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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Fachliteratur
- Sprache: Englisch
Achieve unprecedented business value by fostering true employee engagement Many organizations fail to realize and harness the power of their most valuable asset--their employees. Though they can be developed into a true competitive advantage, engagement isn't attainable if the employee isn't invested in the company's overall success. Agile Engagement offers business leaders a concrete strategy for building, maintaining, and utilizing employee engagement to achieve the highest level of business success. The key? Employees must feel like they are a part of their company's culture instead of having it handed down to them. Stories of failed employee engagement initiatives abound, and they all have one thing in common: they begin from the premise of "initiative" rather than "employee." True engagement occurs when an employee's heart and mind are activated in a way that leads to their motivation and commitment to positively impact the company's goals and vision. This book shows you how to create an environment that stresses a culture of unity at all levels by showing you how to: * Create a clear, compelling vision and corresponding engagement strategy through the Engagement Canvas * Communicate your unique culture strategy throughout all levels of your company * Foster grassroots, employee-led engagement initiatives * Improve engagement continuously with the Emplify Score tool Agile Engagement provides a deeper look into real engagement, helping you foster a work environment that's rewarded with unsurpassed productivity, innovation, and competitive advantage, as well as employees who feel valued, respected, and heard.
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Seitenzahl: 373
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016
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Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Part I: The Engagement Engine
Chapter 1: Engagement and Culture Redefined
Defining Employee Engagement
Defining Workplace Culture
Chapter 2: Happiness Versus Engagement
Chapter 3: Common Misconceptions
Misconception #1: Culture Is Just HR's Problem
Misconception #2: Cultures Are Static
Misconception #3: One Size Fits All
Chapter 4: Cross-Industry Engagement
Dig Deeper
Part II: The Workplace of Now
Chapter 5: Workplaces without Borders
Access
Legal Tools
Chapter 6: Working Across Generations
Variety Is Invaluable
Managing Millennials
Chapter 7: Free Agents on the Rise
Why Freelance Works
Managing Freelance Talent
Chapter 8: Partnering with Purpose
Screening Outside Partners
Shifting Mindsets
Chapter 9: Trending Telework
Where Work Gets Done
Working Remotely
Chapter 10: Culture-Friendly Policies
Work Expectations
Chapter 11: Recruiting Revolution
A Lifelong Desire to Learn
Insatiable Curiosity
Adaptability
Learning Agility
Mental Discipline and Clarity
Imagination
Willingness to Be Wrong and the Humility to Learn
Chapter 12: Technology Revolution
Digital Transformation
Technology Trends
Technology Upended Work
Chapter 13: Mobile Revolution
Reaching Your Audience
Cutting through the Clutter with Mobile Apps
The Best of Mobile
Chapter 14: Resulting Challenges
Infobesity
Overworked Employees
Potential Solutions
Chapter 15: HR of the Past
The Rise of HR
The Bureau of Labor and Unions
The Growth of HR after WWII
The Civil Rights Era and Transition into the 1980s
Age of Technology
Decline of HR's Popularity
Current Role of HR
Strategic Shifts in HR
Chapter 16: HR of the Future
The War for Talent
HR Leaders
Wave of the Future
Part III: The Engagement Canvas
Chapter 17: Engagement Canvas and Emplify Score Overview
The Rise of People Analytics
Enter the Engagement Canvas and Emplify Score
Engagement Canvas Inspiration
Navigating the Engagement Canvas
Completing the Canvas
Chapter 18: Why You Exist
Tips for Crafting and Communicating Your Why
Alignment
Chapter 19: Key Strategies
Chapter 20: Key Metrics
Chapter 21: Engagement Exemplified
Constituencies
Chapter 22: Unique Organizational Characteristics
Chapter 23: Communication Channels
Chapter 24: Culture Statements
Make It Authentic
Make It Specific
Chapter 25: Culture Aspirations
Create a Culture BHAG (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal)
Make Progress Every Day
Believe in the Worthiness of Your Aspiration(s)
Chapter 26: Resources Applied
Chapter 27: Emplify Score
Summary of Engagement Construct
Four Views of Engagement
Employee Engagement Model
Chapter 28: Three Key Employee Needs
Chapter 29: Engagement Canvas FAQs
Part IV: The Practice of Engagement
Chapter 30: Speak with One Voice
Chapter 31: Brand What's Important
Chapter 32: Treat Employees Like Customers
Realize Looks Matter
Secure Marketing Resources
Create an Employee Advisory Board
Regularly Solicit and Act on Employee Feedback
Ask Employees to Drive Meaningful Change
Implement Employee-Related Change Management Strategies
Educate and Enlighten HR Staff
Trickle-Down Effect
Chapter 33: Leverage Data
Chapter 34: Set a Communication Cadence
Chapter 35: Allow for Autonomy
Subcultures Are Agile Incubators for Ideas
Subcultures Are Grassroots
Subcultures Bind People to the Organization
Chapter 36: Make It Personal
Connect on a Deeper Level
Care for the Whole Employee
Chapter 37: Earn Trust
Intuitions Come First; Reasoning Comes Second
What Happens Between Two Brains When They Interact
Are You Warm or Are You Competent?
