Corporate Culture – Less talk, more action

Corporate culture and it’s effect on performance is a rising issue.  However it can be overwhelming and sometimes it helps to look around to see what others have done.  Have they moved from talking about it, and acting all cool and trendy to actually doing something and getting their hands dirty?  Every once in a while I get a bit annoyed by those who just want to talk.  Values blah blah… culture blah blah.  And should you ask them about their leadership in all of this – well – can I not see I’m in the presence of perfection.  Err no, but I’ve certainly met your ego.  What I can tell at that point is, I’m not in the presence of a new client.  One of the things our clients have in common is a strong desire to actually do something and an awareness that no matter how good they are as a leader ( and they are), they know it’s not enough, they want to be a great leader.  Then of course they know that it’s a continual journey.  They are the lid on the performance of the unit/team/section/business.

So if you’re wondering what to do about the impact your current culture is having on the performance of your business you could drop us a line and we can suggest some specific sources that will help you.

Alternatively here is a presentation from Netflix.  OK it’s 128 slides long, but if you’re interested in the what and some how around others companies embracing and working with their culture and values, then get clicking, it’s worth it.

Business Growth – Employee Engagement

In times of economic uncertainty, recession and tough markets, business growth is even more challenging. Here is the last of 3 videos in which Ruth Sanderson explains critical components that enable business growth. The final part dicusses the importance of staff engagement.

Business Growth – Values

In times of economic uncertainty, recession and tough markets, business growth is even more challenging.  Here is the second of 3 videos in which Ruth Sanderson explains critical components that enable business growth.  The second component are the company’s values.  Although equally important are the leaders values too.

Business Growth – Vision

In times of economic uncertainty, recession and tough markets, business growth is even more challenging.  Here is the first of 3 videos in which Ruth Sanderson explains critical components that enable business growth.  The first is Vision, which is key for business stability too.

Often in the overwhelm of staying a float and finding new business leaders can overlook the importance of communicating the vision.

How to set goals and achieve them

Every year millions of us set goals in January, our personal ones tend to lapse before February and we are left working on the corporate ones (and these aren’t always set for success either). Right now many businesses are planning for growth and currently reviewing employee performance and setting targets. A lot of those won’t make it, what if this year was different for you, both personally and professionally? 

Join me on the 20th when I’ll share with you….

• The number 1 mistake people make that stops them from getting their goal.
• The 2 simple things you can do which will dramatically increase your success ratio.
• I’ll talk about the key steps you need to take to in order to shift up a gear.
• Plus I’ll introduce you to the Goal Success Formula – a simple, affordable way to set and achieve goals.  It’s the distillation of more than 10 years of experience, study, trial and error and ascertaining what really works, not just for me, but for my clients.  It’s also intensely practical.  There’s no long waffle and vague concepts that leave you working out what to do next.  It’s just pure meat and practical steps to applying the meat.

This will be an interactive webinar, you can ask me questions beforehand and during - if you’ve never joined one they’re easy, you just need your computer and the internet.        

You can get all the details at http://www.bluepeapod.com/howtosetgoalswebinar

Routes to Business Growth – Emerging From A Recession

The creation of a values-led corporate culture within one of Britain’s most successful healthcare companies had engaged its workforce, driven growth and resulted in turnover rocketing from £60 million to £100 million in a handful of years, according to Chris Harrison of North West pharma company Fresenius Kabi.

Addressing business leaders from across the North West at this week’s ‘Emerging from the Recession’ conference at Manchester’s MacDonald Hotel, the Runcorn based Group Managing Director said the adoption of values-led leadership could assist organisations in weathering the economic storm.

“At Fresenius Kabi, values have provided an important underpinning of what we do as a business and they have enabled everybody within that business to be engaged,” he added.” I am convinced that our progress would not have been as sustainable without values.”

Ruth Sanderson,one of the conference organisers and MD of blue pea POD, the Chester based leadership consultancy told the delegates that all the speakers would outline their experiences of corporate culture and its impact on performance.

“The uncertain times have seen many companies lose their way,” she said:” But forward-thinking CEOs are working with their corporate culture and leadership values because they know these hold the key to business growth.

“The level of interest in this conference in Manchester is, in my view, a clear indication of the growing acknowledgement of the role of values in corporate life. We have senior players in attendance today who have all experienced the positive impact of company values. We want them to share their experiences with all our delegates.”

Her co-organiser Sue Coyne, Executive Coach and Culture Change Consultant of Stockport-based Connectiveness Ltd added that research had shown that the adoption of a values based corporate culture within an organisation had a measurable effect on performance from sales figures to the bottom line.

