A good article by Norm Spitzig. Enjoy!
What exactly makes a workplace “great?” What are the specific characteristics common to those very special workplaces that are universally recognized as the indisputable signs of a superior operation?
If there's a more basic (or fascinating) question for a workplace and the people who inhabit it, it hasn’t been found. A workplace that successfully attains the following characteristics—whatever size it might be or industry it may be in—can proudly and accurately call itself “great.” Exemplary companies have:
1. A clear mission and purpose for being. The very best workplaces in the world know—really know—who they are and what their core purpose is. They have a straightforward, concise mission statement (i.e., who they are) that is readily understandable and enthusiastically embraced by each and every employee. Such great workplaces have carefully identified those factors critical to their long-term success (i.e., those services and/or facilities they must do, and continue to do, exceptionally well) as well as their specific vision for the future (what the workplace will likely be in five to 10 years). Great workplaces develop detailed action plans and accompanying areas of responsibility to ensure that their vision for the future is more than some pie-in-the-sky dream; instead, it’s concrete, actionable, measurable and (with perseverance on everyone’s part) achievable.
2. Forward-thinking, creative senior management and a caring, well-trained staff. No workplace can remain superior over any meaningful period of time without quality leadership at the top as well as a caring, well-trained support staff. At great workplaces, everyone from the president/CEO to yesterday’s hire is fully committed to doing whatever it takes to help the company achieve success year-in and year-out. Equally as important, great workplaces attract people from myriad backgrounds and with varying levels of professional and personal skills—talents that complement and enhance each other to the benefit of all employees as well as the customer base. At a great workplace, individuality is valued and cherished, but teamwork remains first and foremost.
3. Meaningful work. A great workplace allows—better yet, encourages—its employees to do what they deem meaningful. Of course, the term “meaningful” denotes different things to different people. What is meaningful work for a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company may, but not necessarily, differ significantly from that of a solo entrepreneur working at home. Both can (or cannot) be genuinely viewed as meaningful work, depending on the perspectives of the individuals involved. Having said that, Malcolm Gladwell is correct when he notes in “Outliers: The Story of Success” that, for most people, work is meaningful when it is sufficiently autonomous, appropriately complex, and has a perceived direct relationship between the effort invested (i.e., time on the job) and the accompanying return (i.e., compensation). Great workplaces offer their team members the opportunity for each and every employee, irrespective of their education, talents and experiences, to consistently do what they themselves perceive as genuinely meaningful.
4. Reasonable, understandable, and uniformly enforced work rules.Great workplaces have rules and policies that are reasonable, understandable and, perhaps most importantly, fairly and uniformly enforced. (If, for example, smoking is prohibited in the work environment, it means, plainly and simply, no one smokes—not the president, not the chief operating officer, not the new dishwasher.) The rules and policies at great workplaces are neither capricious nor arbitrary. They aren’t written in language so arcane that only a senior tax attorney can comprehend. Ideally, they aren’t written to prevent employees from doing something, but rather to set appropriate standards whereby all employees are assured the opportunity to maximize their potential. In short, great workplaces embrace rules and policies that reflect the core values of the workplace as well as the expectations of the employees and customers in a fair and logical manner.
5. An appropriate blending of tradition and innovation. While great workplaces are environments where employees devote a significant amount of time to improving current products and services as well as creating new ones, they’re also places where tradition and continuity are highly valued. Longstanding products and services aren’t whimsically eliminated to the detriment of loyal customers; rather, they’re continually improved as circumstances dictate to the benefit of all concerned. At great workplaces, all are aware and proud of their company’s origins and heritage, its growth and evolution, its positive reputation in the community, its quality products and services, its mission for the present, and its vision for the future.
6. Open communication among all vested parties. Great workplaces have regular, honest communication between everyone involved with, and interested in, the long-term success of the company. Staff and customers are always kept informed of, and are encouraged to appropriately participate in, the company mission, vision, policies and procedures as well as any significant changes under consideration. In other words, they’re given adequate opportunity to convey their ideas and suggestions to company leadership. Managers at great workplaces are unwavering in their commitment to “management by walking around” because they know that this time-tested practice promotes open communication and minimizes potential problems. Great workplaces typically have company newsletters, both electronic and print, that regularly and effectively communicate the various opportunities available to staff and customers in an accurate and timely manner.
7. Fiscal responsibility. Last, but certainly not least, great workplaces are fiscally prudent. They have detailed, multi-year business plans that feature accurate income and expense projections, conservative cash-flow estimates, sufficient funding for research, development, infrastructure maintenance, renovation and expansion, and realistic cash-flow projections. In addition, great businesses rigorously monitor and adjust their financial plans on a regular basis and as circumstances dictate. They know exactly how much money will be required to provide the products and services their customers want and expect, as well the specific costs associated with them. The long-term financial well being of the workplace remains a high priority in the minds of all concerned.