How Do We Get People to Trust and Collaborate with Us?
Chapter 38: Expel Poor Culture Fits
Worth the Effort
Chapter 39: Communicate with Employees
Simplification Is Key
Conclusion
Acknowledgments
Author Biographies
References
Index
End User License Agreement
List of Illustrations
Chapter 17
Figure 17.1 Engagement Canvas Halves
Figure 17.2 Current Engagement Reality
Figure 17.3 Engagement Canvas
Chapter 27
Figure 27.1 Conceptual Employee Engagement
Figure 27.2 State of Engagement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
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AGILE ENGAGEMENT
How to Drive Lasting Results by Cultivating a Flexible, Responsive, and Collaborative Culture
SANTIAGO JARAMILLOTODD RICHARDSON
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Copyright © 2017 by Santiago Jaramillo and Todd Richardson. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey
Published simultaneously in Canada
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with the respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002.
Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com. For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available:
ISBN 9781119286912 (Hardcover)
ISBN 9781119286929 (ePDF)
ISBN 9781119286936 (ePub)
Cover Design: Wiley
To our loving parents, who prepared us to face life's challenges with humility, energy, and appreciation for all the blessings bestowed upon us.
To all employees who desire true engagement in their work lives. May this book help enlighten organizations around the world and make our dream of full engagement for all workers a reality.
To all bosses, coworkers, and partners who demonstrate the power of engagement and the amazing results that are possible when hearts, minds, and hands\break align at work.
Thank you.
Preface
Behind every worker—including you—is a unique combination of motivations. It gets you up in the morning when you would rather stay in bed. It keeps you coming back to work when you would rather quit. It makes you want to do better than you did yesterday, to be better.
For some people, they work in order to provide for their families, to send their kids to colleges, to care for aging parents, or to put food on the table while their spouses pursue educational ambitions. For others, they appreciate the mental or physical challenge, the opportunity to travel, or are personally passionate about the subject matter. Or, perhaps, they genuinely enjoy their colleagues and their managers, and that's enough to keep them coming back day after day.
Though the why behind each worker differs, the desire for professional engagement is universal.
Given the individuality of motivation, however, how are companies supposed to engage their workforces at large? How can they build and develop cultures that advance both organizational goals and the individual goals of every worker? It's not easy, but it is possible. And this book shows you how.
The topic of employee engagement and workplace cultures is not new. In fact, in recent years, it seems like every corporate blogger, speaker, and consultant touts the importance of culture and employee engagement. Theoretical discussions abound, but few people have put forth concrete strategies that help get you from point A (unengaged) to point B (fully engaged). The workplace is evolving so rapidly, in fact, that employees are feeling less and less engaged with their work. Collectively, we are in the midst of an engagement crisis. The only way out is to focus on people over processes, real engagement over cookie-cutter programs, consistent intentionality over passive manipulation, and healthy change over rigid planning. For those already familiar with technology management philosophies, what we are suggesting is the application of agile principles to the world of employee engagement.
People, and consequently employees, are extremely complex. There is not a single set of engagement rules that can be outlined during your company launch party that are guaranteed to still work at by the time you reach your 10-year anniversary. People change. Companies change. Your approach must change alongside them. And you must involve employees in the process.
