In Great Company
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FIGURE 8.2 Overall SPARK Score (Percentage)
I also repeat the self-assessments and pulse surveys to gauge granular progress over time. Regardless of what specific format you use, measurement needs to happen regularly with a methodology that is fair, inclusive, and informed by data. Other informal measurement tools that lend themselves to this coaching-based approach are brief, concise check-ins with stakeholders, occasional after-action reviews, and an annual full-cycle debriefing of learnings, milestones, and missteps. For me, measurement is an opportunity to reinforce the In Great Company dynamic whereby we all succeed together—no blame—and our next steps are based on what we have learned.
5. Practice
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This is the place where change really occurs—through ongoing, everyday practice. With the In Great Company approach, each of us is equally responsible for sparking emotional connectedness and creating a workplace where people are committed to getting better each day, not only for ourselves but for our colleagues and customers.
As so much of the advice in this book demonstrates, the way to engage a broad group of people is to keep the commitment simple and actionable. As part of that, I use “clear active questions” to empower people and remind them that their actions make a difference. These are questions that people should ask themselves as they continue to work the In Great Company approach:
Systemic Collaboration
Do I value teamwork and collaboration?
Do I openly give and accept advice for being better in the future?
In the past two weeks, have I been part of a team or collaborated to solve a problem?
Positive Future
Am I open to new ideas?
In the last two weeks, have I demonstrated a positive outlook for the future?
Alignment of Values
Are my values and the organization’s values in sync?
Do I stand for honesty and integrity?
Do I hold myself and others accountable for practicing our values?
Respect
Do I show respect for the people I work with and expect the same from my colleagues?
In the past two weeks, have I expressed gratitude or appreciation for someone else’s work, effort, or accomplishments?
Killer Achievement
Am I known to be competent and knowledgeable?
Do I support others and help them succeed?
Do I work toward the shared goals in my company?
These simple questions illustrate why the In Great Company model sparks emotional connectedness—because when we show that we care about our colleagues and support their efforts to succeed and achieve, then the same benefits accrue to us.
I have seen it happen in numerous organizations: The automaker with deteriorating productivity numbers. The private insurance firm that had an endemic problem with ethics. The tech start-up that was losing people faster than the company could onboard and train new recruits. Each of these organizations and others turned the tide by providing people with a process where they could work together to achieve something meaningful—a workplace that is better for everyone. When everyone benefits, everyone gets engaged, and vice versa: when everyone is engaged, everyone benefits.
I invite you to get engaged, emotionally connected, and In Great Company beginning today. The In Great Company Best Practices Playbook in Appendix C offers dozens of ways to actively change things for the better. Working with others to create a workplace that you love is more than engaging. It’s contagious.
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LEADER’S SELF-ASSESSMENT: DO I LEAD IN GREAT COMPANY?
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Take this self-assessment to determine your strengths and areas of weakness as a leader. Use what you learn to put together a development plan for yourself.
Systemic Collaboration
1. Do you monitor for equal airtime in conversations?
2. Do you ensure that four roles are equally played when leading a team conversation (that is, challenger, supporter, mirror, and mover)?
3. How present are you during conversations?
4. Do you engage in difficult conversations with empathy?
5. Do you consider the opinions and thinking of your stakeholders and supporters?
Positive Future
6. What is your purpose and passion in your work?
7. What is your purpose and passion in your life? Is there overlap?
8. Do you believe you are living your work and life passions and purpose?
9. Have you ever channeled your passion into products or sales?
10. Do you actively recruit or seek out people with passion for your work?
11. Do you learn from people who are performing at high levels?
12. Do you give your highest performers opportunities to teach others about their successes?
13. Are your communications for your vision for the future clear, purposeful, and meaningful to others?
14. How often do you reinforce this message?
15. Do you give advice for people to get better at specific behaviors or tasks, or do you focus only on what they have done incorrectly?
