Over the years we have seen businesses and teams struggle to reach their potential and achieve the results we know are possible. There can be many reasons for this but one that can have a real detrimental effect on performance. This is when there is a culture where actions are not closed on time, where tasks are not executed and where everyone leaves the decision up to "someone else"
There are many problems associated with this type of culture including:
Poor decision making and implementation, as employees avoid taking responsibility, expressing their ideas, or challenging the way things are done.
Reduced trust and morale of employees, customers, and stakeholders, as they perceive the organisation as indifferent, incompetent, or dishonest.
Creating a vicious cycle of inertia and resistance to change, as people become accustomed to "the way it always has been done" and fear the consequences of taking action.
Diminishing the innovation and competitiveness of the organisation, as it misses out on opportunities to improve its products, services, or processes.
Culture change can be slow but, with the right approach, leaders can implement systems to change behaviours in the organisation. Business Improvement models such as Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellence leverage best practices to create the environment where employees are empowered to take actions and are recognised for innovation.
Leaders can adopt these best-practices to ensure there is a culture of action and execution within their teams. Some ways they can do this include:
1. Setting clear expectations and getting agreement on the desired outcomes and how they will be measured.
2. Provide support, coaching, mentoring and resources to help employees achieve their goals and overcome challenges.
3. Engaging employees in the plan and showing them how their contributions align with the company’s organisational goals and objectives
4. Empowering employees through communication and feedback, and recognising their achievements. Daily huddles and the Tiered Visual Management meetings within the OpEx structure can help accelerate and improve communication.
5. Fostering trust and transparency by sharing information, admitting mistakes, and addressing issues with root cause analysis.
6. Developing a psychologically safe environment where employees feel safe to speak up, challenge the status quo and feel supported in making changes.
Inactivity and a lack of task execution can cause havoc on organisational performance and can drastically slow the progress of change toward Operational Excellence. The benefits of culture change in this respect will help a team in many ways. Some of these benefits include:
A higher level of performance and organisational growth, as employees deliver on their goals and objectives more effectively.
Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty, as employees meet and exceed customer expectations and provide consistent quality and service.
Allowing leaders to identify the areas where their team needs the most work and provide feedback and coaching to help them improve.
It fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment among employees, as they are engaged in the plan and understand how their work contributes to the company’s goals and objectives.
It builds trust and transparency within the team, as leaders share information, data, admit mistakes, and address issues in a structured way, so that the risk of reoccurrence is minimal.
Creating your High Performance culture starts at the top of the organisation with leadership behaviours.
WD Excellence have worked with many teams to implemented systems where stuff gets done. Please feel free to get in touch with us if you feel we can offer any support to you or your team .