Enter Agile Engagement, which provides practical advice and counsel to demystify engagement and culture. We wrote this book to dramatically impact the way the world works and the way we all work within it. We wrote this book as a way to apply the proven principles of agile software development to the world of employee engagement. Most of all, we wrote this book to help heighten the level of engagement for all workers—not only managers, not only white-collar, and not only high-tech workers. All workers.
For engagement is, at its core, the great equalizer.
True engagement can be attained (and sustained) by anyone, anywhere, doing anything. However, engagement doesn't just happen. It requires intentionality, strategic workplace culture building, an employee engagement plan that is unique to your organization and your workers, and a commitment to continuous measure and improvement.
In the following pages, we will help you understand the importance of engagement and workplace culture. Moreover, we will give you a proven framework within which to create, build, and execute your engagement strategy over the long haul. We call this framework the Engagement Canvas and it leverages the powerful Emplify Score tool.
Agile Engagement Framework
The framework we utilize infuses agile principles throughout the employee engagement process. Consistent and frequent measurement of employee engagement reveals real insights that then guide engagement strategies and action plans. This process repeats itself, because the opportunity to drive engagement should be an unending pursuit.
The Engagement Canvas is our answer to a troubling trend we noticed in the course of our work. We talked with many executives and HR leaders who told us that culture was a key aspect of their companies' future successes. They painstakingly explained how seriously they took employee engagement. Then, when we asked those same business leaders to describe their cultures (current and desired)…crickets. More troubling, when we asked how they were cultivating their workplace culture and driving employee engagement, we received blank stares.
Mind you, these business leaders are highly successful businessmen and businesswomen in their respective fields. They have mastered complex supply chain issues, cross-market campaign difficulties, technical security challenges, and more. But when it came to culture and engagement, they were comparatively dumbfounded. Try as they might, they did not understand how to construct an engagement strategy or measure success.
Engagement is too important for such widespread confusion. We are on a mission to provide the clarity organizations so desperately need. Alongside us on this journey are our guest contributors, both operational and strategic leaders, who provide their insights, commitment to, and appreciation for workplace culture and employee engagement. Spanning a variety of industries, company sizes, and geographies, these culture gurus prove that powerful engagement is not only achievable but well worth the effort.
We also provide our own insights gained from professional careers spent launching, forming, and perpetuating powerful company cultures. We originally met at ExactTarget, a fast-paced Midwest-based, technology company. ExactTarget epitomized a thriving culture with highly engaged employees. The culture was branded “Orange” after the company's primary brand color (Pantone 144). We experienced firsthand the importance of making culture a priority and saw the business impact of truly engaged employees. An exceptional culture was the driving force behind the company's successful initial public offering, listing on the New York Stock Exchange, and ultimate $2.5 billion sale to tech juggernaut Salesforce.com.
ExactTarget veteran and now Yext chief marketing officer Jeff Rohrs explained the experience this way:
I was involved in the initial conception of “Be Orange” at ExactTarget, an effort to give our culture, passion, commitment, talent, and energy a name. Having that effort tie into our core brand color—and having that color represent the best of who we wanted to be—helped everyone understand what culture meant within our organization.
Another key was not having Marketing or HR solely own culture. It was owned by our people, and they added so many great ideas and activities to the expression of our culture that every engaged employee felt a sense of ownership. Having the shorthand of what “Being Orange” meant even helped accelerate our hiring efforts by making it easier to evaluate people for key skills that were needed to work in an organization where change was a constant. (Rohrs, 2016).
Former ExactTarget vice president of global total rewards, talent, and HR operations and current Appirio senior vice president, human resources, Ellen Humphrey remembers the Orange culture with similar fondness:
We had an engaging and exciting culture at ExactTarget because (a) we were transparent about the business and its goals; (b) we empowered everyone to live out our culture; (c) our employees believed that our senior leaders lived out the culture; and (d) we were winning in our space. I think winning makes a big difference. Our employees were proud to be part of a company that was growing, landing the big customers, and opening new offices. The collective momentum attracted high-caliber talent, which led to more winning, which continued to engage employees, which kept the culture amped, which attracted more talent. Rinse and repeat. (Humphrey, 2016)
What we experienced at ExactTarget was so special that we wanted to help more organizations experience the power of culture and engagement to drive business results. So we joined forces and created a mobile-first employee engagement app software-as-a-service platform called Emplify. We help companies develop and implement engagement strategies through the use of native, branded, mobile apps. With our employee engagement platform, employers can finally foster a deeper level of employee engagement and measure their success in real time.
