Disruptive workplaces thrive on transparency and empathy
‘Moving up the corporate ladder’ is no longer as relevant as ’Rising in my leadership’.
The idea of work and workplaces, are seeing a fundamental shift — companies are moving from being a factory providing jobs for specific skills to being a platform that brings people together on a journey of trust, connection and meaningful exchange.
From strict employment contracts to flexible engagement models, from hiring for fixed job descriptions to seeking opportunities of relevance, from a dedicated HR department to participative leadership, from yearly performance reviews to anytime peer to peer feedback, from large disparate groups to closely knit communities — new perspectives are challenging every company to be more open, adopting transparency and empathy across the board, while growing stronger in their values.
87% organizations say that culture and engagement is one of their top challenges.
Source: Deloitte Human Capital Trends 2015
How do you create a workplace ethos, a culture that’s highly progressive, disruptive and relevant, in the face of change?
We noted top 5 things, that are timeless and fundamental to building a great workplace, that can be implemented right away and continued always.
- Choose transparency, always. It may be hard, but it can never be wrong. Great workplaces have people communicating honestly with each other and being at ease with it.
- Nudge people to be constructive, always. Help them go beyond ‘complaining’ to bringing positive change in people and the environment. Evoking positive change is everyone’s responsibility.
- Find opportunities in being democratic, always. Allow people to openly speak up about what could be done differently, and how they could participate more in decisions and actions. Democracy also evokes ownership for positive change.
- Encourage peer to peer feedback, always. Let people help each other envision their next level of responsibility and leadership growth. Nudge people to ask for feedback with ease. Make growth a daily affair, not yearly.
- Recognize sparks of greatness, always. Recognize great intentions, selfless actions, coming from anyone on the team. Try spotting things that’re going great, even in tough times when it’s hard to see.
Great work culture and people engagement can lead to profound exchanges, can catalyze progress, nudging people to be their greatest selves.
We believe it’s an organization’s responsibility to enable holistic growth of its people and make growth happen at all moments of opportunity, not just once a year.
“Peerly”, a Codewave product ( https://codewave.com/peerly ), intends to make everyday inspiration and opportunities more vivid, intensifying our connections with people and our experience of life at work.
Originally published at g-startup.com