In this modern era, every organization and Executive wants to build an organization to be the best working place. So today I thought to share some of my experience as well as learning that I do regularly. Though with this post I can not complete all points but will try to provide some of the good points.

Some points that will lead the organization to be the best working place,
Basically, these Six points will cover all i.e.,

1. Setting the direction for your organization
2. Communicating the culture
3. Organizing your team to support the culture
4. Managing performance
5. Living the culture every day
6. A Learning culture

Now the question is how to do the above points, let's try to start with some question that will help to understand these.
Define the culture by asking 3 questions

• What is high performance?
• What are the desired behaviors?
• How will you know you've achieved it?

How to answer these questions it's good to think from your company mission and know what is culture?

Mission - A mission explains why your organization exists and how it contributes to the world.

Culture - Culture is nothing but a sum of our daily actions.

So hope these two points help you to answer the above questions so that the things are aligned else mission will have some different things and culture may not support it. So both are tightly linked with each other.

Now after defining the above goals now its time to Set Direction with the two questions

• What's the vision?
• What's the organization's purpose?

So answering these two questions will provide us with a clear view of what we are going to next.

Now it's time Communicating culture by asking with one question i.e.

• What communication vehicles and techniques?

Once we answer these vehicles and techniques, we are very close to the part of the goal.

Now its time to Organize the things as we are in the area to apply the above points, so just ask two questions yourself, and yes on this stage analyze well this the case where max executives go in different side. So the questions are,

• How will you build teams?
• What processes will you create?

Till the time what I understand building a team depends on a lot of factors but the first case is what art and the strength we have. A critical one but if fit well then can take you on blue sky. And the process is what needs to be taken from the culture, not in the only document.

So as we have team and process in the workplace now, it's time to Manage performance, so it is an easy one just ask these three questions and answer them well.

• What are the goals?
• How do you measure them?
• How do you create behavioral incentives?

Performance Reviews/Promotions are based on 50% on the "what" and 50% on the "how".
Even if someone got the great results but if someone behaved in the manner that is opposite to the culture then someone does not get a good rating. The only way to get the great rating is which supports high-performance culture.

Awards - Consider behavior/culture part of award criteria and award announcements.

 

Managing Performance - Tie goals to the strategy and communicate those goals broadly. Let the team know how performance is measured.

Balanced Scorecards
Balanced scorecards = Effective way to tie culture to results + Ensure results don't drown out culture

A good tool for measuring and balancing results and culture is a balanced scorecard.

What the Scorecard Includes

• Culture,
• Quality,
• Customer Satisfaction,
• Finance

So if we have above 3 defined then no one can stop to make it running as the team the one who executes and if they all are measured well and motivated then that is our goal right, but hold one I have few more things to share with you.

As I have point Live the culture, so this is what our final goal is to build the best workplace. So we have a way for everyone to live the culture on daily basis. And we ask to live the culture then we have to think the point below,
 
How do you capture "culture moments" and provide feedback to reinforce behaviors?

So now you know this one is the point that will allow being in place if we positive reinforce to everyone to have the best things happening every day, every moment with everyone. There is a tool also that that help us like Virtuous Circle. So this is nothing but a cycle can have positive and negative both direction. As an executive, it's your duty to make it move in a positive direction else it can also lead in a different way. A cyclic diagram is shown below,

 

 

As we are done with the points but want to point out some more precise view as a Leader what executives and other organization leaders will do, So As a Leader how you can use Virtuous Circle.

• Know what behaviors you want,
• How they link results,
• How to take advantage of positive virtuous circles
• Step in when you see bad behavior

To have the best workplace for everyone, top management has a bigger role. As a top management a commitment and communication are important, so how do top management communicate points are,

Senior Management should speak with authentic channels like,

• Town halls,
• Q&A sessions,
• Blogs, - As this is also a blog, so blog elements are Consistent, Authentic, Informative & Entertaining
• Newsletters,
• Conference calls,
• Emails etc.

Note:- All points may not valid for all small and big company but can use as per availability of channels.

As Senior leader, They need to set the tone and direction for the organization culture too. A small example is How to talk with associates is,

"While talking with associates, do not always ask about projects and tasks, talk about the culture and how they are living the culture what changes need to be made in areas that are inconsistent with the culture, make and communicate those changes."

Few more examples are,

"Open and Honest feedback can lead to best results and should be part of the culture. It helps to stop conflicts too."

 

"Some time thank you note can do a lot, but it must be properly used and provided for great work in the project."

Living the culture

• Think what are small actions that you can do to reinforce best actions every day.
• Identifying and sharing stories that are happening inside the organization.
• Stay committed to your core values.

Providing regular feedback

• It should be actionable and it should be regular.
• Do not wait until the next review cycle.
• The number is always a point but having it actionable will make it happen.
• Quality and loyalty is also part of culture do not forget them.

Learning culture
A Learning culture that supports the organization to be the best working place. Learning strategies are closely aligned with the organization's strategic goals and outcomes.

The organization's values specifically refer to the importance of learning and development. The learning function is staffed by qualified learning professionals who know how to create real behavior change.

• Learning is an integral component of the organization's talent management ecosystem.
• Learning is delivered where and when it is needed, creating a cohesive landscape of accessible opportunities.

So with these,

1. Setting the direction for your organization,
2. Communicating the culture,
3. Organizing your team to support the culture,
4. Managing performance,
5. Living the culture every day and
6. A Learning culture,

this 6 points will lead your organization to be the best workplace and yes there is always add on, so please add your list too in commitments. Thank you for reading.