As you continue reading, remember that culture and employee engagement are components of—not replacements for—good ol' business results. Terri Kelly, president and chief executive officer of W. L. Gore & Associates, explains that “If you're not careful, the culture can become the outcome and become disconnected from achieving the desired business result. The culture needs to be the ‘how’ you achieve results, and you must continue to monitor and evolve your practices and values to ensure there is strong alignment to achieving the business outcomes” (Kelly, 2016).
Cheers to the start (or continuation) of your workplace culture and employee engagement journey. We are here to serve as your guides, and we look forward to helping you unlock the potential that comes from having truly engaged employees and a winning culture.
Part IThe Engagement Engine
Chapter 1Engagement and Culture Redefined: (Or, Why Culture Belongs in the Boardroom)
Culture is the engine behind engagement. It is the power and the driving force, plain and simple. Employee engagement and culture get plenty of lip service in the business world, and plenty of books have been written on the subjects. We are not here to add hot air to the existing conversation. We are here to change the conversation completely.
This book is for those who are already convinced of and believe in the power of workplace culture. This book is for those who want to take action and transform culture and engagement in their organizations. This book is for those who believe culture should not be relegated to a back office, but rather invited with open arms (and a fistful of confetti) into the boardroom.
Supporting evidence abounds. It's widely accepted that positive cultures lead to more engaged employees, and more engaged employees sustain positive cultures. But it has also been proven that positive cultures and high levels of employee engagement drive tangible bottom-line benefits. An engaged workforce helps boost profits, increase employee loyalty and tenure, and heighten customer satisfaction.
Yet despite all the culture talk and widespread alarm around the engagement crisis in business, engagement levels remain stubbornly low. Why? Because most leaders are at an utter loss of how to affect real change in their organizations.
Before we dive too deep in the culture and engagement trenches, however, we should briefly define culture and engagement. Many books, articles, blogs, vlogs, podcasts, and academic pieces have been written about these topics, each with differing definitions. How many smart people does it take to define a pervasively common topic? A dizzying amount, apparently, for there is no public consensus.
For the purposes of this book, we studied hundreds of definitions and arrived at the following.
Defining Employee Engagement
We define employee engagement as an employee's emotional and intellectual connection with an employer, as demonstrated by his or her motivation and commitment to positively impact the company's vision and goals.
Not surprisingly, countless elements can impact positive or negative employee engagement, but we consider the most potent to be the following:
Strategic Alignment
. Employees can both verbalize and actualize the core business strategies.
Understanding of Success
. Employees understand their organizational, departmental, and personal success metrics and tangibly grasp their contribution to the company's overall success.
Clear Communication
. Employees trust the company because of coherent and frequent contact, timely feedback, and clear expectations.
Workplace Vibe
. The overall environment fosters effective work in everything from the physical workspace to interactions between employees.
Growth Paths
. Employees have the opportunity to grow their skills through new work challenges and positions over time, in both managerial and independent contributor roles.
Employers directly influence employee engagement, but workers remain independent, unique humans. What drives engagement for one person may be different from what engages the person sitting next to him or her. Furthermore, what drives an employee's engagement today may not be the same thing that drove his or her engagement two years ago (or two months ago). One of the unending challenges as an employee or as a leader is the need to remain agile, constantly reevaluating what engages you, your team members, and your constituents.
Defining Workplace Culture
We define workplace culture as the customs, social expectations, and attitudes formed around work and personal interactions in the work environment.
The nature of our business exposes us to a wide variety of companies with all shapes, sizes, and cultural maturities. One of the first questions we always ask when we sit down with a new company is, “How would you describe your culture?” We quickly follow with a second question: “How would your employees describe your culture?” Child's play, right? Wrong. We are flabbergasted by how frequently and dramatically those two answers differ.
What's going on? Why would leadership ever tolerate such stark contrasts in how employees work alongside each other at the same company, in the same office, toward the same goals? More times than not, it boils down to a classic lack of intentionality. It is the responsibility of leadership to clearly acknowledge the workplace culture, facilitate discussions on its positive and negative aspects, and strategize and improve it over time.
Engagement in Action
Employee engagement looks different to everyone. Here are some examples from business leaders who understand the importance of culture and engagement to business success.
