For most companies, the human element plays a significant role in the success of their business. When you give the human capital of your organization a secure infrastructure, you change the engagement, efficiency, and effectiveness of your employees. Integrating healthy communication behaviors into the fabric of your business also strengthens the human element and provides a strong base for a comfortable company.
A comfortable company offers a balance between hard work and human values. Comfortable companies have engaged and fulfilled employees who have improved time management, increased focus, and a calmer approach to any situation. Workplace relationships are enhanced, which also benefits customer service. This business framework helps you and your employees make better decisions, keeps the focus on the goals, and reduces the chances of fracturing yourself or your business.
Comfortable companies are already making a presence as organizations try to integrate self, others, technology, and even sustainable issues related to world health into the life and work style. Social responsibility, team-building, mental and physical health are only a few examples of elements for a comfortable company. This new way of life and work also plays out with an increased presence of online work and telecommuting.
Otto Scharmer, in his book Theory U, suggests that there is a critical blind spot in the business world. Fixing this missing link is key to future success. We know something is missing, but can’t quite determine what that something is or how to fix it. The change to a comfortable company may help open the blinders to see another way to do business, but this change might be difficult for people who want the world to stay the same.
If fear of change is a factor, then the first obstacle goes to overcoming the fear. In our instant gratification society, people want a quick fix that helps everyone feel better. In a comfortable company, the stabilizing behavior is integrated more firmly into the structure of the organization. People incorporate behavioral guidelines that keep the underlying fabric of the organization in place, without losing the focus on the work and the success of the company. Employees are not only about the work that they do, but also how they do the work.
5 Activities That Create a Comfortable Company
1. Identify actionable behaviors that you would like for your business to represent.
These actionable behaviors can be represented by target words that keep everyone moving in the same direction with a cohesive focus. Include these behaviors into your mission statement and also in the annual reviews of employees. If you want a friendly company, then support friendly behavior while creating the environment. These behaviors should be actionable. You cannot always be happy, so happy would not be a target word. Terms such as friendly, helpful or efficient are possible words that define the human element of your organization. These words become the framework for how people will be treated, both within and when working with the company. This activity provides stability and builds trust so that people can focus on their job instead of human chaos. This activity works best if upper management is a model of this behavior.
2. Make sure that words and actions match.
Anytime there is a discrepancy between a person’s words and actions there is a fracture within the company. The cohesion of words and actions includes keeping commitments, and maintaining the actionable behaviors you have chosen. If your target words say you are a friendly company, but the actions include people walking around frowning at each other, then this can cause a fracture in the human element. This activity builds trust and maintains authenticity.
3. Make no judgments of good/bad or wrong/right about the people.
Focus on behaviors and solutions. There are fracturing actions that need to be addressed, not bad people. When you concentrate on the action, then you keep the value of your employees intact. “You are wrong,” is a subtly different statement than, “Your behavior or action is not working for this company.” With this shift in the discussion, you offer your employees the chance to change behaviors that bring them in line with the goals of the company without decreasing their value as a member of your organization. This activity increases employee morale and increases efficiency. Addressing behavior is different than judging value.
4. Keep the focus moving forward.
When mistakes are made and challenges arise, don’t spend time talking about the problem or the person. Concentrate on the solutions and the changes that need to be completed to do the work of the company. Comfortable companies keep people moving in forward momentum towards the work goals with defined behaviors that act as a support to the structure of the enterprise. This activity increases productivity and focus.
5. Give clear and concise feedback.
Feeback helps employees know what work they need to complete, when projects are due, and what the final product should look like when it is complete. Project management helps keep everyone on course and keeps the flow of the work moving forward in a cohesive way. This activity increases efficiency and improves communication within the workplace.
When you take the time to establish a comfortable company, you enhance the human capital of your business and create a place where work and life blend to increase the success of your business.