We are ringing in the New Year with a Positive Culture! It’s time for Gratitude over Attitude!
What does having a Positive Culture mean to you? Perhaps it’s a vision of a thriving workplace where business and sales are booming, errors are minimal, and every employee feels content and valued regardless of their position in the pay scale.
While this may seem like a lofty aspiration, it’s important to recognize that perfection is not the hallmark of a Positive Culture. Instead, what does a realistically positive culture entail? Let’s explore.
Partnership
Creating and maintaining a positive culture requires fostering a sense of partnership at all levels, from janitors to CEOs. This is how the Company will keep their collective brand as the most sought-after item in the business world.
Optimistic
Leave pessimism at the door. Remember to treat those who bring challenging news or file complaints respectfully and openly. Their action of conveying difficult information does not diminish their knowledge, skills, experience, or feelings. Individuals bringing a complaint should be treated with fairness, empathy, and an open mind.
Service
Aim to support and assist each other, including internal colleagues, external clients, and the overall business. Keep the other person in mind. Are they expecting your feedback or just confirmation that you have received their message? Does your delay in being able to help them right away make your brand something less than desirable? Communicate any delays by reviewing their needs and determining how long it will take.
Intentional
Actively engage in finding solutions by discussing and brainstorming with others. Be intentional and collaborate as a team to identify the best possible solution for everyone and be open to the possibility that sometimes a solution may not be immediately available.
Trust
Believe in the confidence that others place in your expertise and judgment. Trust that those involved genuinely value and rely on your opinions and professional insights. Similarly, extend your trust to others, recognizing and respecting their unique perspectives and skills.
Initiative
Encourage them to take the initiative to explore and think about alternative solutions, try, and possibly fail. Then, applaud their efforts, whether they were successful or not. We learn and grow as a team, which includes learning from our failures.
Value
Show appreciation for your team. They have dedicated themselves to being observant and proactive in identifying, addressing, or reporting problems. This effort should not be overlooked or dismissed!
Empathy
Foster and nurture empathy throughout the organization, from top-level executives to entry-level employees. Prioritize understanding and considering the perspectives of others. This approach enhances team dynamics and contributes to a more compassionate and supportive work environment.
To ensure these principles stay at the forefront of your thoughts, you can adopt a memorable phrase that encapsulates these key ideas. To generate and maintain a positive culture, we need to create partnership, be optimistic about outcomes, and provide service to one another by being intentional, trusting, and encouraging people to take the initiative to find solutions. This allows us to see the person’s entire value, which brings greater empathy.
It is time for workers to develop and keep a sense of Gratitude over Attitude. Embracing gratitude helps create a more positive workplace environment and fosters better relationships among colleagues. This shift in perspective can lead to increased job satisfaction, collaboration, and a more harmonious work culture.
Truly explore why it is important to the organization, how it affects processes and people throughout the organization, whether it impacts the customer experience positively or negatively, and whether you are being proactive or reactive. If your business is mainly reactive and you spend most of your time putting out fires, you and your team will continue to be stressed, worried, and waiting for the shoe to fall! Cultivate a feeling of gratitude among your workers by listening when they have something to say or show you. If the timing is not right, thank them for their ideas and schedule an appointment to give them your undivided attention. If the employee is concerned, they may forget what they want to tell or show you; encourage them to document or prepare a proposal for your consideration or make notes via text or email for you to review. Doing these simple things at all levels will increase gratitude, discourage negative attitudes, and improve employee retention.
In a thriving workplace, adults engage more fully when they feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for their actions and learning. A positive culture does not eliminate challenges but ensures that no one faces them alone. In this supportive environment, people collaborate, offer encouragement, and work together to understand, evaluate, and agree on suitable solutions. Even in cases where the answer is ‘no,’ the clarity and learning gained contribute to a positive experience. Giving the ‘why’ behind the ‘no’ can positively affect everyone involved. This positive atmosphere enhances job satisfaction and makes your business a top choice for potential job seekers.
Written by: Bethany Gaboury, SHRM-SCP, SPHR, CELS
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