What do engaged employees look like?
Here is what prominent business leaders had to say.
“Energized, aggressive, and creative. Culture means having a passion for our customers, colleagues, and company (3 Cs).”—Brad Morehead, CEO, LiveWatch Security
“People who, when they get in the cars in the morning to go to work, look forward to getting there four out of five days. When they leave their jobs, they also feel like they have accomplished something four out of five days.”—Hank Orme, Former President, Lincoln Industries
“People who want to come do work they love with people they enjoy. Engaged employees like working with other employees who challenge them to grow, learn, and build excellence as a team.”—Nicole Bickett, Chief Administrative Officer, Mainstreet
“One who routinely gives discretionary effort.”—Chuck Hyde, Soderquist Leadership
“An engaged employee participates in and contributes to the culture of the company.”—Rob Edwards, Director of Engineering & Race Operations, Andretti Motorsports
“An individual who clearly shows through his or her emotions and communications that he or she enjoys coming to work every day and feels empowered to make important decisions that impact the company.”—Wil Boren, Former Vice President and General Manager, Zimmer Biomet
“An engaged employee is, first and foremost, aligned to the vision and mission of the company and aware of and energized by how his or her role fits into it. These qualities drive employees to achieve outstanding results for the organization, as well as his or her career aspirations.”—Blair West, Director of Corporate Communications at Cummins, Inc.
“Someone who takes pride in her work, cares about what she's doing, engages in customer communication, and is present in her conversations and work.”—Laura Angotti, Owner of Rowdy Sprout
“An engaged employee is intrinsically motivated to go above and beyond on behalf of her employer. She is enthusiastic about the work she does and is an evangelist for her employer. She gets satisfaction from her work and takes pride in her contribution to the greater organization.”—Ellen Humphrey, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, Appirio
“Someone who shows up with a great attitude ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”—Clay Robinson, Co-Founder and Owner, Sun King Brewing
“An individual who goes beyond his job description to help others, seek out additional opportunities for growth, and contribute to the culture both through active participation and interest in fellow coworkers.”—Jeff Rohrs, Chief Marketing Officer, Yext
“Someone who is excited to come to work every day, believes deeply in our vision and mission, acts like a team player, has incredibly high expectations for himself and his colleagues, prioritizes what is best for our collective movement above individual goals or motivations, and operates with integrity at all times.”—Rebecca Thompson Boyle, Former Executive Director, Teach for America
“Interested and enthusiastic about work, has meaningful relationships with colleagues and participates in the life of the organization, and willing to go above and beyond.”—Tom Froehle, Chair and Managing Partner, Faegre Baker Daniels, LLP
“Engaged employees accept empowerment and drive innovation independently and as a fluid organization.”—Scott Kraege, Co-Founder and CEO, MOBI
“Engaged employees are passionate about their work and feel they are making a meaningful impact on the organization. They have a strong sense of personal ownership and responsibility for the success of the organization. They feel connected to the mission and vision, and they go beyond their core commitments to help others and support the broader goals of the company.”—Terri Kelly, President and CEO, W. L. Gore & Associates
Chapter 2Happiness Versus Engagement: (Or, Why Free Snacks Fall Short)
Meaningful engagement cannot simply be bought. No amount of holiday bonuses, Starbucks gift cards, or frequent flyer miles will guarantee employees' loyalty and engagement. Frankly, workers are too smart for that. They know better than to base their loyalty on fleeting rewards or accolades. They require a deeper connection to their company, leaders, and coworkers. They want to understand their place in the bigger picture and know that what they do matters and is appreciated.
Most people spend around a whopping one third of their adult lives working. The idea of spending that much time working in a negative workplace culture is insufferable. But the remedy for unhappiness at work is not happiness. It is engagement.
Netflix, Patagonia, and Zappos attract a lot of public attention because of their free massages, surf breaks, and unlimited vacation policies. Those practices are easy to pinpoint, weird enough to make good news stories, and fun to talk about around the watercooler. At first glance, it may appear that these fun fringe benefits make their employees happy. But the truth is, happy employees are not the same as engaged employees, and those perks are not the driving force behind these companies' culture successes. They are only the tip of the iceberg—the proverbial icing on top of powerful, optimized organizational cultures.
