Articles about organizational culture, collaboration in teams, and cross-cultural collaboration. Theory and tools. Cases and experiences from fellow leaders, consultants, and role-model organizations. Book reviews. Interviews. Coverage of seminars.
With an emphasis on positive organizational cultures that foster openness, trust and kindness to boost innovation, agility, collaboration and thus results.
Do you manage energy? Most of us don’t, at least not consciously. Leaders tend to manage information and influence within their network. Traditionally, leadership is associated with influencing people to do things. However, energy is a crucial resource within organizations. The fascinating thing with energy is that when you spend energy on relationships it increases. Energy is the source of …
Let’s look at some more positivity research and a real positive case. Thanks to Kim Cameron for inspiring us with positive leadership research and practices – here are more things that you can do, too! Gratitude Research with Positive Practices shows that they increase our mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. For instance: Two groups were asked to journal every day. …
All organizations exist to prevent deviance. Organizations aim for stability and end up in the middle. Not bad, but neither extraordinary. The natural focus is on what’s wrong and to fix that. Think of the medical perspective, legal, and business. But in the middle is not where the magic happens… The big dollar question is: How do you get organizations …
66% of professionals are not planning to stay at their organization long-term. What are you doing to retain them longer? Do you develop your organizational culture and offer them a reason to stay? Retention of great employees can be extremely cost-efficient as the recruitment and on-boarding processes take time, energy and money. Every time a new colleague enters the organization …
Does your organizational culture attract job applicants? Culture represents the identity of the organization and it can attract people if it radiates outside the office walls. A positive culture can be a magnet to the professionals that your organization is looking for! Professionals are more and more looking for fulfillment at work and seeing their careers as an integral part …
What would you rather be: a heroic leader or a servant leader? Which do you need to develop a positive culture where people and performance thrive? Most people don’t want and cannot be either. It can be demanding to be the hero who solves everything. It can be frustrating to be a servant who serves everyone. Positive Leadership Then what …
Some organizations are still operating on industrial-age paradigms. One of my clients was working with the IT department of a very large insurance company. They were building an online platform for insurance clients to upload their documents, download their policies, make claims, and so on. The IT department embraced the Scrum methodology; they needed to be agile to serve their …
Is culture less important in a tech company? While it’s crucial when you provide services, based on both research and practice, the answer is no. Culture matters everywhere. The Supermarket Organizations that provide a service to clients depend on culture. Services are “people work”. The added value is created in interaction with the client and this results in an experience. …
How can you get buy-in to do something about the culture? It’s a question people ask me often. “It’s obvious: our associates are unhappy with the way we do things around here”. “Our factory’s performance indicators go downhill.” “Retention is a disaster: new hires leave within three months.” “Employee health is vital but leaders dismiss it as soft stuff. We …
Flexible work isn’t just the future of work–it’s already here. Flexible work arrangements are a priority for top job seekers. If you need to recruit and retain millennials to keep your workforce up to date, don’t force them into an office from 9 to 5. Especially in a labor market where companies are competing for the best hires: offering flexibility …
Culture can be the multiplier to either success or failure for organizations. As we’ve seen in my earlier article, a toxic culture might cause productivity to decrease by 40% while a positive culture might boost performance with at least 20% – but probably more (estimate based on research and my client work). That makes the need apparent to consciously develop …
Why would organizations invest in developing an effective organizational culture? The answer is that it impacts organizational performance and that culture, as it’s hard to copy, can be a competitive advantage. It’s an asset, as Kevin Stiroh, a bank supervisor, says in Harvard Business Review. “A firm’s cultural capital is a type of asset that impacts what a firm produces …
