Business Culture Consulting
DO YOU WORK FOR A HAPPY COMPANY?
Studies show that happier, fulfilled employees are more productive and collaborative within their teams, and ultimately result in loyalty and longer tenure for their employer.
What is a BUSINESS CULTURE CONSULTANT (BCC)?
Happiness in the workplace has become a valid concern for both employees and managers alike. Companies need to retain their best people and one of the ways to do that is to create a workplace where employees are happy. This is especially true for workforces comprised largely of millennials. Millennial workers place a great deal of emphasis on being happy at their job and will often leave a financially rewarding job that does not give them a sense of satisfaction and happiness at the end of the day.
Gone are the days when employees wanted nothing more than job security and a steady paycheck. The workplace has evolved significantly—and so have the people within that workplace. According to an article in Forbes Magazine, the three most important qualities workers are looking for are fulfillment, engagement, and empowerment. Of nearly 7,000 employees surveyed, 87% believed a company needed someone to have a full-time position to oversee the well-being of the employees. Almost 70% of those involved in the survey said a work environment should foster happiness on the job.
For a BCC, happiness is the secret ingredient to add to your organization’s success. By monitoring and analyzing the happiness levels in your organization, you will be able to accurately predict and manage employee engagement and production, and as it relates to the company’s goals. This position can also directly impact increasing employee retention thereby saving the company in resources and budget to recruit and onboard new employees.
Primarily originating in North America (Google is a prime example), BCC positions are being created in European and UK companies to ensure workers' welfare needs are met and statistics show how this position has been critical in the long-term success of businesses who incorporate this unique position into their culture. Here is a great article on the importance of having a BCC in your organization: https://www.digitalhrtech.com/chief-happiness-officer/.
Although BCCs may not be as well-known as their colleagues in the C-Level suite, they play an important role in helping an organization achieve its goals.
The primary duties of a BCC include:
• Analyzing the level of happiness in the workplace – this involves interviewing employees to gather their views on current working conditions.
• Working with other executives to develop and implement policies that enable or encourage a happy working environment. For example, he or she can decide that employees be allowed to bring their pets to work, because there are several benefits of having an office pet.
• Developing effective employee benefit programs – This typically involves ensuring the optional, non-wage compensation given to employees is competitive.
• Helping employees to create personal visions that are linked to the organization’s vision.
• Generating creative ideas for boosting employee happiness in the workplace.
• Organizing sessions, conferences and retreats where employees are taught about happiness. The BCC will lead these sessions in conjunction with the management team.
• Participating in the resolution of workplace disputes, ensuring this is done with open hearts and that employee relationships aren’t ruined.
• Overseeing a departmental staff that may include employee development specialists, counselors, psychologists and life coaches.
• Providing guidance and a safe space for employees who may wish to reach out for help, instruction or inspiration.
• Recommending books, blogs and other pieces of literature that employees can read to learn more about happiness.
• Looking for opportunities to promote happiness research, like partnering with a local university to conduct a happiness survey.
The qualities I bring to the role as BCC to your organization are:
• Strong team building skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Be compassionate and emotionally intelligent.
• Excellent people skills.
• Excellent public relation skills.
• A deep sense of cultural awareness.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• The ability to think creatively.
• The ability to motivate and inspire others.
• The willingness to help other people.
• A good business sense, because at the end of the end of the day, happiness initiatives should boost the organization’s business performance.
• Good analytical and decision-making skills.
• Be fun, approachable and likable.
BCC & Management Team Focus
Studies prove that a manager’s behavior has a huge influence on happiness at work. Good leaders motivate and energize their employees and create a level of happiness that encourages employees go the extra mile for the workplace and the customers. Bad managers on the other hand spread frustration and stress all around them. It’s important for leaders themselves to be happy at work. Unhappy managers make their employees miserable, have a harder time reaching their goals and are more likely to be stressed and eventually burnout.
Part of my duties as BCC will be to give both managers and leaders the knowledge and tools they need to help make their people happy at work; and it doesn’t take much. Happiness at work is not about raises, bonuses, perks and promotions – it comes from simple, effective actions that any leader should know and do. Here are a few examples of strategies I will incorporate as BCC to build stronger and happier managers:
1. Treat every person as a human being who matters
It sounds like the obvious thing to do but negative treatment is one of the biggest turnover drivers. Employees deserve to be treated like customers in terms of respect, words, actions and promises. Recent studies point out that only 44% of employees say that they feel valued by their employer. Respect is an essential component of a healthy work relationship.
2. Ensure the basics
If the basic needs of an employee are not met, there is no point in offering them a corner office with a view. Before you set out to make them happy, reward their work with a good salary and no unnecessary administrative struggles. Simply giving positive reinforcement and letting them know they are valued can go much further than a Starbucks gift card or a bonus.
3. Give your team a voice
All individuals working for your company need to be heard. For that, they need proper channels, guidelines and an action path that ensures a response to their needs and ideas. Whether it’s a follow-up call or email after a meeting or constructive feedback on their work, they need to know that someone is listening to them.
4. Make sure your company values are demonstrated regularly
Almost every article or report on employee engagement will tell you that values are important. They are the foundation on which your company is built and they bind together your external image (your brand) with your internal one (your culture). Whenever you have a decision to make, a conflict to solve or a need to innovate, your starting ground should be those company values. It’s not enough to have them on a piece of paper. You have to state them and constantly re-state them, put them into actionable behaviors and ensure that people demonstrate those values. For that to happen, you need to recruit people based on those values, evaluate them accordingly and then reward their positive results.
5. Offer them freedom
Take it from Laszlo Bock, senior vice president of people operations at Google: “If you give people freedom, they will amaze you.” Offer your team the freedom to manage their time and productivity, the freedom to personalize their working space and the freedom to implement their own ideas. Step back and see what changes start to take shape both structurally and energetically based on these foundational freedoms.
6. Support their growth
Sometimes people need someone to believe that they can grow. As a manager, you can be that person at any stage in their work experience by pushing them to build on their strengths and take more opportunities. Create and promote growth opportunities to cultivate the talent you’ve recruited and have invested time and energy in developing.
7. Encourage an enjoyable work environment
I don’t use the word fun because it tends to mislead people into believing that it’s all about ping-pong and two-hour breaks. Instead I’m talking about the joy in having a substantive conversation with a colleague or learning something new about them. (Of course, an occasional game of darts can help re-energize you and your team as well!) It’s important that people relax from time to time, but that doesn’t mean they are not productive. It goes back to the previous point, give them freedom and trust them to use it wisely.
8. Encourage effective teamwork
How teams perform is a clear indicator of how a company is performing overall. You might have recruited the best people but you need to have them work together to attain results. Very few people are naturally prone to perform well in teams, so as a manager, we will work collaboratively to find the pieces of the puzzle that do take positive steps forward and instill a culture of joyful teamwork where everyone feels supported and rewarded.
While having a Business Culture Consultant might not be a necessity for every company, research shows the more engaged and happy an employee is, the greater a company’s productivity. At the end of the day, a Business Culture Consultant will not only keep the employees happy—the BCC will also keep the company happy.
I would be honored to speak with you about how I can bring this role to you and your organization. Please contact me at 720-833-8908 or by email at gregg.joyfulliving@gmail.com.