Welcome to part 1 of our 5-part series on healthy workplaces!
A healthy workplace starts with healthy people.
There are several ways to ensure you’re creating the best possible situation for people to thrive. Although it can be challenging, it is worth the investment! Whether you’re on a team or leading a team, you can be the catalyst for developing the right environment for everyone.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the employer to provide a healthy workplace. That’s true. If you’re not the employer and you have ideas about how you want to help improve the workplace, I want to encourage you to speak up and offer to help effect change.
Often assumptions are made about what employees want or need to thrive. The key here is to ask. Once a year there should be a survey or assessment given to the team to gain their perspective. Keeping open lines of communication and engaging others in creating an optimal environment is essential.
When we dig in deeper to the components of organizational health, there are a few key places to start with:
Mission, Vision, and Core Values (Core Principles/Purpose)
Leadership Development (Individual and Team)
Accountability, Motivation & Engagement
Environment
Learning & Team Development
Over the next several weeks we will unpack each of these key areas. Today, we begin by focusing on Mission, Vision, and Core Values as this will be the foundation on which we can build everything else.
> mission, vision, & Core Values defined
DISCLAIMER: If you don’t have a Mission, Vision, and Core Values or some variation like Core Principles, you just identified your top priority or issue within your business. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never get there. Without them, it is not possible to move forward. You can’t move toward a destination when you don’t know where it is! And guess what, no one else can either.
Defining mission, vision, and core values are essential in hiring, retaining, and engaging your team. Do it! The culture of your organization lies in the hands of these 3 key things.
Mission (Your why):
Why does the organization exist? In a short statement, explain the overall goal or impact.
Vision (Where you’re going):
This one’s tricky and often confused with the mission. Vision is about an ideal future for the organization. Where do we want to go by when? How many people will be impacted?
**If you have more than one partner, you’ll need to get together and work through this, otherwise, your team may head out in different directions. Inviting an outside perspective and mediator into the discussion is one way to keep the conversation moving forward.
Core Values (Principles to live by at work):
These are 3-7 words that help to describe key principles and behaviors to exude when in this environment. Hiring, retention, and even termination should revolve around these values. The key here is creating your organization’s definition of these values. You see, these core values will be the basis for every decision that you and your team will make going forward. Hiring, accountability, culture, day-to-day client interactions, and so much more can be filtered through the core values to solidify everyone’s experience.
CREATION TO LAUNCH METHOD
1) Get help
Hire an unbiased, like-minded coach that can walk you through the process. Trying to do this on your own often results in overthinking. This person should be an experienced facilitator and come seeking to help draw out what has been in your mind and in your heart.
2) Schedule
Pre-schedule a date and time to work through this with the coach and your key teammates. Make sure the space is distraction-free and leave enough time for creativity. Best to start with a 2 to 4-hour session and then decide where to go from there.
3) Mindset
Your mindset is key when working through putting your mission, vision, and core values on paper. Whatever helps you to be grounded and focused, do that. For example, if you are a person of faith, begin the session in prayer.
4) Share
Once the first draft of your mission, vision, and core values has been captured, let it sit for at least 24 hours. Then share it with people close to you to receive feedback.
5) Launch
Once you decide to launch it to your team, develop a rollout plan. It will take a communication plan to engage the team and introduce them to the mission, vision, and core values over time so that it sticks, and they can learn how to walk it out.
Someone must take responsibility for ensuring these are living and breathing inside of the organization. They should also be reviewed quarterly by the leadership team to ensure they are well-developed and reflect the heart of the organization or business owner.
> Not sure where to start?
Download our mission, vision, and core values assessment tool to identify where you should put your focus.
> Connect with Kristine
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Our team of coaches and mentors collaborate with individuals, leadership teams, and whole organizations to continuously improve rhythms and techniques of communication and connection that lead to the desired results.
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