Companies focused on growth know that changing times require they dig in and have new conversations.
Conversations in the workplace around how to improve culture have started to shift in the last decade- much of those discussions began when the millennials entered the workforce and disrupted the concept of job loyalty.
Suddenly we had a generation moving from job to job and organizations everywhere were scrambling to find the secret sauce that would make them stay.
Fairly quickly you started to see big workplaces offering incredible amenities to their staff. Some might say we fed directly into the millennial stereotype of entitlement by giving them pool tables, beer taps, and free lunch. But companies who felt the staffing pinch were willing to try just about anything to solve that pain.
Flash forward a decade and the conversations are changing again because research has shown us that amenities don’t build engagement or loyalty.
In a 2019 study completed by TinyPULSE it was discovered that 43% of employees would leave their companies for a 10% pay increase– and the part I find most important for us to pay attention to “weak company cultures are to blame”.
In fact, only one third of participants stated that they work somewhere with a strong company culture. (Tinypulse,2019)
More than ever the concept of stepping back is crucial. Rushing for a solution just creates a band-aid that will hurt when it’s ripped off. Right now, the band-aid known as amenities has been ripped off and we see that it was not a viable solution for building a strong culture or employee loyalty.
At Stepback Leadership consulting we like to use a SBOT analysis to help us assess where we are now and to start to identify where we might want to go.
In this analysis we identify our Strengths, Baggage, Opportunities, and Threats.
Step1: It’s important to assess your strengths first and take the time to honor what you do really well in building culture. Knowing these things can help ensure you do more of them.
Step 2: Next you have to dive into your baggage. What are you carrying around that is limiting you from the strong culture you desire? What is getting in your way of building employee loyalty?
Step 3: This is where we can dive in and imagine what the opportunity looks like if we decide to build a stronger culture. This is the dreaming bucket that can feel really fun to explore.
Step 4: It could be harmful to your bigger vison if you ignore the fact that there might be real threats in front of you. Stepping back to examine those threats allows us to prepare for them.
In the last decade we’ve learned that amenities don’t make us more loyal to our jobs or our leaders.None of the amenities made work feel more fulfilling. They tapped into convenience but not into our emotional needs.
What does a SBOT analysis reveal about your companies culture? And how can you leverage what you learn from stepping back to move forward?
What conversations does your team need to have next?
Stefanie Jackson is a collaborating team member with Jason Barger and Step Back Leadership Consulting. She is an entrepreneur, generational researcher with a passion for developing multi-generational leaders, loving mom and wife, and has a deep commitment to growing a thriving workforce.
TinyPulse. “The 2019 Employee Engagement Report.” The end of employee loyalty, TinyPulse, 2019, https://www.tinypulse.com/hubfs/EE%20Report%202019.pdf
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