Gut + Science - Real Talk With Ceos On Culture, Data, And Decision-making

Truth You Can Act On: Don’t Confuse Engagement with Satisfaction: Employee engagement and employee satisfaction are not the same. Ensure that you understand the difference to get an accurate read on engagement levels of your leaders and team members. You must learn to measure the right things. Lend Your Ear(s): One of the simplest ways to gain buy-in from an employee is to listen. Be as intentional as possible in developing your listening skills as a leader. Practice less talking and do more listening this week. Embrace Challenges: One of the keys to engagement is whether or not an employee feels challenged in their work, to have a position where they’re growing. Equip your managers to have real conversations with team members to understand the level of challenge they are feeling with the work they are doing. Reassess Your Cultural Norms: Culture is a collection of behavioral practices of the organization, both stated and unstated. Are there unintentional harmful norms that are happening in your organization

Truth You Can Act On: Behaviors Equal Culture: Your business’ mission statement and core values don’t create culture - you must put these ideas into practice. Promote an engaged workplace by hiring individuals that believe in the mission of your business and provide tangible steps for how they can live it from day one. Enforce with Principles: Enforcing strict rules based solely on compliance limits the creativity and overall impact of your employees. Strive to empower your workplace by teaching guidelines, expectations, and principles of commitment that allow individualistic solutions to breed. Know Why You Exist: A connected culture must be one that contains commonality and shared interests. Constantly revisit the “why” of your business, and share it often to rally your employees around the challenging mission you are trying to accomplish. Own Your Culture: Top organizational leaders own company culture. When they set an example, the rest of the workforce will follow suit. Foster deep pride and ownership f

Truth You Can Act On: Be A Players’ Coach: For your employees to want to better themselves, they have to be empowered to learn about their role, their business, and their industry. Instill this desire for personal development by emphasizing the importance of continuing education, every single day. Set The Tone: We all know that meetings are a necessity, but they often last too long and become unfocused. Try forming shorter, more frequent informal sessions to complement your weekly updates. These various tones of conversations will promote greater productivity and accountability. Make Yourself Great(er): As a leader in your business, your walk is just as important as your talk. Are you a living example of the culture you want to create? Don’t let your title stand as your lone credibility. Whether it be hiring a business coach, reading books, or soliciting feedback, put the energy into furthering your abilities as a leader. Foster The Big Picture: Feeling connected - It’s the basic need of every human, and it

Truth You Can Act On: Utilize Expert Advice: Keep an employment law advisor nearby. Use this individual routinely as a sounding board to make sure you have timely and trusted feedback to guide your HR practices. Create HR Superstars: Think about your training practices regarding harassment, discrimination, and diversity. Are they up-to-date? Are trainings happening with enough frequency? Review your current cadence to ensure that everyone remains compliant and empowered to build your culture. Full Shownotes: https://gutplusscience.com/david-swider/ Sponsors: Titus - in their conversations with CEOs and hiring managers, they hear frustration with traditional recruiting. From outrageous fees to focusing on candidates before clients, the process was broken and needed to be fixed. Enter Titus Talent. Titus Talent Strategies serves its clients using passionate people, a proven process, and unparalleled performance. Emplify – Are you still using pulse surveys? How about annual questionnaires? If your organizat

Truth You Can Act On: Foster Organizational “Beta” Mode: Far too often, employees fall into the trap of saying, “that’s how it’s always been done.” Each individual brings unique insights and dynamics to your business - inspire them to think outside the box in the name of improving and advancing your organization. It’s Not All About Money: Rewarding great work with additional compensation and bonuses never hurts, but don’t get caught up in thinking that more money equals a more engaged workforce. Find out what incentives hit home with each employee - flexible schedule, time-off, career advancement - to help foster their work/life balance. Get Everyone on The Same Page: Yes, it’s expensive to continuously train employees. It’s even more costly to hire new ones. Foster emotional ownership from your staff to your business by investing in their success. Don’t simply make employees aware of best practices - encourage dialogue and feedback as a catalyst to develop better systems. Mind The Generational Gap: In our f