A great workplace, in the end, employs happy, productive and talented people who perform meaningful work compatible with the mission, vision and financial goals of the company. It takes constant effort and vigilance to be a truly great workplace, but the end result is well worth it.
Showing posts with label vision. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vision. Show all posts
Friday, April 1, 2011
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
10 Ways the 2020 Workplace Will Work For You
Great article about what we can expect in the workplace in 2020! Enjoy!! I'll be retired by then. :)
By Jeanne C Meister and Karie Willyerd, Co-Authors: The 2020 Workplace
The workplace of 2020 is an exciting one, filled with changes specifically designed to benefit the future employee. Workers of tomorrow can look forward to more employee development and advancement opportunities than at any time in the past 30 years. How you develop your work skills today could lead to a big pay-off in the 2020 workplace.
Ten factors that will impact the 2020 workplace:
1. Demographics.
What it is: By 2020, the American workplace population will be more diverse: 63 percent white, 30 percent Latino, and 50 percent female. Four or even five generations, from Boomers to Generation 2020, will be working at once.
How it helps you: Companies going global will need to incorporate the experiences and backgrounds of a diverse workforce. Teams will be built up of workers of different gender, race and generation -- and even workers of different nations.
2. Rise of business ethics
What it is: Companies that once only operated for profit will place new emphasis on the importance of their people, as well as the impact their existence has on the planet. The new bottom line will incorporate profit, people and planet.
How it helps you: An emphasis on doing good means companies will strive to be environmentally friendly. Plus, the ability for workers to give real-time feedback about their leaders ensures leaders will be held to their worker's standards.
3. Social technology
What it is: Vlogging, Twitter, intranet chat rooms, Skyping -- even today, there's a vast array of online communication tools, with more to come.
How it helps you: The use of social technology means real-time feedback loops as well as facilitating offsite work teams. Social technologies will also enhance informal and peer-to-peer learning.
4. Mobile workplace
What it is: Increasingly powerful mobile phones are replacing laptops as the main work device.
How it helps you: Advanced Internet capabilities on your cell mean accessing your "desk" anywhere, anytime. Welcome to the "third place": If the office is the first job site and the home office the second, the "third place" is anywhere your phone is.
5. Work/life flexibility
What it is: For younger generations, work is a significant part of their life, but they don't compartmentalize it like older generations tend to. It isn't about work-life "balance"; it's about work/life integration.
How it helps you: Flexibility tools like web commuting and "third place" working will help replace the 9-to-5 workday with a goal accomplishment one (meeting goals regardless of what time of day the work was done), which will help companies boost the job satisfaction of their employees.
6. Serious play
What it is: "Sims" (Simulated Games) is the new buzz word in training: Online Sims allow employees to learn new jobs through low-risk direct practice.
How it helps you: Training will start to look like the games we've come to love, and studies show that Sims are effective methods for accelerating competence across the employee spectrum.
7. Mentoring
What it is: One-on-one mentoring is still a powerful way to develop employees, but companies will also use reverse-, micro- and group-mentoring.
How it helps you: Increased emphasis on mentoring means that your professional development will get a super-charge via direct input from company leaders as well as from your peers. Best of all, your opinions and skills are given new value as you reverse-mentor others, meaning that you will be tasked with teaching those senior to you about your role.
8. Democratization of information
What it is: Digital record keeping makes company information accessible to all.
How it helps you: The end of hierarchies! More employees will be tapped to help shape policy, project management and solve problems, rather than just follow orders.
9. Personal branding
What it is: Social technologies track personal ratings, referrals and reputations.
How it helps you: A good reputation has the same value in the future as it does now: It makes you a highly desired employee who can set your own value in the marketplace.
10. Talent shortage
What it is: There's a big gap between all the Boomers retiring and the number of Generation X'ers available to fill their shoes.
How it helps you: The demand for 2020 leaders will result in more concentrated employee development and faster promotions for younger workers!
Although it's a ways off, you can start preparing for the 2020 workplace by:
1. Adopting a global mind-set.
2. Becoming familiar with social networks
3. Building your personal brand
The future is coming, and adapting now will position you for a fast-track career in 2020.
By Jeanne C Meister and Karie Willyerd, Co-Authors: The 2020 Workplace
The workplace of 2020 is an exciting one, filled with changes specifically designed to benefit the future employee. Workers of tomorrow can look forward to more employee development and advancement opportunities than at any time in the past 30 years. How you develop your work skills today could lead to a big pay-off in the 2020 workplace.
Ten factors that will impact the 2020 workplace:
1. Demographics.
What it is: By 2020, the American workplace population will be more diverse: 63 percent white, 30 percent Latino, and 50 percent female. Four or even five generations, from Boomers to Generation 2020, will be working at once.
