How to create an attractive environment and make your business soar
Gallup’s latest poll shows a whopping 53% of employees are disengaged at work and 13% are disengaged, including some whose actions will have a negative impact on the company. That leaves just 34% of employees engaged and actively working to bring creativity, productivity and growth to their company. That means we have a lot of work to do if we want our employees and our companies to prosper.
To win customers – and a larger share of the market – companies must first win the hearts and minds of their employees. I spent the last few weeks working with Dr. Andy Koehl, Dr. Carly McCabe, and Mary Roddy from Roberts Wesleyan College on a webinar, Excellence: Ethics in the workplace. You may be wondering how ethics play a role in business commitment and success. While working together on the webinar, we found many links between our backgrounds and how to create an environment where employees feel safe, supported, and creative. All of those elements lead to customer satisfaction and business success. There are books and web articles documenting the ethical success stories of companies like Starbucks, Zappos, General Mills, The Gap, Cisco, and others.
How can you be successful like these companies have? One of the first steps is to create a vision of where the company is headed. You will need to imagine what the business environment will be like and how you will interact with employees and customers. Next, you’ll need to reflect on your core values and the core values of your company. Then create guidelines for ethical behavior and decision-making so your employees feel empowered and able to act without fear of punishment or termination. Those work patterns, values, and identity of all employees should match those they live by when they’re not at work. That creates integrity. When employees live with integrity, they are delighted, motivated and engaged.
Next, you’ll need to bring those values and guidelines to life. Hanging a banner on the wall with the mission and values of the company will not cause employees to act according to the guidelines. Values in action stories will paint pictures of how they should act and how others were rewarded for their ethical behavior. The reward is not just doing this and you’ll get a check, but forms of recognition, self-esteem, a feeling of contributing to a purpose greater than oneself.
You can find positive stories of ethical behavior on the Internet and in many books on the subject. Furthermore, every year, Business Ethics: The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility selects the 100 best companies that are ethical and profitable. They publish stories related to situations where companies displayed ethical behavior. You can also find dilemma case studies and then lunch and learn discussion sessions asking what would you do?
