Between the economic and geopolitical uncertainty and the rapid rise in technological advancements and AI, leaders are facing multifaceted challenges that demand innovative solutions and strategic foresight. They must work quickly to upskill their workforces, respond to the evolution of consumer preferences and demands, and accelerate the pace of digital transformation…or they risk being left behind.
Regardless of how daunting these challenges may seem, leaders are in a position where they can flip the script, embrace all of this change, navigate uncertainty, and get back to prioritizing their people to reach sustained growth.
We believe one way to do this is by focusing on culture. Culture is made up of the elements of a business related to people, values, purpose, and foundational principles that the business is built on. It includes the day-to-day expectations of people, which is HOW they show up to deliver on the business strategy. That said, culture is not only intricately linked to providing a great employee experience, but ultimately tied directly to business results.
But with so much already on your plate, you are likely looking for simple actions that will get the most from your people and strengthen your culture. Here are three culture-quick wins to help get you, as a leader, started:
1. RE-INSPIRE AND RE-ENERGIZE MANAGERS
Make it a priority to check in with your managers early in the year. They are critical ambassadors, leaders, and communicators within any organization. And with employee satisfaction at a low point – dropping 10% in 2023 according to Gallup’s 2023 Workplace report – it’s more important than ever to take the time to understand your people and where they are at.
At Daggerwing Group, we know how critical managers are to the employee experience. If this group is lagging, employee engagement lags, which negatively affects business results, overall job satisfaction, and motivation factors.
With so much already riding on managers – and because of how critical this group is to business success – keep a pulse on them and ensure they have the inspiration and business clarity needed to succeed this year. Work with them to set goals and connect “beyond the work” to hear how they are doing, while making sure they have energy for what’s been put on their plates to deliver on.
When possible, carve out extra time to listen, either through formal feedback sessions or skip-level meetings, to gain invaluable insight into the manager’s everyday experience that might not be heard otherwise. Give this group some extra focus and attention – they are critical to strengthening your culture – and ultimately driving your business strategy forward. If your managers are lagging, your business is lagging.
2. RE-EVALUATE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN YOUR CULTURE AND GROWTH
Culture is an organization’s silent set of values, expectations, and behaviors. To drive your strategy forward in 2024, you must reevaluate the values and expectations and ask, “How can I align these further to drive BUSINESS IMPACT while making it crystal clear what we want from our people?”
On values, there are some behaviors we’re seeing trending with clients:
- Agility – pivoting and moving to where the greatest business needs are as a result of prioritization
- Efficiency – driving more impact, with less, or in some cases as a result of deploying new platforms to improve or shorten work time overall (i.e: AI technologies in the workplace)
- Gratitude – the outlook on “work” has never been worse. Don’t underestimate the power of recognition
- Enterprise thinking – take a broader view of the organization and your work within it. An insular “lens” does NOT drive impact
But, it’s important to note these behaviors are not a “lift and shift.” Behaviors must be grounded in insights from within your organization itself and in driving the business strategy forward. Some gaps may exist in your values today that need to be closed to deliver the best outcomes for your business.
Ultimately, the values and expectations of employees need to drive the business forward. Assess whether the framework you have today maximizes both results and impact.
3. RE-EXAMINE YOUR PRIORITIZATION “MUSCLE”
Across our clients spanning different industries, we are seeing a consistent trend for 2024: the need to do more with less. More results, more impact, more speed – but all with efficiency at the center. With layoffs, cost-cutting measures, and also new technology platforms being implemented across industries, there is an imperative to drive the business forward as change remains constant.
Business results require prioritization of the highest-impact items, and prioritization is part of your culture – the “fabric” of your organization. So, you must assess your organization’s prioritization “muscle.” To do so, you might look at employee engagement scores around leaders’ effectiveness at prioritizing on a day-to-day basis, or you could do a series of employee listening sessions to understand how people prioritize today and what the biggest hurdles are in people prioritizing and executing daily against the business strategy.
In today’s climate of many things happening concurrently, ruthless prioritization informed by the business strategy (i.e., what matters most) could not be more critical. And prioritization requires not only deprioritizing but also removing items from “the list.” This concept should be embedded into the way you, as a leader, and your employees make decisions every day. You should also ask yourself, “How am I driving impact for the business?” If you or your employees are unable to connect what you’re doing to business impact, it’s time to prioritize differently.
Ultimately, the goal across these three culture “quick wins” is to help you jumpstart business impact in 2024 by strengthening your organization’s culture and harnessing the power of your most important asset – your people.
Some may hear “culture” and think it’s non-essential to driving business impact, BUT those who believe this are overlooking culture as a business accelerator and driver.