Let’s get one thing clear: money won’t matter to your workforce IF you’re paying market rates.
I’m going to assume you’ve got that one covered.
So, what’s going to motivate them more than a pay increase?
Research in the Economist shows that your ‘workplace culture matters more to those who work in (or quit from) your business than almost anything else – including wages.’
It also reports that company culture is ‘very hard to fathom from the outside’.
So it’s both hugely important and can feel a bit intangible. Great!
Several years ago, I met a CEO who talked a LOT about their Values – I have to admit I was quite impressed. But then he dumped one of his senior execs in a way that couldn’t be described as ‘showing integrity’ or ‘putting people first’. 🤦♀️
So (looking from the outside) you can’t just rely on reading the company values.
Think of it like this instead: Your behaviours are your values in action.
Try asking yourself these questions to challenge how you THINK you behave:
⭐ What’s rewarded and what’s punished?
Are you inadvertently rewarding long hours, keeping the status quo, and discouraging diversity or challenge? Or have you considered proactively inviting feedback, challenging views and innovation?
⭐ What do meetings look like?
Be honest. Is the agenda a bit of a free for all, do meetings start late and overrun? Or do they generate great ideas and people value them?
⭐ How do you make decisions?
Have you ‘empowered’ your people? Does that mean you’ve told them they need to start making decisions and now you’re sitting on your hands and hoping for the best? Or have you ensured they have the competence, clarity and control over the decisions you expecting them to make?
Start small
If you care about your company culture, it’s probably in an OK state already – so you don’t need to overhaul everything by this time next Thursday.
Focus on these behaviours and see what impact it has.
And if you don’t know where to start, let’s have a chat and I can give you a few more ideas on what to try.