Creating an Intentional Culture that Engages Employees

As the consumer comes of age, companies are focusing more effort on improving the customer experience. Yet despite this, recent studies show that customers remain dissatisfied with most of the services companies provide.

One of the reasons for these findings is that many organizations forget their main and most valuable asset which is their employees, and focus instead on processes and policies. Employees are the very people who will determine the success or failure of each interpersonal activity.

Some companies do understand the crucial role employees play in today’s ever-changing market place. These companies have one thing in common - leadership that understands the importance of creating an "intentional" culture that engages the hearts and empowers the minds of employees to deliver a unique customer experience in tune with financial goals.

So, how is this accomplished?
Leaders must first acknowledge their responsibility in creating that culture.  Companies must create a culture that aligns peoples’ values and behaviors to the principles and core values of the organization. Culture is the driving energy within every company, department and team.

An intentional culture aligns the environment and emotional drivers to a company’s vision and brand. To build a culture that supports the brand experience, leaders must bring the corporate vision to life and help employees connect what they do every day such as their values, objectives and goals and align to the organization’s principles and guidelines.

It is also important to keep a pulse on the health of the business’s culture. One way to accomplish this is to measure and analyze three unique sets of data: employee engagement, customer engagement and core business values. This approach focuses on evaluating current employee and customer engagement drivers and linking them to core business measurements.

To gauge employee engagement, companies must know how employees feel about their jobs, physical environment, management structure and openness of communication. Useful tools to gather this data include employee surveys, performance reviews, face-to-face conversations, employee feedback and any other channels that capture two-way communication.

It is extremely important that companies not only seek employee feedback often, but also allow employees the opportunity to give unsolicited comments, ideas and suggestions. Such feedback allows leadership to identify the key drivers of the most engaged employees. It also serves as the building blocks for a positive, open culture that aligns to the brand and business objectives.

In addition to feedback, companies should encourage employees, at every level, to contribute new ideas and suggestions. From this, companies can create action plans that help create an atmosphere where all employees contribute to the success of a company by adapting their behaviors to deliver improved performance and skills.

Finally, building and leading an intentional culture that fosters engagement across the company is one of the strongest competitive differentiators available to drive and sustain financial results.



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