When Gallup released their alarming State of the Global Workplace study revealing that only one-third of U.S. employees are “engaged” at work, many organizations scrambled to remedy this unengagement plight, looking for quick fixes and easy ways to increase happiness in the workplace (Crabtree, 2013). Gallup followed up to the frenzy, saying that “Indulging employees is no substitute for engaging them” (Sorenson, 2013). Or as Jim Clifton, CEO of Gallup, succinctly put it, “The idea of trying to make people happy at work is terrible” (Crowley, 2014).
Let's face it: Free lunches and snacks have little direct impact on long-term human performance (Sorenson, 2013). I can be happy at work without acting in the best interest of the organization. Scanning Facebook and catching up with an old friend on work time make me happy, as does saving money by refilling my personal stock of home office goods from the supply cabinet. Happy, but not engaged. We do not need more cool perks, we need more meaningful investment in growing our people. Focusing on short-term pleasures over long-term engagement is not sustainable and may even disillusion people over time.
Any office can buy a quick-fix pinball machine and sit perplexed as nothing changes. Those perks are well intentioned but are not change agents. We can admire the companies who work this way, but we admire them for how thoroughly and intentionally they foster a positive workplace culture, not for a day-to-day focus on fun. These hailed companies don't just brighten employees' Fridays, they engage them constantly. Moral of the story? Focus on strong culture, not free candy.
Ultimately, engagement is about knowing the organization's purpose and our purpose within it, having the tools to perform at our best, and having passion to contribute to our full potential. It is about maximizing strengths, making meaningful contributions, and feeling valued. Even the best office perks will not change a boss who is a jerk, a job with no potential for growth, or mind-numbingly boring work. Highly engaged employees can even seem like a handful at times. They care too much, they have wild ideas, they push the envelope, and they get frustrated when things fall through. At Netflix, they recognize it as the “person who picks up trash lying on the floor” (Hastings, 2009). At Basecamp, they call it “giving a damn” and list it as one of their core values (We the Basecamp). It can't all be sugarplums. A little dissatisfaction is natural and can fuel drive, productivity, and improvements.
Martin Seligman, former president of the American Psychological Association and founder of the field of positive psychology, breaks down happiness into these three elements (Seligman, 2008):
The Pleasant Life:
The rosy glow of ebullience and good cheer, with as much positive emotion as possible. Unfortunately, this is about 50 percent heritable, only 15 to 20 percent modifiable, and loses luster rapidly.
The Engaged Life:
The sense of flow, being drawn into and absorbed by the present moment, when time seems to stop. It arises from knowing your highest strengths and using them as much as possible.
The Meaningful Life:
The purpose, fulfillment, and belonging that come from using your highest strengths in the service of something beyond yourself.
Together, these three parts comprise happiness, but not in equal measure. Pleasure has almost no contribution to overall life satisfaction (Seligman, 2008). Long-term happiness stems foremost from meaning, closely followed by engagement. Once both of those are in line, pleasure serves as the cherry on top. Employees at a place like Google, where meaning and engagement already abound, can properly savor a massage day because their other happiness needs are met. What drives talent to the organization is not the perks but getting to do cool things that matter.
Luckily for employers, both meaning and engagement are surprisingly malleable through our habits, interactions with coworkers, and overall perspective (Achor, 2012). Each of these five simple, quick hacks, every day for 21 days, is enough to elicit statistically significant changes.
Write down three things for which you are grateful.
Write a positive message to someone in your social support network.
Meditate at your desk for 2 minutes.
Exercise for 10 minutes.
Take 2 minutes to reflect on the most meaningful experience of the past 24 hours.
That's it. Simple reframing and small new habits are enough to significantly boost our levels of meaning and engagement. In fact, high levels of social support may be the greatest predictor of life satisfaction, particularly when we provide them, rather than receive (Achor, 2012). Employees who initiate social interactions, pick up slack, invite people to lunch, and organize office activities are 10 times more likely to be engaged at work than those who keep to themselves. That is the kind of culture we should be striving to develop.
