Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations)
Have you worked in an environment where employees were seemingly an afterthought, treated like expendable cogs in a machine? Alternatively, have you worked in an environment where employees were the primary focus of leaders, where your value was recognized and rewarded and where you were continually invested in and developed? In each case, how did that make you feel? How did you perform? How long did you last in that organization?
Most of us have probably worked in both types of organizations and most of us would likely point to the second type of organization as the one where we would like to work and where we feel we would have the best chance for both personal and organizational success. So why are so many organizations perpetually behaving badly and creating the first type of workplace environment? Are we that ineffective as leaders? The reality is it is hard to change mindsets and systems. But it can and should be done for the sake of both the business and the people that make up the business.
Why should you have a people-first organization?
A strictly laissez-faire, shareholder capitalism approach to business clearly has its limitations, including producing a myriad of negative externalities and often resulting in employee, customer and environmental exploitation in the name of profits at all costs. However, in recent years, there has been a steady move away from shareholder capitalism to other alternate approaches, such as stakeholder capitalism, a focus on the triple bottom line, social entrepreneurship and organization-driven social impact work. Each of these variations put value on the humanness of the markets and recognize the need for the social good in organizations. In fact, the modern consumer expects, if not demands, that the organizations they patronize be invested in making a positive difference in the world—hence the rise of the people-first, employee-centric organization and workplace.
What is an employee-centric culture?
Perhaps the most important aspect of creating a people-first, employee-centric workplace is creating a strong employee experience that can serve as a firm foundation for all of the systemic scaffolding (e.g., norms, values, policies, practices, procedures, etc.) to support a sustainable people-first culture.
In a recent Business.com article, Jennifer Post explains an employee-centric culture as one where “Ideas, creativity, free-flowing communication and innovation are encouraged throughout an organization. Employees . . . feel safe making suggestions and challenging a structure they may feel is interfering with productivity and performance. These employees have a connection with their team and organization, as well as a strong, secure sense of identity at work . . . both challenges and ideas are received positively, which allows the employees to feel valued, respected and like there is an opportunity to grow in the company.”
Among other things, this means that openness and transparency, psychological safety, positive team member relationships and interpersonal and institutional trust must reign supreme for the modern organization to be successful. In this kind of an environment and culture, employees are fully supported, developed and given the opportunity to thrive and fulfill their potential.
There is a strong business case for focusing on your people first.
Establishing and maintaining an employee-first focus in your business may sound counterintuitive, but a litany of research has demonstrated why it is not only the right thing to do for the humans in your organization but also the right thing to do for the bottom-line success of the business. Some of these benefits include:
• Combatting employee disengagement. When employees feel that they are valued and that their employer is willing to invest in them, employee engagement levels go up.
• Increased person-job alignment. In a people-first, employee-centric workplace, leaders work with their people to ensure they have the opportunities to do what they do best every day.
• Reducing employee turnover. When employees are engaged and there is clear person-job values congruence and alignment, withdrawal cognitions diminish and employees choose to stick around longer.
• Increased productivity. A satisfied, engaged and aligned employee is a hard-working and productive employee. They are more efficient, they get more done and their work is of higher quality.
• Increased innovation. When employees experience psychological safety at work and are encouraged and supported in their continued growth, a learning organization is formed and creativity and innovation increases.
• More positive customer experience. All of this leads to happier customers and a better overall customer experience, increasing customer loyalty and retention, increasing sales and strengthening the bottom line of the company.
You can create an employee-centric workplace.
Recognizing the benefits, fully buying into the prospect and even having clear aspirational intentions is great, but how do you move from recognition and aspiration to actual implementation? It isn’t rocket science, but it does take discipline. Following the steps below will help get you a long way toward your end goal:
1. Establish a baseline understanding of where you are at today. You can accomplish this through pulse surveys and regular one-on-ones with your people.
2. Articulate a clear vision and core values that are people-focused. Repeatedly communicate these values and integrate them into all aspects of the employee experience from onboarding to company retreats.
3. Develop key strategic pillars to guide your ongoing efforts. Your values should inform your strategy, but be sure you can articulate that strategy clearly and succinctly with your core pillars.
4. Create a detailed, yet flexible action plan. Don't become rigid and dogmatic around your plan; rather build in checkpoints when you can revise and update your plan.
5. Get to work and celebrate the victories! Use ongoing pulse surveys to measure progress and when you see improvements, invest in the celebration to re-enforce your desired culture and strategic direction.
We have all experienced both soul-sucking and invigorating places to work, and I am a firm believer that most organizational leaders intend for their organization and team to be the latter. But it doesn’t happen by accident. As we work to create a people-first, employee-centric organization and culture, our people can thrive, as well as the organization.
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