Changing Organizations for Good
Changing organizations for good is about creating people-centered workplaces — where everyone is motivated by a shared purpose and empowered to make an impact. The Predictive Index captures this idea with the expression, “Better Work, Better World.” For many, work has been a necessary evil, something to be endured. It has filled our lives and, in many ways, shaped our identity. However, it has generally failed to inspire us — and far too often has diminished us.
We need to be clear: As leaders of organizations, we have a choice to perpetuate this situation or to strive to create better places to work. Although striving for more than sustained profitability might seem daunting at first, it must be a priority to create workplaces where everyone is treated fairly and with respect, and where each person can feel satisfied and fulfilled in performing work that matters.
Creating a people-centered workplace
Helping improve people’s lives should be incentive enough. However, there also is a growing body of evidence that shows a people-centered approach to organizational design reaps benefits in performance. Consider the following:
Research shows that companies with highly engaged employees outperform their competitors by 147%. Over a 12-month period, these companies reported a 19.2% growth in operating income.
The MITSloan Culture 500 (2020) found that 11 of the 15 publicly traded Culture Champions outperformed the S&P 500 and saw particularly strong financial performance compared with other companies in their industries. These champions are especially effective at cultivating cultures where employees are free to speak candidly and raise their ideas and concerns without fear of reprisal.
It’s essential that leaders make employee experience their top priority on the path to changing for good. To fuel success, purpose must be the underlying foundation for change.
Ensuring a foundation of purpose
Purpose works at two levels — camaraderie and clarity — to effectively replace the old-style command-and-control that has been widely used to bind an organization together. Purpose creates camaraderie, a strongly held shared intent that points everyone in the right direction and replaces the need for command. Purpose also must create clarity, helping people throughout the organization make the decisions, large and small, that will build shared intent. Purpose, then, becomes the new “control.”
Purpose is not simply about feeling good about our work. In practice, it helps us understand what needs to be done and to translate belonging into action. Driven by purpose and feeling valued at work, people will be better equipped to cope with new challenges and adapt as needed to keep the organization on-mission.
It is important to remember that people do not automatically object to change. What they dislike is not understanding why change is necessary or being forced to enact change that they have not been able to influence. Given the volatility of life today, it is essential that organizations have an appetite and aptitude for change. As leaders, it’s your duty to help employees feel inspired to change.
Changing for good means becoming people-centered, purpose-driven, and change-inspired.
At Fitch Consulting, we will help you create meaningful change, for good. By creating organizational flow (OnFlow™) in your organization, your team will experience heightened creativity, increased performance, and accelerated problem solving. Using OnFlow to diagnose your situation, we can help you transform the way you work and the results you achieve. To learn more, visit Fitch Consulting.