Beyond increased levels of employee satisfaction, companies with high engagement perform better financially. Parnassus exemplifies this well. They invest based on both performance and principles, almost exclusively in firms proven to have outstanding workplaces, many of which are included in the 100 best companies to work for list (Parnassus). From 2005 to 2013, Parnassus had a 9.63 percent annual return, compared with the Standard & Poor's (S&P) annual return of 5.58 percent during that time (Crowley, 2013). From 2008 to 2013 (during the recent recession), their annual return was 10.81 percent, compared with the S&P of 3.97 percent (Crowley, 2013). The founder says, “The performance of the fund confirms what I've always believed: treating people well and authentically respecting them does lead to far better business performance. We proved it works” (Crowley, 2013).
Strong engagement is essential for ultimate success, and too often we see organizations trying to increase happiness in all the wrong ways. Employees appreciate perks, but those don't serve to engage workers or even boost happiness beyond temporary pleasure. What people truly want is an intrinsic connection to their work and their company. They want to want to keep coming back, to be inspired to move forward. And as Gallup CEO Clifton says, “There aren't enough foosball tables in the world to provoke that kind of commitment” (Crowley, 2014).
Chapter 3Common Misconceptions: (Or, Why Culture Isn't Just HR's Problem)
Now that we have dispelled the magical powers of foosball tables and gift cards, you may find yourself wondering what other preconceived notions about culture are untrue. Here are the most common misconceptions we hear during our culture conversations.
Misconception #1: Culture Is Just HR's Problem
We may lose it if we hear another executive say their culture sucks because their HR department is not getting it right. The bottom line is, culture affects the bottom line. It's everyone's responsibility, not just the folks sitting in HR. Culture is a top issue for all business leaders. Eighty-seven percent of organizations now cite it as a top challenge because the ones who are getting it right are getting ahead (Dupress, 2015).
Employee engagement programs can increase profits by $2,400 per employee per year (Wang, 2015).
Ninety-one percent of highly engaged employees always or almost always try their hardest at work (Wang, 2015).
Half of workers would rather “go to the DMV” or “watch paint dry” than attend a status update meeting (Mateo, 2015).
If you are in HR or executive leadership, it is not your job to single-handedly create the culture. Align and strategize, but remember that it is about we not me. Just like it can't all happen at once, it can't come all from one place. Ask the question, “Who do we want to be when we grow up?” Ask employees to define driving forces, and take time to make them collectively yours.
Wil Boren, former vice president and general manager of Biomet Zimmer, explains, “Team members know when an organization is truly being genuine about the importance of culture. You cannot outsource assistance in this area. You must truly seek to engage your employees in shaping what will ultimately be your company's legacy, its enduring culture,” (Boren, 2016). How do you impose culture? You don't impose it. Although you may tailor input discussions to various groups (leaders, influencers, or employees) differently, involve everyone. You're all part of this. Figure out what's working and what's not working, and move forward accordingly.
Misconception #2: Cultures Are Static
Culture is dynamic because human beings are dynamic. We as individuals are constantly evolving, and we are evolving in relation to one another also. Even just 10 years ago students turned in homework on paper instead of online and YouTube was just making its debut. Culture, as the aggregate of human behavior, is never static.
If left to themselves, cultures can quickly go down the tube. Tony Hsieh gives an excellent example with his pre-Zappos experience at LinkExchange (Hsieh, 2010, 47–48). They ran out of like-minded friends to hire, so they started hiring other people en masse, looking for competence, forgoing culture. Soon enough, going to work in the morning felt like “death by a thousand papercuts” because what had once been obvious and easy was lost. When it comes to creating and nurturing a culture, you are never done.
According to Clay Robinson, owner of award-winning Sun King Brewing Company, “I always knew that culture was important, and we needed to lead by example in order to plant the seed of a winning culture and allow it to grow. Over the years, we have worked to continually steer our culture in the right direction as it evolves. Our staff comes to work happy, knowing that they are respected, and our company has grown and blossomed because of it,” (Robinson, 2016).
Nicole Bickett, chief administrative officer at Mainstreet, describes the need to remain vigilant when curating culture:
Focus, commit, and invest in your people and their engagement. The only way you will create a strong culture is by desiring and creating it. If you do not, a culture will be created by default and it may not be the one you want. Engage anyone and everyone in its creation and cultivation, and make sure leadership is driving it every single day. Don't create it and then relegate it to others. Focus on it, talk about it, and continue to innovate on it. If you do this, you will be able to advance your culture and create the business success that comes with it. (Nicole Bickett, 2016)
Similar to civic culture, inhabitants of one company may decide that some behaviors they see in another culture appeal to them, so they incorporate those new behaviors and voilà, dynamic culture. The beauty is, if you're cognizant of it, you can decide what to accept and what to reject from other styles and alternatives. Everything is borrowed, synthesized from other ideas, and pieced together in creative ways. Retain the significant aspects of your own culture that you value, and actively tend to what you want to develop.