How it helps you: Companies going global will need to incorporate the experiences and backgrounds of a diverse workforce. Teams will be built up of workers of different gender, race and generation -- and even workers of different nations.
2. Rise of business ethics
What it is: Companies that once only operated for profit will place new emphasis on the importance of their people, as well as the impact their existence has on the planet. The new bottom line will incorporate profit, people and planet.
How it helps you: An emphasis on doing good means companies will strive to be environmentally friendly. Plus, the ability for workers to give real-time feedback about their leaders ensures leaders will be held to their worker's standards.
3. Social technology
What it is: Vlogging, Twitter, intranet chat rooms, Skyping -- even today, there's a vast array of online communication tools, with more to come.
How it helps you: The use of social technology means real-time feedback loops as well as facilitating offsite work teams. Social technologies will also enhance informal and peer-to-peer learning.
4. Mobile workplace
What it is: Increasingly powerful mobile phones are replacing laptops as the main work device.
How it helps you: Advanced Internet capabilities on your cell mean accessing your "desk" anywhere, anytime. Welcome to the "third place": If the office is the first job site and the home office the second, the "third place" is anywhere your phone is.
5. Work/life flexibility
What it is: For younger generations, work is a significant part of their life, but they don't compartmentalize it like older generations tend to. It isn't about work-life "balance"; it's about work/life integration.
How it helps you: Flexibility tools like web commuting and "third place" working will help replace the 9-to-5 workday with a goal accomplishment one (meeting goals regardless of what time of day the work was done), which will help companies boost the job satisfaction of their employees.
6. Serious play
What it is: "Sims" (Simulated Games) is the new buzz word in training: Online Sims allow employees to learn new jobs through low-risk direct practice.
How it helps you: Training will start to look like the games we've come to love, and studies show that Sims are effective methods for accelerating competence across the employee spectrum.
7. Mentoring
What it is: One-on-one mentoring is still a powerful way to develop employees, but companies will also use reverse-, micro- and group-mentoring.
How it helps you: Increased emphasis on mentoring means that your professional development will get a super-charge via direct input from company leaders as well as from your peers. Best of all, your opinions and skills are given new value as you reverse-mentor others, meaning that you will be tasked with teaching those senior to you about your role.
8. Democratization of information
What it is: Digital record keeping makes company information accessible to all.
How it helps you: The end of hierarchies! More employees will be tapped to help shape policy, project management and solve problems, rather than just follow orders.
9. Personal branding
What it is: Social technologies track personal ratings, referrals and reputations.
How it helps you: A good reputation has the same value in the future as it does now: It makes you a highly desired employee who can set your own value in the marketplace.
10. Talent shortage
What it is: There's a big gap between all the Boomers retiring and the number of Generation X'ers available to fill their shoes.
How it helps you: The demand for 2020 leaders will result in more concentrated employee development and faster promotions for younger workers!
Although it's a ways off, you can start preparing for the 2020 workplace by:
1. Adopting a global mind-set.
2. Becoming familiar with social networks
3. Building your personal brand
The future is coming, and adapting now will position you for a fast-track career in 2020.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Vision: From Start to Finish
Another great article by John C. Maxwell. Good stuff!
How did James Cameron direct a movie as incredible as Titanic or Avatar? How is Alicia Keys able to write world-class music in an era when few elite performers pen their own lyrics? How does Pixar keep churning out animated blockbusters?
The answers all involve vision. The best leaders are able to see a vision and then activate it by stepping forward. In addition, they're willing to sacrifice to see the vision come to fruition. Finally, they realize the importance of surrounding themselves and their vision with an incredible team.
See the Vision
Many people don't jumpstart their lives because they don't have anything to jump to! They plod along through life with little more than survival in mind. Visionaries dare to dream. They peer into the future and generate possibilities in their mind's eye.
The legendary sculptor, Michelangelo claimed that as he looked into the stone, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." His imagination had already created his masterpieces before his hands did the work.
Step Toward the Vision
Some people see the vision, but they never step toward it. They cannot seem to summon the courage to overcome their fear, or they cannot find the passion to get past their apathy. As a consequence, their vision sits on the shelf until it spoils, or until someone else takes initiative to claim it.
More than two months before Alexander Graham Bell submitted his patent for the telegraph, Elisha Gray had already arrived at the conclusion that voice could be transmitted over a telegraph wire. Why, then, is Elisha Gray anonymous and Alexander Graham a celebrated inventor? Because Gray procrastinated two months before putting his vision on paper. Then, when he finally finished his sketch, Gray delayed another four days before taking it to the patent office. When he finally made up his mind to go, he arrived two hours too late. Bell had already secured the patent, and Gray's idea was worthless.
