Genuine corporate growth doesn't go to the company with the best widget. It goes to the organization that can reinvent itself and bring out the best in its people at every level of the organization. That especially includes three elements (1) Organization alignment, (2) Capacity for execution, & (3) Capacity for renewal. Bringing out the best is highly dependent on each company’s particular corporate culture. A healthy work environment (i.e. a good culture) can be defined by these 10 types of behavior:
- Clarity exists about what is important
- Rewards (bold financial and intangible) reinforce performance
- Fairness abounds
- Executives seek and act upon employees‘ input
- Thinking & Innovation is rewarded not punished
- High urgency exists to perform and improve
- Teamwork is mastered; collective intelligence and collaboration impacts everything
- High Standards of excellence are practiced
- Feedback, honesty & integrity are highly valued
- Leadership development is continuously prioritized for everyone
A Harvard study (John Kotter & James Heskett) contrasted bottom-line results of Low Health Cultures against High Health Cultures. The evidence of how work practices affect performance was overwhelming yet less than 10% of the company studied had corporate cultures that significantly enhanced economic performance. Comparing high performance cultures to low, there was a fourfold increase in revenue growth, a sevenfold increase in number of staff employed, and a 12 fold increase in the value of the company’s net worth; net income growth increased astronomically.
An organizational health diagnostic is available to measure corporate culture. The diagnostic asks 132 questions that will give an overview of the organization. This overview will help break through biases that distort reality. It identifies issues that no one in the organization wants to talk about. The data is analyzed for 31 different practices that highlight critical differences between high-performing and low-performing organizations. Those practices are grouped into three major categories: (1) Vision & Values including both focus and direction; (2) Culture in terms of engagement, communication, processes and competencies; (3) Individual work practices bringing together environment, planning & performance. Executive interviews give context to the facts to facilitate an open dialogue about the critical “non-discussable” issues. What is holding back rapid growth becomes clear. Once faced simple remedies and solutions become very possible. This leads to less effort, greater momentum, and better organizational results, faster.
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