Senior Management Quiz: Are You Fostering a Winning Workplace?
Q: I'm the director of a hospice center for a midsized hospital. I want to know if there is a checklist to assess how "healthy and supportive" a place it is to work. In other words, what makes a great place to work?
A: We are frequently asked this question. Over the past 20 years, a significant amount of research has identified the characteristics of healthy, productive and engaging workplaces. From this research we determined that "winning workplace" cultures share six fundamental characteristics:
- Trust, Respect & Fairness
- Open Communications
- Rewards & Recognition
- Learning & Development
- Teamwork & Involvement
- Work/Life Balance
We use a few different tools to understand how an organization is doing with regard to these characteristics. One of the most important things you can do is anonymously survey your employees about their perceptions. If there is a real disconnect between how the managers and employees perceive the workplace, it is likely there are issues that need to be addressed. In addition, conducting this survey can provide more objective data for the organization to benchmark progress over time and provide for a mandate to make organizational improvements.
For simplicity's sake, and to respond to your question, you may consider taking a quick and easy read of your own perceptions of your workplace and enlist two to three of your peers – at the managerial level – to do the same. Take the following quick survey to assess how your workplaces measures up.
The Survey:
Quiz for Senior Management: Are you fostering a Winning Workplace?
1: Strongly Disagree
2: Disagree
3: Agree
4: Strongly Agree
- As a manager, I routinely communicate the business priorities and goals to staff.
- I make it a point to recognize employees for a "job well done."
- I routinely ask employees their opinions on work matters.
- As a leader, I work to intentionally foster a climate where employees feel comfortable speaking up and talking about workplace issues, even the tough ones.
- In general, I believe our pay and benefit levels are competitive in our industry.
- Overall, our employees know what is expected of them in their jobs. (Do you really know this or are you guessing? Do you have measures in place that let employees know how they are doing?)
- Our supervisors and managers have been trained and/or coached on how to have frank and productive performance discussions with their staff.
- I am comfortable having frank, productive performance discussions with our staff.
- My peers are able to communicate honestly and openly with one another.
- In general our managers do a good job of fostering teamwork among their staff.
- Our organization places a premium upon promoting employees from within rather than hiring from the outside.
- Overall, employees know what to do to "get ahead" at the company.
- Our firm does a good job of orienting new employees to our workplace.
- I believe that the majority of our employees are engaged in, and challenged by, their jobs.
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Key:
1: Strongly Disagree 2: Disagree 3: Agree 4: Strongly Agree
Rating Your Workplace
14 questions – assign points so they can automatically calculate or easily add up:
- If you answered: Agree or Strongly Agree on 11-14 questions: Your workplace has many of the characteristics of a winning workplace. Many things are in place to sustain a productive and engaging work culture. This will have big pay off for the organization's future success.
- If you answered: Agree or Strongly Agree on 7-10 questions: Your workplace probably has some of the important characteristics of a winning workplace and a strong management team, but there are gaps. Build upon your strengths and be honest about where the gaps are. Take action to improve the workplace and don't let these issues go untended.
- If you answered: Agree or Strongly Agree on only 1-6 questions: Your workplace has definite areas which, if strengthened, will not only improve the current environment, but will have an impact on future success. There are issues that must be acknowledged and addressed. Step back and ask yourself how committed you and your management team are to improving the workplace.
Once the other managers and/or directors return the information, tally it and review it as a group answering the following questions.
- Did anything come as a big surprise? As a big disappointment?
- Is there a large gap between how some directors presently view the workplace? Why?
- What seems most important?
If this group communicates easily with one another, it should generate a fruitful discussion. An essential prerequisite for any successful change starts first with the management team developing a shared understanding of its organization's strengths and challenges.
Be honest, realistic and patient. Creating lasting culture change can be a frustrating yet rewarding process and happens slowly over time. In the end, the most important thing you can do is develop a constructive means of identifying and openly talking about the challenges that the organization faces. Working together to address the issues and create solutions is the first step in creating a shared future.
— Winning Workplaces, June 02, 2008 | Add your thoughts
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