Mike Stevens, the Manchester based Group and UK Human Resources Director for the £300 million turnover Odeon and UCI Cinema Group told the conference that he became involved in building a values based corporate company when the Odeon and UCI operations were being integrated.

“We conducted a company wide survey of our employees and as a company we were shaken to the core when the results showed a worrying level of disengagement and negativity.”

“We made a conscious decision to apply values to the culture using engagement, communication and development. We have already seen some very positive results from our work and now values are integral in every aspect of our business.”

After the conference Ruth Sanderson said: “Many companies are now looking forward to emerging from this long and difficult recession and this conference was the start of a series of events to give our delegates the benefit of the experiences of our speakers, all of whom spoke very positively about values-led leadership and corporate culture.

“We believe in the effectiveness of values-led leadership and the end of the recession will give many companies the opportunity to examine the many positives from this approach to business. Putting in those values now will pay huge dividends as time goes on.”

What do you make people feel?

I love the BMW Joy advert.  From a branding perspective they’ve summarised what they believe they’re about.

What I really like is the bit where they say… ‘we realised what you make people feel is as important as the thing you make’ or words to that effect. I even spoke back to the TV, saying how true that statement was – and it is rare I am moved to talk back to the tele.

Now of course comes the challenge of getting that feeling of Joy into their dealerships.   Yes the cars when you drive them bring a feeling of Joy (I’ve had one and did enjoy driving it).   The dealership staff though never left me even close to Joy; unless you count when they handed me my keys back and I found that this time they hadn’t damaged the car.  Fortunately the fourth dealership and a commute later and I found one that didn’t think damaging your car was a normal side effect of a car service.

Having been this clear about their corporate statement then it has to be felt at every touch point.  Let’s hope they’re working on this so that something this powerful doesn’t just become a gimmick.

As a leader can you articulate your brand ethos so succinctly, your purpose, do you know how people feel when they’re with you and when you’ve just walked out of the room?

In a nutshell…Who you are, what you stand for and how you make people feel, are as important as the ‘thing’ you sell.

Company Purpose and Passionate Employees – the imact on staff and bottom line

A company with a well-defined purpose and passionate employees who share it, can unleash a massive boost of employee enthusiasm that can only be born when purpose and passion align. Unfortunately, this is a ‘free’ resource that most companies are not tapping into nearly enough.

Stephen is among a growing number of talented individuals who have struggled with finding a role in their organizations in which their purpose and passions could flourish.   Moving up the career ladder he eventually felt so disconnected with his profession he wondered what it was that even attracted him to it in the first place.  At this current phase in his career he was spending more and more time with politics and less on building meaningful relationships, making a difference and achieving any kind of success or results.  “I began to wonder why I turned up, each day I felt a little more of my energy and enthusiasm disappear.  I was also getting more frustrated at the lack of authenticity within the company, what it said it stood for and what it asked for / rewarded where very different.  At this point I decided enough was enough and I needed to take action.  The very first action being to take time for myself and consider my future, so I hired my coach.”

This phase of reflection helped Stephen to see just how inauthentic he too had become, slowly his values and strengths and passion had been eroded and he had to accept that he’d let that happen.  However the coaching also helped him to reconnect to what was really important, both in terms of why he’d originally chosen that profession and also what was important to him now.  This discovery process enabled him to connect not only to his purpose but back to his real self.

Then came the review of his current job and company.  Armed with what he knew about himself and what he wanted for his future he could evaluate his next steps and his relationship with the company.  In Stephen’s case he decided that the company was no longer the right environment for him, realising he’d be asked to compromise again in order to fit in and get on, yet this time he’d be doing it consciously which was even worse.

Interestingly (and weirdly all too common) when he went to resign the organisation came back with a salary increase, He promptly refused, but they said they really valued him and so offered an even bigger financial package.  “At that point I had an insightful discussion with my boss and explained just how much either he or the company didn’t understand me if this was their approach”.

Many talented people we speak with mention that within their career or job it is core that they can express themselves and have a sense of fulfilment.  That success without this is no longer real success.  Of course they have mortgages to pay and people to feed, at least one being themselves.  Yet they very often take the most courageous decision of all, push through the fear and pursue this intrinsic desire for a life and career filled with meaning and purpose.

Stephen moved on to a role and company that played to his strengths, shared his values and their corporate mission was aligned with his purpose.  “I’m invigorated, what I achieve in a day is phenomenal compared to before.  Yes there are tough days and occasionally I still ask myself why I’m doing this, but the difference is now an answer comes back and it gets me going again.”

