.png)
Are You Negatively affecting Your Organizational Culture?
By Dr. Paul L. Gerhardt, PhD
After the better part of two decades, I have found that most leaders have good intentions and soon realize after leadership training that they wished they got it sooner. Leaders have the biggest influence on the health, productivity, satisfaction, and employee turnover of their team. Positive organizational values and ethics are essential factors for a healthy and competitive organization. Great leaders consistently ask themselves a question to judge whether their values are right: am I negatively affecting my organization’s values? Today we are going to discuss a few positive organizational values and how they can help a company gradually progress into the future.
1. Integrity: While working in a company, employees have several common excuses to lie. Whether it’s “I lied in order to get the promotion” or “if I hadn’t we would never have made that big sale”, it in no way changes the fact that a lie is still very much… a lie. It is unethical, wrong and unfair to make a person believe something that is not real for your own personal gains. Integrity needs to be strictly enforced and maintained amongst your company workers so that people don’t gain the mindset that they can get away with lying with the right “reason”. In older times, the most loyal advisors of the kings always ended up telling the truth about their crimes to their king. They also got punished for (usually thorough beheading), but, just remember that in the 21st century no one will be able to behead you if say the truth in your own office. Usually, more harm is done with a lie than what anyone will initially realize. So, always telling the truth makes the organization stronger and build a positive organizational culture where people will feel safe to try new things, make mistakes and learn from them, and be seen as a respectable organization. One leader who lies, sets a bad example for other employees to do so. That makes the organization weaker and vulnerable to the competition.
2. Accountability: A common concept in both the workplace and the world in general is simply putting the blame of something onto someone else. People say “they” are responsible and it’s that easy – no more blaming you for something that “they” did. In an office it is good practice to divide your employees into groups and give each group a separate responsibility. For example, if you have three groups, one being the cleaners, then the mechanics and third the engineers, then it is a lot simpler to deal with accountability. A rotation can also be set up among employees so that they all continue to learn new skills and learn in the process. “They” is therefore no longer existent – and accountability is restored. Every employee must see themselves as a valuable and indispensable person. A great leader makes expectations clear, gives employees ample resources and time to do it, and praises all signs of good teamwork.
3. Acceptance: The key value of a company should no doubt be acceptance. Diversity of employees can truly bring strength to the organization if managed properly. Smart leaders know that organizations are only as strong as its weakest leader. Leaders should hire the most-talented people, then create a win-win workplace climate where people feel welcomed and genuinely valued. It is the ability to accept and take in employees with a wide variety of skills, from a myriad of backgrounds and different abilities and talents they possess. Respecting diversity has to be one of the prime values of a company so that it can accumulate knowledge and expertise from all corners of the world. If everyone thought the same way then there would be no room for innovation and improvement – however, when you bring in fresh minds, ideas are instantly improved and mindsets change. Teaching team members to manage conflict in a healthy way is key to free-flow of ideas and new innovations that bring greater market-share.
Values are what make or break a workplace. They explain the ideals of the employer to the employees and his authenticity too. By maintain and following a strong core set of ethics and values at the office, a leader can inspire and lead his whole company into being better human beings and move them towards a brighter future. Of course, team building from a talented and proven trainer can pay significant dividends in shaping a positive organization that yields consistent growth.
Please like and share if you agree!
Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a tenured professor of management. He is a diversity and leadership well-respected and trusted trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns on investment. Dr. Gerhardt is the author of several publications available on Amazon.com, including Diversity at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the new upcoming Leadership Handbook. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on investment. You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook
0 comments: