This past weekend we had a opportunity to sit with a group of wonderful people at the Work Revolution Summit with the same goal as us: “to completely reinvent the very fabric of work.”
When we first met with one of the event organizers, Josh; he quickly let us know of what he thought of the “rules” and mentality of the modern day workplace and we knew right then that we were getting involved with something great.
We made the drive down to New York for the Summit and upon arrival we couldn’t help but notice that we were surrounded by like-minded individuals that genuinely wanted to change the way people work. We all knew the numbers behind the high stress levels of work, low employee engagement rates, and the current employee turnover plague that is taking over the corporate world.
The speakers were absolutely terrific and they interacted with the group very well and even though they all brought a different approach they all had the same message:
There Are A Lot Of Flaws Within The Current Workplace
Often, we hear about the same two companies that have stellar employee engagement and company culture.
It’s always, “Google lets their employees do this” or “Zappos lets their employees do that.” After people are done talking about them, it feels as if there’s a certain drop-off till we reach the next innovative employee-centric company.
I’m sure there’s a lot of great companies out there… Heck, all the companies that were represented at this summit were amazing. But out of all the companies in the world, how many are making a conscious effort to create an employee-centric company culture? Judging from my observations, not a whole lot.
After all these years, we began working harder, not smarter. People are feeling more stressed at work than ever and a major part of that is because they’re required to do a lot more and produce quickly. I get it, the world is moving faster and information can be exchanged at the drop of a dime.
We can communicate quicker, hold video conferences with people across the world to get deals made faster, and technology is making work easier… but it’s messing up employee performance. To quote the popular Spiderman film: “with great power, comes great responsibility”. so with all these advancements to make businesses succeed, how come big businesses are not making a conscious effort to satisfy the needs of their employees? Heck, at least give them an opportunity to have a less stressful life.
“Employees First” Is Easier Done Than Said
Sure there are plenty of perks that you can give employees to make them feel happy, but even after a while the old ping-pong table and free beer at the office will not be enough to keep an employee there.
This may be harder for larger enterprises, but every company should switch to having an employee-centric company culture.
I may be wrong on this one, but I don’t think any two human beings in this world are alike. We all have different traits, different triggers, and different stories. If companies want to get the best results they should tailor to the needs of their employees.
I’m sure I’m not the only one to ever think this, but f!%k working 9-5!
I have to apologize to my friends across the pond who came up with the concept of working 8 hours a day, but the rule has not stood the test of time. There have been plenty of societal changes since the early 1800’s that have made that model completely flawed.
In my neck of the woods being a 9-5er entails waking up extra early to get caught in a dreadful commute to (and from) work and being forced to give your best results within those hours — If you come up with something after that, way to go…remember though, you’ll still have to be in at 9 the next morning.
Chances are that employee wants to spend more time with their children, family, or friends. They want to spend more time doing things that they like. Instead, they have to push all that stuff back to the weekend, when they’re completely burned out and exhausted from the week.
The main problem is that people are living their lives with work as their main priority and their “lives” are secondary.
One of the things that stood out from Jessica Lawrence’s speech at the summit is that when she shifted the paradigm of her organization to become more result-oriented, not only did it lead to higher employee performance and a stronger company culture, but people were living better lives. The majority of her employees began losing a lot of weight, making it to family events (hassle-free), and not having to necessarily worry about work.
If there’s an ideal that your company should strive for, it’s to become a result-oriented + employee-centric company. Out of all the companies that we have researched in starting Officevibe, we have yet to come around ONE company that was employee-centric and had low engagement or poor results.
Work-life balance isn’t just a neat buzzword. It will become the most efficient way of getting high quality work done fast.
Company Culture Needs To Become A Bigger Priority
Startups and SME’s may have this a bit easier than a large enterprise, but there needs to be a bigger push towards creating a strong company culture within offices.
Company culture can not be something that is forced!
It has to grow internally and can be grown at anytime in the company’s lifespan. It’s really up to the people within the company (employees and “higher ups”) to make a difference and do their best to create a workplace that is full of life and great to be a part of.
One of the things that I found fascinating that I took from both John Maeda and Scott Francisco’s talks, was the impact of design of a workplace and how it can influence a company’s culture.
The architecture, the way that desks are placed, if people prefer to work alone or in groups. All those aspects will help employees work better and collaborate more often.
Once you get past the physical aspect of a company, there’s the people! Do your best to hire, recruit, and retain employees. They’re the lifeblood of your company!
If your company was a car, your earnings would be the gas, your company culture would be both the facade and interior, and your employees would be the driver that makes sure everything is running well. Make sure to keep a smooth exterior and interior for your driver to be happy…even if you’re at a quarter tank, you’ll drive around cozy and happily looking for a place to fill up.
As we closed down, speaker Clay Hebert finished by saying that the summit was truly the beginning of a revolution. He even went on to compare the summit to the Solvay Conference (where 17 of the 29 attendees became Nobel Prize winners, just saying). We were really fortunate to sit among really bright minds that truly want to create brighter tomorrows, but right now we ALL have to figure out a way to make sure that no one dreads their workplace and we can all live happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives.
via Reinvent Company Culture? First Let’s Revolutionize How We Work | Officevibe.
Reinvent Company Culture? First Let"s Revolutionize How We Work