Truth You Can Act On: Leaders Must Be Involved: It’s not as simple as developing employees by only asking your team how they are doing. As leaders, you need to engage in development alongside your people. Trust Is Huge: In order to have a team that is going to gel, absorb, and take on the training and development that you’re bringing to them, trust has to be established. If trust isn’t there, it won’t stick. The key to developing trust: bring your own vulnerability to the team. Dealing With Difficult People: You have to understand and be aware of what personally pushes your buttons in addition to what actions act as triggers. It could often be our own doing for fostering a troublesome people dynamic. Don’t take others’ comments personally - investigate why these situations are so challenging for you. Don’t Pigeonhole Your Employees: Don’t get into the habit of assuming that past performance will always perfectly predict the future. There is always the opportunity for individuals to change and grow and perfor

Truth You Can Act On: Shine: First impressions make incredible impacts. Continued impressions create expectations. What does your physical work environment say about your culture? Set a high priority on fostering a clean and inspiring environment to demonstrate the value of your employees. Smile: Turnover is high in many industries, including healthcare. Don’t overlook or undervalue the basic need of all employees: to feel welcomed and appreciated. A warm greeting manifests a winning culture of people-first. Start Strong: Start each and every day out strongly. Promote the importance of employees arriving and starting their tasks on time. Start every meeting exactly when scheduled. These daily acknowledgments of respect fuel a culture of success. Swagger: A confident employee shouldn’t be a random anomaly. Confidence stems from a deep understanding of not only internal products but also dynamics within your industry. Strive for swagger by providing your employees with tools to be informed and engaged. Show Of

Truth You Can Act On: Showcase Your Company As A Career: If you treat your employees as expendable commodities, they will treat your business in a similar fashion. Consider hiring a dedicated onboarding coordinator to set the tone early for employees: they are valuable to your business, so much that you will invest in their career long-term. Play The Numbers Game: Experience breeds a trust in “going with your gut,” but don’t make all crucial decisions based on feel. Modern technology is capable of producing a plethora of data and analytics. Embrace these tools to make more informed decisions that will benefit your sustained growth and mitigate risk. Don’t Overlook Onboarding: You’ve succeeded in hiring a new employee, but the real work hasn’t even begun. A stale, uninteresting, and disengaged onboarding process will turn away even the best hires. Strive to empower a culture of positive vulnerability, allowing new hires to express their feelings quickly and accurately. Integrate Creative Communication: It’s t

Truth You Can Act On: Invest Individuals in Team Results: If your employees don’t understand why their individual contributions matter, they won’t buy into the overall goals of your business. By educating your staff on your business’ dollars and cents, you’ll increase accountability and personal ownership. Factor in Likability: It’s a simple truth in personal circles: most people associate with people they like. This also bodes true in the sales world - most people prefer to buy from people they like. Don’t get overly caught up in developing the hard skills of your employees. Empowering their likability will reap great dividends. Instigate Proactive Conversations: Don’t wait to call meetings together until there is a cultural crisis. Find out what your employees need help with - today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc. By knowing what pain points are holding back your employees, you can find the best solutions for fostering success. Connect with Stories: All employees are human beings. Establish a cultur

Truth You Can Act On: Drive Engagement By Connecting: When sending out surveys, talk to your employees first to get their input on what questions regarding engagement matter the most. Set aside time each week and commit to organic conversations with staff - innovation cannot exist without an engaged workforce. Establish Core Values: If your employees all aren’t on the same page, consistent results will become impossible. Engagement stems from being aware of expectations and having the tools to deliver upon those goals. Let Transparency Be Your Friend: It’s challenging to convince workers to invest in short-term goals when the big picture of what success looks like hasn’t been conveyed. Be as transparent as possible during meetings and trainings to foster a smarter workforce and increase buy-in from employees. Mind the Accountability Gap: A disengaged manager can be just as destructive to your company culture as a micro-manager. Consistently assess the proper balance between employee accountability and freedo