Alignment of Values
16. Do you hold others accountable for their actions—and keep it in line with company values?
17. Do you hold yourself responsible for your work?
18. Are you successful in making a business case for others around the values of the company?
19. Do you tie performance to values?
20. How well do you create a business case for measuring values as a means to achieving business strategy?
21. Do you ensure that the way people achieve is in alignment with the company values?
22. Do you have partners to help keep you accountable for your goals and values?
Respect
23. Do you ensure that respect is reciprocal in your communication?
24. What kinds of data sources do you use to make sure you understand your customers’ needs?
25. Do you conduct yourself in a civil manner?
26. How do you regulate your emotions in times of conflict?
27. In what ways do you show empathy to others during times when they are in need of help?
28. Do you make inclusion a part of your business strategy?
29. To what degree do you believe you are self-aware?
30. To what degree do you believe others think you are self-aware?
31. For what do you feel most grateful at work?
32. For what do you feel most grateful in life?
Killer Achievement
33. To what degree do you balance focus on goals with flexibility?
34. Do you communicate your goals clearly and consistently to others?
35. Do you give yourself or others the resources, help, and support they may need to achieve collective goals?
36. Is being best in class important to you?
37. Do you consider succeeding in your goal (that is, winning) an integral part of your process?
38. Do you train and develop only at certain times, or do you train and develop yourself and others continuously?
39. Do you focus on developing strengths?
40. Is failure understood to be a part of the learning process?
41. How do you ensure recovery or avoidance of burnout?
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SAMPLE EMPLOYEE PULSE SURVEY: ARE YOUR ASSOCIATES IN GREAT COMPANY?
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Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements: strongly disagree, disagree, somewhat disagree, somewhat agree, agree, strongly agree:
1. Teamwork and collaboration among associates are valued in my company.
2. People in my company give me advice for what I can do better in the future.
3. In the past two weeks, I have been part of a team focused on a specific project.
4. People in my company are open to new ideas.
5. In the last two weeks, people in my company have demonstrated a positive at
titude toward the future.
6. My coworkers are competent and knowledgeable.
7. Effort and hard work are valued in my company.
8. We as associates work toward shared goals in my company.
9. My company lives the values it promotes.
10. My company stands for honesty and integrity.
11. Associates in my company are held accountable for their actions.
12. My ideas and contributions are respected in my company
13. In the past two weeks, someone in my company has made me feel that my work is appreciated.
14. My manager trusts me.
15. I would recommend working at this company to a friend or business colleague.
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THE IN GREAT COMPANY BEST PRACTICES PLAYBOOK
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Use this focused advice to make the shifts you need to become In Great Company.
SYSTEMIC COLLABORATION
POSITIVE FUTURE
ALIGNMENT OF VALUES
RESPECT
KILLER ACHIEVEMENT
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
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The purpose of the research effort surrounding this book was to test how loving one’s workplace affected employee and organizational outcomes, and what elements or conditions led people to love their workplace.
Study 1
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We tested the psychometric properties of a scale measuring feelings of love toward one’s workplace, in part to determine the elements people most wanted to find there. The participants were 473 individuals (212 women, 261 men; average age 33) sourced from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk).
All participants worked at least 20 hours a week at a job outside of Mechanical Turk. They responded to a series of questions designed to measure feelings of love toward one’s workplace. They were also interviewed regarding the aspects of an organization that made them feel most valued.
Themes emerged from these interviews, with the most positively cited themes being: teamwork, honesty and integrity, appreciation and support, emphasis on looking forward, and focus on achievement (see Table D.1).
TABLE D.1 THEMES THAT EMERGED FROM INTERVIEWS
From this framework, three to five concepts were developed for each theme. These statements were then tested for reliability and validity. Participants completed the survey along with demographic information. Items for inclusion in the final measure were selected using a standard statistical research methodology.
Study 2
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We tested loving one’s workplace as an independent construct and measured its relationship with important employee outcomes in comparison to organizational commitment, in order to determine its utility and the construct validity of the assessment.
The participants were 214 individuals (97 women, 117 men; average age 39) sourced from MTurk, all of whom worked at least 20 hours a week at an outside job. They completed a survey to test the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1: Loving one’s work will positively correlate with organizational citizenship behaviors.
Hypothesis 2: Loving one’s work will account for variance in organizational citizenship behaviors beyond that of affective commitment.
Hypothesis 3: Loving one’s work will positively correlate with psychological safety.
Hypothesis 4: Loving one’s work will account for variance in psychological safety beyond that of affective commitment.
Hypothesis 5: Loving one’s work will positively correlate with self-reported performance.
Hypothesis 6: Loving one’s work will account for variance in self-reported performance beyond that of affective commitment.
