Creating a Culture of Opportunity
By Jack Turesky
What is the best way to maintain your Peak Performers? Create a Culture of Opportunity - an environment that drives co-workers to assertively seek increased responsibility and promotion.
Whenever other senior managers ask my advice on how to foster such a culture, I suggest two things: first, assume personal responsibility. Recognize that the basis of such a culture is your own behavior and attitude toward co-workers. Second, make and regularly renew a personal commitment to the practices below:
- Delegation – Our Company promotes delegation to every level of the organization. We do not only delegate tasks, but also accountability and responsibility. This promotes the development of management and leadership skills at every level.
- Encouragement to Lead Change – Knowing that change is inevitable, we encourage our co-workers to lead change by drawing on their differing educational backgrounds, job experiences, and strengths. We allow co-workers latitude to make reasonable mistakes in their pursuit of improvement and innovation without fear of punishment. Management helps co-workers move past failures towards future success.
- Listening – One of the most difficult challenges of being a manager is listening well. It's communication skills that have suffered from the least amount of formal training. Our minds inevitably wander because our thought speed is faster than the speaking speed of the people we are listening to. We all have a lot on our minds so listening to each other's issues can be tiring. If you don't devote your full attention to the person speaking, you will ultimately lose more time. Conversations will need to be repeated, good ideas will be lost, and problems will worsen.
- Speaking with Respect – The behavior of senior management toward associates plays a crucial role in their desire to contribute to the company. Co-workers can become very discouraged if you make a habit of speaking to them in a condescending and demeaning manner. Peak Performers, who might someday lighten your management burdens, will either leave your company or disengage from their work. They will stop striving for success and simply follow a routine. So make a personal commitment to treat all of your staff with respect.
- Avoiding Micro-Management – I believe that micro-management is perhaps the #1 reason organizations lose their peak performers. We expect Senior Management to define the Who, What, Where and When while allowing others to define the How. We have centralized concepts, standards, and values, but we encourage decentralized implementation.
- Training – Training can be internal and external. Most small to medium sized companies I am familiar with don't do enough training. We are continually looking for improved training methods. Peak Performers always want to increase their skill sets so we have to be sure to provide training opportunities in order to keep these exceptional people.
- Public Celebration of Success – Positive reinforcement can be very powerful. Think of the last time you received a compliment…I know it made me feel terrific. We try to celebrate the successes of our co-workers both inside and outside the company. Everyone performs better when they feel that they are appreciated and valued.
- Constructive Criticism in Private - We give constructive criticism privately and take care to mix it with praise for work well done. We are careful not to criticize the person, but the issue. It is also very important to offer help if needed.
- Internal Promotion – Peak Performers need to know that they can continue to grow and advance within their organization. They deserve to be rewarded with promotion when appropriate opportunities arise. Our Company is committed to promoting from within the organization whenever possible.
