There are warning signs for your work culture and smart leaders will notice and act on them. Otherwise, your business is likely headed for trouble.
Think of it like the gas gauge on your car. Once the needle hits empty, you need to fill up or wait to hear your engine shut down. The outcome is inevitable, if you choose inaction.
Let’s consider four common warning signs for your work culture:
High Turnover
While you can’t blame someone for pursuing opportunities that pay more or provide increased responsibilities, are people leaving for lateral moves? That’s a sign of dissatisfaction and a negative workplace.
Try to find out the reason or reasons why people are leaving. It could be as simple as you don’t pay enough. Or there could be a supervisor, who is not playing well with employees.
During an exit interview you might consider saying, “I respect your decision to leave but let me ask, what would make you want to stay?” You’re not looking to change someone’s mind but uncover the root cause of the problem.
Turf Fights
Another of the warning signs for your work culture is lots of infighting. Whether it’s over recognition or resources, different parts of your organization do not get along.
This can also see people embrace a blame culture, where people are more concerned with not taking the heat for when things go wrong, rather than trying to work toward solutions for problems.
Different parts of organizations will not always agree but can they still respect and support one another?
Mistakes
Has the quality of work fallen? Are otherwise good employees making mistakes that start to impact the bottom line?
This could be a sign of a training gap, an unfair workload, or poor instructions.
All of these issues can be corrected but you’ll have to do some detective work. And often, they will require some sort of investment or change, including taking less important work away.
No Big Picture
Do employees feel like they are at a disposable job or do they have a career at a business that performs an important function in society? Psychologists have long told us that we have a need to belong.
People like to feel their work matters. Sometimes at busy businesses, this higher purpose isn’t infused throughout the organization.
For example, you could say that a car repair shop just “fixes cars.” While that’s true, does it tell the whole story?
What if employees were told, “You work gives people dependable transportation, so they don’t miss out on life’s important moments.”
The job is the same but the meaning is different. Make sure why what they are doing matters in the big picture.
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