A culture is bound to emerge, so you might as well make sure it's a great one. Clay Robinson of Sun King Brewing agrees. “You have to continually and actively engage people,” says Robinson. “Culture needs to be curated in order to continue to grow and evolve.”
Tom Froehle, Chair and Managing Partner for Faegre Baker Daniels law firm, understands how critical it is to intentionally nurture a positive culture. He played an important role in the combining of two nationally recognized legal giants, Baker & Daniels and Faegre & Benson
As it relates to the combination of Baker & Daniels and Faegre & Benson, culture was critically important. In identifying potential prospects for a combination, we researched firm culture by reviewing websites, searching publications, and talking with people who had firsthand experiences. Through that process, we discovered that like Baker & Daniels, Faegre & Benson shared our cultural values. They had a rich history of community involvement and commitment to pro bono service, high expectations for quality, and strong reputations, not only as great lawyers, but as good people, as well. (Froehle, 2016)
At the outset, both firms recognized that any strategic opportunities could not be realized without a strong cultural fit. We started with the leadership teams and spent significant time getting to know each other and developing trust and confidence between the teams.
We also recognized that lawyers are naturally skeptical, and thus included them in the process at an early stage. We were intentional about sharing the possibility of a combination early on with all of our people and providing a significant due diligence period in which lawyers from the two firms could meet each other and decide for themselves whether there was a good cultural fit.
After approval of the merger, but before it took effect, we began investing heavily in making sure that lawyers could continue to find ways to interact and get to know each other. That included substantial travel but also a very substantial investment in video-conferencing capabilities so internal meetings could be held virtually face-to-face, rather than by telephone. We recognized that the best way to integrate was to encourage people to collaborate on client work. We measured the amount of “cross-firm” work and celebrated successes that included cross-office teams, and we continue to do so today.
Every step of the way, we focused on one of our guiding principles, “One Firm,” which reflects both our desire to assemble the best teams regardless of location and our focus on firm success over individual or group success. We still have plenty of work to do, but we are off to a good start.
Misconception #3: One Size Fits All
We share 99.9 percent of our genetic makeup with all other humans, but that 0.1 percent manifests itself in many different expressions, values, and lifestyles (“National Human Genome Research Institute,” ). Do culture in the way that makes sense for you, so people are engaged with and living out the core values. At Kayak, that looks like every employee picking up the phone to handle service calls, decision-making meetings requiring only three people, and hiring managers boasting that working for them is “the most fun job a person will ever have” (Daisyme, 2015). At Edward Jones, that looks like deep community roots, generous associate ownership opportunities, and firm-sponsored European trips for employees and their families (Mucciolo, 2009). Very different approaches, but both companies are financially successful and recognized as great places to work.
Remember, this is your culture we are talking about. It comes from a combination of your leadership team, the people of your organization, and the unique aspects that make your company what it is today and what it will be in the future. The outcomes of engagement, profit, and retention are defined, but the methods can be different. The very nature of many successful company cultures is that they're quirky. Steve Jobs, in his famous Stanford address, advised to “Stay hungry, stay foolish” (You've Got to Find What You Love, 2005). Even the best advice may be irrelevant to you and your people. You cannot do anyone else's version of this work. You have to find your own way for what is uniquely effective in your organization. Emulate others where it makes sense, but do not lose sight of the fact that “one size fits one” when it comes to culture.
Chapter 4Cross-Industry Engagement: (Or, Why You Don't Have to Sell Software to Be Cool)
Though we now understand the tech industry's infamous perks, like free massages, hoodies, and fancy parties, are not silver bullets, it's still easy to think tech companies get all the culture fun and all the fame. But you don't have to sell software to attract, engage, and retain top talent. Your company may sell farm equipment, educate children, or make duck whistles. The culture gods do not care what you do; they will bless your culture intentionality and thoughtfulness all the same. Allow us to shine the spotlight on some other types of companies that are making huge cultural strides and seeing real results.
