Build A Healthy Corporate Culture
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to Mark's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 |
|
|
 | |||||||
|
Build A Healthy Corporate Culture
You've heard of the book, "Death of a Salesman." This article is about the death of a family. What does that have to do with running a small business, you ask? I'll get there in a moment. First, let me ask you a question. Is your business like a family?
I hear this all the time. "You know Mark our business is different, it’s just like a family." I know business owners and managers say this to communicate something positive about their company's culture. I think this is great! But I always smile when I hear this. I often want to ask, "Oh yea, what kind of family is it like?" But I don't, because I'm practicing my Dale Carnegie principal of "letting the other person save face." I smile because the relationships within a company CAN be just as screwed-up as the relationships within a family.
For example, consider how favoritism can cripple the relationships within a family. It happens, you know. It’s happening right now. The results are far reaching and dramatic when one sibling is treated differently from another. The favored sibling feels that they are not as obligated to perform at a specific level in order to gain a specific reward. Since they are favored they know from experience that they will not be held as accountable as the next sibling. The rules can be flexed for them. Everyone in the family knows this. Consequently there is resentment, anger, hostility and conflict. The un-favored sibling is no longer motivated to perform. No matter what they do, they cannot live up to the admiration of the parent. This causes frustration and embarrassment. It can even result in vengeance and criminal activity in order to "get even." The "I'll show them" attitude.
What makes favoritism so insidious is that it can be exercised in a very subtle manner. It may manifest itself in the WAY things are communicated. For example, imagine a circumstance where two siblings alternate weeks taking out the trash. When the un-favored sibling fails to take out the trash, the consequence may be for the parent to say, "I can't even depend on you to take out the trash." When the favored sibling fails to take out the trash, the consequence may be for the parent to say, "just make sure you get it done next week." The favored sibling gets another chance, while the un-favored sibling's wholesale capabilities have been diminished. This is rarely done in a purposeful way or even through subterfuge. It happens on a subconscious level. Before we know it the words are out and the damage is done.
This works precisely the same way for a business organization. As owners and managers our goal is to induce greater teamwork, a more harmonious workplace and improved productivity. One of the most important factors in building teamwork is the leader’s ability to implement what I call "equitable response." Equitable response is the leader’s ability to react to every team member in the same manner in any specified circumstance. In other words, their ability to treat people relatively the same under any given set of circumstances. For example, don't allow one employee to arrive at work late because she lives further away or because she has to pick up the kids at school. Credibility is lost when owners and managers are inconsistent in rewards and punishments.
Here's what I counsel my clients to do:
1. Consistently reward positive behavior and punish negative behavior. CONSISTENTLY!
2. Don't allow yourself to be manipulated by employees.
3. Don't allow your personal opinions to influence the way you respond to team members. The fact that you may like or dislike them should NOT play a role in the reward/punishment process.
4. Let the time you spend with team members become part of the reward. Conversely you should limit the time spent with those team members that fail to maintain performance. Tell them what is expected in no uncertain terms. No idle chit-chat.
5. Model competent behavior. They will do as you do, NOT as you say.
6. Provide consistent feedback and predictable consequences.
7. Set realistic and clear expectations.
In my consulting practice, I rarely see these things consistently being done in small companies. Often times owners and managers have a whole set of rules which apply to different people in the organization at different times. This causes confusion, stifles communication, hinders teamwork and creates fear. It usually ends up with excessive turnover and even anarchy. Sadly the result is the death of a company family.
Does this mean we shouldn't attempt to replicate the family atmosphere in our companies? Certainly not! We should replicate the model of the healthy family where everyone knows what is expected of them and everyone is rewarded and punished with equanimity.
I hope this helps you to learn some new ways to create a healthy corporate culture in your organization.
Build A Healthy Corporate Culture - To learn more about this author, visit Mark Deo's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
|||
|
I've created this section on my site to share some of the incredible tools that I've used to build my business. I hope you too can benefit from them and look forward to hearing your feedback on the reviews! - Visit Evan Carmichael's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
