviting all employees to a monthly meeting/weekly meeting, allowing different employees to present ideas, opening a forum for suggestions, etc. Implementing these ideas also gives employees a sense of feeling like they belong; which in return will increase retention.

Employee Appreciation
In your results-driven, collaborative environment; you want to make sure you acknowledge people during their moments of achievements. This could include social recognition on your social media platforms or even on a company-wide bulletin. Consider gift cards, sending company swag, or a simple appreciate note.

Whichever you decide, you should have an incentive program in place to keep the momentum going and reward those committed to going above and beyond their role. Career development is essential as well, employees want growth in their careers; so even if you are a small organization and not able to offer upward movement. You can still offer training and development and cross-training which will allow the employee to contribute at a higher level. When you add value to others, you are inadvertently adding value to your business.

As you navigate through your roadmap, it is noteworthy to say that an organization could have all the right training programs in place, incentive programs, engagement, and collaboration; however, if you have the wrong leadership you are doomed for failure. It is important to note that leadership can exist without directly managing others; however, managing others requires leadership. Leadership is a delegation, communication, someone who listens, and someone who inspires.

A completely selfless act, as leaders we serve others and invest in others with the expectation to challenge them and change them. The impact of a good leader exists even in their absence. You must ensure that your leadership team is working to align with your core values and mission. That said, take your time, ensure your plans are well thought out and make sense of your organization. This road will lead you to success.

About the Author, Nicole Miles
Nicole Miles has over 15 years of experience in Human Resources specifically with small to mid-size companies specializing in establishing company cultures, mentoring/ coaching managers, and assisting organizations with building a bridge to better communication/engagement. She believes that a successful business has great people at the very hear of it. She has attended Cornell University Human Resources Strategic Leadership Course and Marketing Strategy Certificate Course; she also works as an HR and Marketing Director in the Oil and Gas Industry with both experience in International Human Resources and Multi-State Employment Law.