It is interesting the types of CEO’s who engage my services to help improve or transform their company cultures. You would expect companies that desperately need help transforming their company cultures would be contacting The People Group or other Best Place to Work consultants, based on overwhelming evidence showing a great workplace equals financial success.
The CEO’s and leaders who engage our services already have good or great workplaces. They simply want to improve on their success. Typically, terrible workplaces get worse while great workplaces get greater.
Workplaces are a reflection of their leaders, both good and bad.
Workplaces are a reflection of their leaders, both good and bad. Since company culture flows down from the top, there is something wrong with the leadership skills causing a terrible workplace. Keep in mind toxic workplaces create the following kinds of employee misery:
- Backbiting
- Distrust
- Political turf wars
- Unproductive conflict
- Bullying
- Higher health care costs, including prescription usage
- Increased workers’ compensation claims
- Employee relations nightmares
- Higher attorney fees to prepare for employment litigation
- Costly turnover
- Negative public perception
The good news? It is never too late to begin that journey to a great workplace. Any organization can become a great workplace with the right CEO at the helm. The new generation of employees will not work in miserable conditions. They observe their parents just tough it out while later experiencing burnout, serious health conditions related to stress, anxiety disorders, etc.
It will not take long for a toxic company in the new workplace to lose their best employees to the competition with great workplaces. We will also see an increase in the free agent mentality to work. Free agents do not want to be “owned” by their employer and will assume the financial risk of up and down contract projects.
