A dynamic environment full of changes can, on the one hand, support innovation, however, on the other hand, it can create an environment of uncertainty, where one cannot develop or build long-term value. Such an environment is volatile and therefore, toxic in its own way...
While business owners should constantly look for new ways to innovate, they should also consider ways to promote greater stability of the company culture to provide employees with a stable long-term horizon so that they are able to work easily. The Open Forum website recently published guidance on how to enhance employee morale and stabilize corporate culture. Here are a few tips on how you can proceed:
1. Think long term and involve the entire senior management team in shaping the overall picture of the mission. Find consensus and create a mission that will be easily communicated from top to bottom. It should also be applied to current goals and objectives. When communicating with employees, take advantage of the mission as the starting point of communication and make sure that your people understand how their role fits into this concept and how their production rate will be measured. Keep communication and control tools ready to ensure that the course of your business stays on track.
2. Do not overdo it with the initiatives. "The market needs it!", "Our people need it!" Do not overdo it with many imaginative programs. If you think that your business, customers, suppliers, and God knows who else need it, focus first on how it fits into the overall mission you set and how much effort this initiative demands from your employees. You cannot afford to detract their attention, time and energy from existing well-functioning processes.
3. Establish a right of veto. One of the worst reasons why businesses face volatility is that every new manager who comes into the company usually gets free rein to change everything in his domain. While employees should be encouraged to make improvements beyond the norm, the overall changes should be more considerate. Each new process or procedure should therefore be properly discussed and then observe the integrated coordination across departments.
4. Avoid actions such as "ball lightning". You may certainly find positives while testing various roles within the company. However, it requires some time to build relationships and team cohesion. Each reorganization means that your people have to build it from the beginning. Structural adjustment should, therefore, not be an annual event, and it is ideal to avoid it completely, if there is not a strategic reason.
5. Stick to the plan, which you have achieved through consensus within company. Once you implement the agreed solutions, do not change the direction, objectives or scope, unless it is absolutely necessary. You will avoid potential opponents, since the original plans were all agreed upon.
Does your company have a rather stable environment or one full of uncertainty? Tell us about your experience.
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