People and culture management come in last place when leaders think about future business growth.
In a June 2007 Leadership Pulse survey (www.LeadershipPulse.com), only 55% of leaders were confident that the resources within their organization for managing employees and the overall organization's culture could help drive growth in the next 12 months. Additionally, the score for current performance of the people and culture management team was 26%. There is a 29-percent gap between confidence that the people and culture management team can help drive growth in 12 months and their performance today.
In recent years, negative feedback---"Boy, you really messed that one up, Bob."---has become more common, especially when managers are under pressure to hit their numbers. Yet, research shows that workers then focus disproportionately on their weaknesses instead of their strengths. "Cranking up negative consequences, which seems to be the dominant view of motivation, is not really good for people's mental health," says Peter Cappelli, who teaches management at the Wharton School.
Here are some best practice ideas for managing your performance culture:
Educate employees about stress types: Good stress is about concentration and creativity. Bad stress is about panic and fear.
Never worry alone: Sharing concerns can turn problems into brainstorming sessions. Teams are cemented through problem-solving.
Create a listening culture: If you're not hearing about problems, there's a problem. A good gauge: How many emails do you get from staff?
Conduct autopsies without blame: Make it safe to fail. Innovation languishes in blame-happy cultures.
Encourage workers to ask for help: What is toxically stressful for one can be an exciting challenge for a team.
Source: BusinessWeek, August 6, 2007