Many large organizations do take the time to define a corporate mission that underpins their vision of the future.  The short sentences can be used as a guiding compass and a decision making tool for everyone’s actions.  This enables those that are considering joining to decide if it aligns with who they are too.  If these sentences are a shell then the worst that happens is they recruit someone who buy’s the shell and within 6 months finds it’s hollow.  Then it becomes an expensive business as they move on or even more expensive if they decide to stay.   Mission, values, vision and purpose are valuable leverage points for both an organisation – whatever the size and an individual.  When they coincide the payback for all is huge.  As Stephen’s story shows there are some things you just can’t buy.

The Benefits of Aligning Corporate Mission with an Individual’s Purpose

A company with a well-defined purpose and passionate employees who share it can unleash a massive boost of employee enthusiasm that can only be born when purpose and passion align.   Unfortunately, this is a ‘free’ resource that most companies of all sizes are not tapping into nearly enough.

Wayne is among a growing number of talented individuals who have struggled with finding a role in their organizations in which their purpose and passions could flourish.   Moving up the career ladder he eventually felt so disconnected with his profession he wondered what it was that even attracted him to it in the first place.  At this current phase in his career he was spending more and more time with politics and less on building meaningful relationships, making a difference and achieving any kind of success or results.  “I began to wonder why I turned up, each day I felt a little more of my energy and enthusiasm disappear.  I was also getting more frustrated at the lack of authenticity within the company, what it said it stood for and what it asked for / rewarded where very different.  At this point I decided enough was enough and I needed to take action.  The very first action being to take time for myself and consider my future, so I hired my coach.”

This phase of reflection helped Wayne to see just how inauthentic he too had become, slowly his values and strengths and passion had been eroded and he had to accept that he’d let that happen.  However the coaching also helped him to reconnect to what was really important, both in terms of why he’d originally chosen that profession and also what was important to him now.  This discovery process enabled him to connect not only to his purpose but back to his real self.

Then came the review of his current job and company.  Armed with what he knew about himself and what he wanted for his future he could evaluate his next steps and his relationship with the company.  In Wayne’s case he decided that the company was no longer the right environment for him, realising he’d be asked to compromise again in order to fit in and get on, yet this time he’d be doing it consciously which was even worse.

Interestingly when he went to resign the organisation came back with a salary increase, he promptly refused, but they said they really valued him and so offered an even bigger financial package.  “At that point I had an insightful discussion with my boss and explained just how much either he or the company didn’t understand me.”

Many talented people we speak with mention that within their career or job it is core that they can express themselves and have a sense of fulfilment.  That success without this is no longer real success.  Of course they have mortgages to pay and people to feed, at least one being themselves.  Yet they very often take the most courageous decision of all, push through the fear and pursue this intrinsic desire for a life and career filled with meaning and purpose.

Wayne moved on to a role and company that played to his strengths, shared his values and their corporate mission was aligned with his purpose.  “I’m invigorated, what I achieve in a day is phenomenal compared to before.  Yes there are tough days and occasionally I still ask myself why I’m doing this, but the difference is now an answer comes back and it gets me going again.”

Many large organizations do take the time to define a corporate mission that underpins their vision of the future.  The short sentences can be used as a guiding compass and a decision making tool for everyone’s actions.  This enables those that are considering joining to decide if it aligns with who they are too.  If these sentences are a shell then the worst that happens is they recruit someone who buy’s the shell and within 6 months finds it’s hollow.  Then it becomes an expensive business as they move on or even more expensive if they decide to stay.   Mission, values, vision and purpose are valuable leverage points for both an organisation – whatever the size and an individual.  When they coincide the payback for all is huge.  As Wayne’s story shows there are some things you just can’t buy.

Inspire and Instruct

“Most important, leaders can conceive and articulate goals that lift people out of their petty preoccupations and unite them in pursuit of objectives worthy of their best effort.”  

                                                                                                   John Gardner

Leaders are expected to provide inspiration and instruction to their team throughout the course of work, but that is so much harder if the leader has no clear vision for the organization and its associates.   As we approach a new year, and given the increasing uncertainty in the future survival of organisations, now more than ever vision is crucial.  

A vision helps in deciphering the right direction which needs to be followed to make the organization reach marvelous heights of success.  Yet just formulating of a vision is not sufficient; it has to be coupled with gaining the confidence of the employees.   As a leader if you don’t buy the vision, then you’ll never sell it.  If you don’t have a passion to live and breath the vision, then you’re on an up hill struggle to encourage others to have confidence in it, the organisation and you.

As a leader you’ve also got to get real good and embedding the right values within the workforce; instilling a sense of responsibility and resilience, so they have enough zeal to endure the difficulties and challenges that 2009 will bring.   

2009 will also bring great opportunities, but if you and the team don’t know the destination, you won’t know where to focus. 

What’s the something bigger, more compelling and inspiring that you and the team can focus on?  As opposed to solely focusing on firefighting today’s problems.