Sacrifice for the Vision
Visionaries give up to go up. They bypass good to gain at shot at being great. If they fail, at least they go out swinging. Visionaries don't fear failure; they only fear losing out on opportunity.
In an effort to break into the U.S. market, Cirque Du Soleil founder, Guy Laliberte, took his entire troupe from Montreal to Los Angeles. At the time, Cirque was a budding act that was barely breaking even. As legend has it, the circus did not even have gas money to return home if the show flopped. Laliberte had leveraged every resource at his disposal for the opportunity to achieve his vision of striking it rich in the United States. Thankfully for everyone involved, the show was a smash hit. Cirque Du Soleil's success catapulted it forward in terms of recognition on the entertainment scene.
Seek Help for the Vision
Teamwork makes the dream work. If you can achieve your vision by flying solo, then chances are you're not doing anything worthwhile. A big dream requires a talented team in order to take root in reality.
Wilt Chamberlain was one of the most gifted athletes to ever set foot on a basketball court. He holds the NBA record for most points in a game (100), most rebounds in a game (55), and the highest scoring average for a season (50.4 points per game). However, Wilt was so talented that he had trouble meshing with his teammates. At one point, coaches even advised him to shoot less so that other players could be involved. Despite his prodigious abilities, Wilt never won a championship while the star player of his team. However, he did eventually learn to become an unselfish player. As his point totals declined, he became better and better at setting up teammates to score. Well past the prime of his career, Wilt finally won achieved his vision of winning a title. As a role player for the Los Angeles Lakers, he captured two NBA championships. His growth as a teammate made him an invaluable asset even though his athleticism had diminished from its peak.
How did James Cameron direct a movie as incredible as Titanic or Avatar? How is Alicia Keys able to write world-class music in an era when few elite performers pen their own lyrics? How does Pixar keep churning out animated blockbusters?
The answers all involve vision. The best leaders are able to see a vision and then activate it by stepping forward. In addition, they're willing to sacrifice to see the vision come to fruition. Finally, they realize the importance of surrounding themselves and their vision with an incredible team.
See the Vision
Many people don't jumpstart their lives because they don't have anything to jump to! They plod along through life with little more than survival in mind. Visionaries dare to dream. They peer into the future and generate possibilities in their mind's eye.
The legendary sculptor, Michelangelo claimed that as he looked into the stone, "I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free." His imagination had already created his masterpieces before his hands did the work.
Step Toward the Vision
Some people see the vision, but they never step toward it. They cannot seem to summon the courage to overcome their fear, or they cannot find the passion to get past their apathy. As a consequence, their vision sits on the shelf until it spoils, or until someone else takes initiative to claim it.
More than two months before Alexander Graham Bell submitted his patent for the telegraph, Elisha Gray had already arrived at the conclusion that voice could be transmitted over a telegraph wire. Why, then, is Elisha Gray anonymous and Alexander Graham a celebrated inventor? Because Gray procrastinated two months before putting his vision on paper. Then, when he finally finished his sketch, Gray delayed another four days before taking it to the patent office. When he finally made up his mind to go, he arrived two hours too late. Bell had already secured the patent, and Gray's idea was worthless.
Sacrifice for the Vision
Visionaries give up to go up. They bypass good to gain at shot at being great. If they fail, at least they go out swinging. Visionaries don't fear failure; they only fear losing out on opportunity.
In an effort to break into the U.S. market, Cirque Du Soleil founder, Guy Laliberte, took his entire troupe from Montreal to Los Angeles. At the time, Cirque was a budding act that was barely breaking even. As legend has it, the circus did not even have gas money to return home if the show flopped. Laliberte had leveraged every resource at his disposal for the opportunity to achieve his vision of striking it rich in the United States. Thankfully for everyone involved, the show was a smash hit. Cirque Du Soleil's success catapulted it forward in terms of recognition on the entertainment scene.
Seek Help for the Vision
Teamwork makes the dream work. If you can achieve your vision by flying solo, then chances are you're not doing anything worthwhile. A big dream requires a talented team in order to take root in reality.
Wilt Chamberlain was one of the most gifted athletes to ever set foot on a basketball court. He holds the NBA record for most points in a game (100), most rebounds in a game (55), and the highest scoring average for a season (50.4 points per game). However, Wilt was so talented that he had trouble meshing with his teammates. At one point, coaches even advised him to shoot less so that other players could be involved. Despite his prodigious abilities, Wilt never won a championship while the star player of his team. However, he did eventually learn to become an unselfish player. As his point totals declined, he became better and better at setting up teammates to score. Well past the prime of his career, Wilt finally won achieved his vision of winning a title. As a role player for the Los Angeles Lakers, he captured two NBA championships. His growth as a teammate made him an invaluable asset even though his athleticism had diminished from its peak.
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