Results showed that hypotheses 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 were statistically supported and hypothesis 2 was not statistically supported.
Study 3
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The study surveyed 300 participants (130 women, 170 men; average age 38) to determine the relationship between one’s score on the 14-item Most Loved Workplaces (MLWs) scale and self- reported personality traits, including these:
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Neuroticism
Openness to new experiences
The results indicated that there was a relationship between individual employees’ dispositions and how they felt about their work. For instance, conscientious employees were more likely to love their work, while employees who were highly neurotic were less likely to love their work.
Study 4
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The study surveyed 2,642 employees from one Fortune 1000 organization to test their overall Most Loved Workplace (MLW) score and to determine how it was likely to affect organizational performance and outcomes. Employees were in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The largest group of respondents were 30 years or younger, but all age groups were represented. Within the respondent group, 65 percent were male, and about 70 percent of the sample had been with the organization between one and five years.
Sample findings attributed to this organization are the fol- lowing:
Overall mean index score was 76 percent (out of a possible 100 percent, with a high score indicating positive feelings).
Employees who were with the company less than one year had significantly higher means than all other groups, and employees who were with the company one to two years had significantly higher means than those who were with the company three to four years.
No significant differences were found between various age groups, male and female employees, across job types or regions. Employees in manufacturing, HR, and supply chains indicated a significantly lower level of workplace love than did employees in some of the other job functions.
The high-scoring group had many more employees from sales than would be expected.
The employees in Europe had many fewer employees represented in the high-scoring group than would be expected and more in both the low- and medium-scoring groups.
Other
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The above findings supplement the author’s over 20 years of collecting and synthesizing learnings from dialogue groups and peer coaching C-level executives in hundreds of Fortune 1000 organizations.
Key Summary
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The studies helped us determine what causes employees to love their organization, and what employers can do to cultivate that love in their company. The data showed where employees diverge between “most loved,” “neutral,” and “disliked” workplaces, and how those differences affect the bottom line on a daily basis.
Across every demographic, the desire to be respected drives the most loved workplace response. In most loved workplaces, 94 percent of employees have reported that they would likely work harder for their employer, with 59 percent reporting that they would be four times more likely to work harder and produce results.
Another response points to retention, with 95 percent of employees citing the positive feelings they have for their team, peers, subordinates, and bosses as the most relevant factor in their decision to stay with a company.
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NOTES
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Introduction
1. David G. Allen, Phillip C. Bryant, and James M. Vardaman, “Retaining Talent: Replacing Misconceptions with Evidence-Based Strategies,” Academy of Management Perspectives, vol. 24, no. 2, 2010, pp. 48–64, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25682398.
2. Wall Street Journal, “How to Reduce Employee Turnover,” Wall Street Journal Guides, April 7, 2009, http://guides.wsj.com/management/recruiting-hiring-and-firing/how-to-reduce-employee-turnover/tab/print/.
3. David Brown, Veronica Melian, Marc Solow, Sonny Chheng, and Kathy Parker, “Culture and Engagement: The Naked Organization,” Deloitte Insights, February 27, 2015, https://www2.deloitte.com/insights/us/en/focus/human-capital-trends/2015/employee-engagement-culture-human-capital-trends-2015.html.
4. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/229424/employee-engagement.
aspx. Accessed August 6, 2018.
5. See below and also Appendix D, “Research Methodology,” for more on the research that underlies the model.
6. London School of Economics and Political Science, “When Performance-Related Pay Backfires,” April 24, 2016, http://www.lse.ac.uk/website-archive/newsAndMedia/news/archives/2009/06/performancepay.aspx.
7. From my own research. See Appendix D, “Research Methodology.”
8. Quoted from an e-mail exchange between Bob Maresca and the author, November 14, 2017.
Chapter 1
1. A. H. Maslow, “A Theory of Human Motivation,” Psychological Review, vol. 50, no. 4, 1943, pp. 370–396; and A. H. Maslow, Motivation and Personality, Harper & Row, New York, 1954.
2. Debra Umberson and Jennifer Karas Montez, “Social Relationships and Health: A Flashpoint for Health Policy,” Journal of Health and Social Behavior, vol. 51, no. 1, March 1, 2010, pp. S54–S66, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0022146510383501?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%3dpubmed.