Truth You Can Act On: Happy Employees Create Happy Customers: It’s crucial to maintain emotional ownership from employees regarding what your company is trying to accomplish. Providing the freedom for staff to make decisions empowers their happiness and fuels sustainable growth and success. Rely on Employee Referrals When Hiring: Your employees are your best gauge as to whether or not new potential hires will properly fit the culture of your business. It’s incredibly expensive to lose new hires quickly - save time and money by relying on your strongest brand advocates to guide the process of adding staff. Dynamic Company Culture Must Adapt: The needs and wants of staff are ever-changing. Develop a diverse array of creative benefits, providing constant opportunities for enhancing communication, fostering mentorship, and developing professional skills. Above all, actively listen to your employees and stay connected. Set Your Priorities: Don’t do yourself a disservice by searching for new employees purely based

Truth You Can Act On: Do Less, Better: Find the right training programs for the right people, and don’t focus on a mass quantity of programs. Are managers and leaders reinforcing the trained behaviors once everyone gets back to the job? Emphasize better work, not more work. Contextualize to Foster Engagement: Engagement is critical for a business to thrive - more specifically, employees need to know the context of how their learning ties into their day-to-day roles. You don’t have to provide entertainment or “bells and whistles” to foster emotional ownership within your business. Leaders Need Regular Interaction: The best leaders are the ones creating opportunities to learn from employees regarding their daily routines and pain points. These “in between the meetings” conversations are the basis for creating better top-level coaches and a more engaged workforce. Provide Opportunities for Deep-Thinking: Don’t just take employees off site to entertain them. It’s all about creating an environment for employees t

Truth You Can Act On: Feedback: The ability to give useful feedback is a skill all leaders need to learn and master. Sometimes those critical conversations aren’t the easiest to have, but with practice, you’ll be able to have them more comfortably. It’s not always fun, but it’s what ultimately leads to growth. Personal Board of Directors: Mentoring is not about one relationship; it’s multifaceted. It’s all based on the many different leadership skills you’re looking to develop. The key is having multiple mentors who serve as your board of directors for all areas you desire to grow in. Leader Participation: If we want to see engagement being driven throughout the organization by mentoring, we as leaders need to be mentors as well as mentees. We need to be sharing our experiences. If we’re looking for our employees to become more savvy in personal and professional development then we need to share with them the resources we used. It’s the same thing with mentoring. We need to share our participation, share our

Truth You Can Act On: Recognition or reward is best with a personal touch from the leader. When quality work is recognized by a leader, employees feel more validated and cared about. Make it a priority to schedule time for personally rewarding your employees. Simple acts of recognition and small unexpected rewards are surefire ways of boosting engagement. Innovation comes from listening. The best way to come up with creative ideas for increasing employee satisfaction and loyalty is by listening. Ask your employees questions, show genuine interest in their needs, and listen to what they have to say. Do this on a regular basis and you’re guaranteed to get some great ideas. Strict on-boarding predicts future sustainability. During the onboarding process, set clear guidelines for the type of person you’re looking to hire. Make it clear that your company is a serious place to work and that you’re looking for the best. The extra effort required to find the right person will always be worth it in the long run. The

Truth You Can Act On: Leadership Development. Make sure your leadership is aligned. If there is one thing that hinders growth, it’s having leaders who are not on the same page. Cultural alignment and clarity are essential throughout every tier of your company - from the executive team to middle management. Also, don’t forget to invest in your team’s professional development. You are only as strong as your top leadership. Recognition Programs. Create a recognition program that ties back into your company’s mission. Make it meaningful - something that your employees are proud to participate in. It can’t be an afterthought. Make it a focal part of your company culture. This means creating a system with a frequent (and mandatory) cadence. Diversity. There are two keys to attracting a diverse workforce. The first is creating a company culture that gives off a diverse vibe. You should be able to walk into your office and just feel it. The second key is going out and developing partnerships with entities connected

