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Ownership is Everyone’s
Job – A Culture that Works!
by Katherine Topel
INTRODUCTION
Shrinking profitability margins, increasing need to perform with less
staff, constant flexibility required for survival and continuous drive to
keep employees involved are the key challenges facing companies today.
Recent Gallop polls have provided us with statistics that identify on
average only 29% of the people within a company are actively engaged
(defined through loyalty and productivity levels), 55 % are disengaged,
and 15 % are actively
disengaged.
So what are companies doing to assist in moving the 29% number up and
getting more of their people engaged for success? Frequently companies use
money as their key motivator for their employees. Surprising enough, money
is very seldom, if ever, the key reason why individuals stay long term
with companies. The factor that tops the list again and again, as the
number one motivator for individuals to stay long term with the
company, is the employee’s need to feel as if his role is making a
contribution to the success of the company. Identifying what a company’s
culture is made up of and how everyone in the company plays a role in the
success
and change of the company is how companies can move people from the 55%
disengaged category into the actively engaged category.
CHALLENGE
The lack of ability to implement and the lack of ability to get
everyone involved or engaged can be attributed to a number of challenges;
The under estimation of the amount of time and continuous dedication that
it takes to get everyone on board and participating in the delivery of the
company’s vision. The constant requirement for corporate communication.
People need to hear things not once, not twice, but 100’s and 100’s of
times.
The need for flexibility to react to changes in the economy and the world
around us. Change can be overwhelming and employees need a road map to
minimize the fear. The ability to have everyone performing as if they are
leaders themselves. The executive team can no longer be the only leaders
in the company. The extra roles individuals must take on in order to meet
the demands of doing more with less. The shrinking profitability margins
are testing company’s abilities to deliver.
SOLUTION
What is the solution to ensure that a company is flexible and ready for
change, growth and profitability? It is encompassed in the Culture of the
company. A company’s Culture Management Model is the cornerstone to
change. A model that is easily understood by everyone can create a
tremendous amount of energy within a company. This energy is something
that can be applied when finances aren’t there to support raises or when
growth is extensive and new management methodologies need to be
implemented. A culture management model also allows everyone to see the
big picture of how a company operates the business and how their job is an
integral part of the overall success. What would a culture management
model look like? How can a culture management model be created? What
can the culture management model be used for? Great questions! Let’s
address each question one at a time. What would a culture management model
look like? A culture management model should identify to the company
in one picture how all of the building blocks of a company work.
How can a culture management model be created? The creation of the culture
management model for your company can be done by putting together teams to
fill in the boxes of what happens in your company regarding mission,
vision, strategy, marketing, sales, delivery, people and leadership. The
participation of everyone creates a sense of ownership and also provides
knowledge transfer across individuals within the company.
What can the culture management model be used for? The culture management
model can be used to provide a communication backdrop to get everyone in
the company on the same page.
CONCLUSION
The results of a culture management model are ones that you can take to
the bank if everyone is engaged and a
part of the solution. A sample of the results that you will see are;
1) A Communication Backdrop is developed.
2) Leadership Strength is expanded.
3) Knowledge Sharing horizontally across the company is
accomplished.
4) People Engagement is strong and loyalty grows.
5) Performance measure management for accountability and execution
is created.
6) Flexibility to react to the market place is achieved.
7) Profitability grows through increases in employee productivity.
Culture needs to be something that is transferable and
institutionalized. Ownership is Everyone’s Job is the outcome of the power
and energy that a culture management model will ignite.
Katherine Topel is the author of the book POWERSHIP® - The 9 part
proven process guaranteed to engage your people, execute the impossible
and get you results you can take to the BANK! She is also a member of a
Forum group in the Chicago area. She can be reached at
Kathie@powershipinc.com or by
visiting www.Powershipinc.com.
Reprinted from “The FORUM Newsletter”, a publication of Renaissance
EXECUTIVE FORUMS. We create and operate peer
advisory groups for top executives with the goal of improving the
performance of their businesses and enhancing their quality of
life. For more information, visit us at www.executiveforums.com or call
(858) 551-6600
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