1. How would you describe Marisa’s Keegan’s approach to building a successful or
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1. How would you describe Marisa’s Keegan’s approach to building a successful organizational culture?
MARISA KEEGAN, CEO, Culture Fanatics OB in the Real World arisa Keegan is team focused on building culture and engagement by giv the author of the ing employees a voice. Besides holding one-on-one off-site book Culture: More meetings with employees, encouraging active participation Than Jeans and in every department, and attending all company functions, Margarita Machines tey were huge advocates of the employee engagement She has worked in c urveys that went out twice a year, encouraging everyone ture and employee engagement roles for two nationally recog to participate and answer honestly "It's not the survey that's important, though. It's that you do something with the information. At Rackspace we deliv nized "Great Places to ered the high-level results and feedback to the entire com- Work," founded the pany in an all-hands meeting. Then we broke up by networking group departments and delivered segmented feedback, including Culture Fanatics, and is how effective the manager was at keeping engagement lev- a blogger, speaker, and els high. Employees were encouraged to help us come up with solutions to challenges in areas where their group was "The leaders in the best places to work in the country scoring low. Then managers received one-on-one coaching wake up every single morning with one thing in mind: their to learn how to continue to assess engagement throughout consultant on all things culture and engagement. people. But they don't only think about their people in terms of the generic buckets of productivity, management skills, or ways to get them to work longer and harder. They think about their people as the most important resource they have when it comes to understanding the obstacles the company is facing. They acknowledge that their front line employees often know more about the company's suc- cesses and failures than the people at the top because they're the ones interacting with the customers. the next six months. "This process goes one step deeper. When you ask employees for feedback you'd better be ready to make some changes based on that feedback or employees are going to lose faith and soon enough they'll stop telling you their pain points. At Rackspace, the last question on every engagement survey was, "Have you seen changes based the feedback you gave during your last engagement survey?" Every time received the survey feedback the first thingIwanted to know was the results for this question. In "Too many leaders say, 'If I keep my employees happy my customers will be happy and try to back that statement my eyes, this is the one that matters the most." up by throwing a company party or putting beer in the fridge. They're missing the point. Keeping employees happy ritical-Thinking Questions is about giving them a voice, seeking out their feedback and frustrations, and acting on that feedback. The leaders inside companies that have nailed culture seek employee feedback and work every day to do something positive with it. 1. How would you describe Marisa's Keegan's approach to building a successful organizational culture? 2. What would your ideal workplace culture be like? SOURCE: Guest written by Marisa Keegan, author of Culture: More "When I was the Culture Maven at Rackspace, a nation ally recognized 'Best Place to Work,' the senior leadership Tan Jeans and Margarita MachinesExplanation / Answer
1. Marisa Kegan places a good weightage on the employee from the organisation perspective. This does not limit to the usual employee engagement stuffs, but more from a holistic point of view. The feedback received from the employee surveys are of paramount importance as taking action on the feedback gives the employee the confidence that theirs concerns and challenges are being addressed. Thus only when an employee feels valued in the organisation, can a sense of ownership over the various activities prevail. And thus, only under these circumstances can the satisfied employee take care of the responsibility that they have been handed over. Since the employees are the ones who are more likely to interact with the end customers, they will have the best view of what is required from the organisation to be more successful. To sum it up, organisation belongingness can boost the employee morale which in turn leads to a better workplace.
2. My ideal workplace culture would be similar to what Marisa Keegan has proposed. Not only would feedback be sought and acted upon, but there should also be a culture of nurture where proper training and development scope is provided to the employees. The entire system should be more transparent and that the policies should be well laid out. Approachability of the senior management is another area which can go a long way to improve the work culture of the organisation.
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