Truth You Can Act On: Don’t Assume. Go and have the conversation to help you understand how your employees feel about your company. Seek first to understand then promptly respond. It’s easy to assume everyone is engaged when there are no apparent conflicts. Avoid this mistake by asking questions, seeking out conversations, and continually identifying opportunities for improvement. Leverage Personal Touch. Go beyond using technology to engage with your team. The workforce is becoming more and more remote which means adding personal touches is even more critical. Technology is necessary but never underestimate the power of face-to-face interaction. As leaders, we need to seek out opportunities to connect personally. Solicit Feedback. Asking for feedback should be done regularly not just annually. By surveying and asking for feedback, you can improve your culture. Employees notice when their feedback gets implemented. You can’t improve anything if you’re not sure what’s wrong. Innovate with Your Team. Seek out

Truth You Can Act On: Regular Communication: Having the one-on-one cadence is great but tailor it to what that specific person needs. For some it might be every week for others it could be every other. Then keep track of what you discuss with your team through a shared document. This document keeps you both on track with development and communication. Be a Role Model: Share your personal development journey with your team. The more they see you taking action, the more inspired they will be to take action on their own. Show Weakness: Many leaders don’t do this for fear of losing their employees respect. In reality, showing this vulnerability elicits more respect and buy-in. When you show you’re human, you become more relatable as a leader generating a deeper level of understanding. Write Notes: Acknowledge the wins either through a shared channel or take the time to write handwritten notes to your employees. Recognizing the effort and the outcome they created develops a layer of trust and appreciation between

Truth You Can Act On: Define Your Culture: Values create your culture code. These should be established as a company rather than dictated. The company values also drive decision making whether it's a question of hiring or letting go.  Challenge your people: When having tough conversations, it’s essential to talk facts not opinions. To eliminate the rumor mill or gossip, empower your people to have tough conversations. These shouldn’t be arguments rather frank discussions helping to make each other better. Learn from Others: Take the time to meet and engage with others outside your organization. When you spend time networking and meeting with peers one-on-one, you gain new perspectives and opportunities to learn. Full Shownotes:  https://gutplusscience.com/jonathan-reynolds/ Book Recommendation: Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't by Simon Sinek Sponsors: Emplify - Are you still using pulse surveys? How about annual questionnaires? If your organization relies on either of th

Truth You Can Act On: Dedicated open space: Your office space and make an impact on your employee’s engagement. Find and dedicate a space in your organization that can foster and allow for your employees to naturally build relationships. This space can be a place for community and enabling access to one another. Challenge your people: One of the most rewarding things a leader can do is see their employees grow. Carve out time for one-on-one coaching and working with your people to develop them personally and professionally. Get real feedback, regularly: Find the best tools for your organization to allow you to gain the truth. Then leverage that feedback to make organizational changes. Feedback is important as you continue to grow as a leader, but also for your team to know you’re listening, you care, and you are constantly improving. The feedback net can go beyond your employees rather cast a wider net to gain a broader perspective. Full Shownotes: http://gutplusscience.com/mary-beth-oakes Book Recommenda

Truth You Can Act On: Know people’s motivation: We can't treat all of our people the same. Everyone's motivated in different ways and we have to know what's there why. We have to spend time listening and understanding how your employees are motivated. Employees first: Customer service should be a top priority but it can’t take precedence over your employees. When you help your employees win they’ll walk through fire for you and your customers. Build on their strengths: Always look for the good in people and acknowledge what they’re doing well. You can build loyalty by leading with positivity. When we have a strong relationship with people they stop expecting you to be perfect and start focusing on how they can help bring the company’s vision to life. Full Shownotes: http://gutplusscience.com/tom-zupancic Book recommendation: Dream Manager by Matthew Kelley Sponsors: LHD Benefits - LHD is a full-service employee benefits firm, that empowers their clients to make the best possible decisions for their emp