Jennifer McClure`

Empowering Organizations and People Leaders to thrive in the ever-evolving world of work

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Written by Jennifer McClure

How to Create a Company Culture That Attracts and Retains Top Talent: 4 Essential Elements

Quick request: Think about the company you’ve either loved or hated working at the most in your career…

If you had to describe your experience working at the company in just one word, what would that word be?

I’m going to make a confident bet that the first word that came to mind for you is related to the company’s culture.

Whether your word is something like caring, fun, challenging – or stressful, discouraging, difficult – your one-word assessment is a direct reflection of how YOU experienced the company’s culture.

Does this mean that your experience is the same as others who have worked for the organization? Not necessarily.

While one person may find an environment that’s fast paced and low rules to be energizing, another person who enjoys working in an environment that’s more laid back and structured may find that same environment to be extremely stressful.

Does that mean that something’s wrong with a company’s culture, because one person finds it to be a place where they’re very satisfied, while another is unhappy?

Nope.

What exactly is company culture?

The Great Place To Work® Institute defines company culture as follows:

Company culture is how you do what you do in the workplace. It’s the sum of your formal and informal systems and behaviors and values, all of which create an experience for your employees and customers.

At its core, company culture is how things get done around the workplace. “How” includes both the formal systems, and the informal behaviors.

What makes a company culture “successful”?

1. Established Values That Are Visibly in Action

The foundation of a successful company culture is a clear set of values. These values must be clearly understood and communicated, and the company’s leadership must be supported — as well as rewarded — for “walking the talk” and enforcing those values with their teams.

A great example of this is Hubspot, which clearly articulates who they aspire to be as a company on their website:

We’re building a culture where personal and professional growth are just as important as business growth. That’s why we created the HubSpot Culture Code. It shares our key values, like HEART — humble, empathetic, adaptable, remarkable, and transparent — and much more.

In their 128 page Culture Code slide deck, Hubspot states:

“We don’t just believe in these values, WE BET ON THEM. We recruit, reward and release people based on these values.”

The company also reinforces their values with THE HEART AWARDS, which are awarded to those who live those values every day and make others proud to work at HubSpot.

2. Awareness and Authentic Communication

How well a company understands their culture and communicates about it honestly and visibly is a key factor in both their leaders making good hiring decisions, and in prospective employees being able to determine if a workplace is one where they can thrive – or one that they should avoid like the plague.

For example, before starting my own business, I worked in three different HR leadership roles in start-up, high growth, and turnaround environments.

How would I describe those experiences? Fun. Challenging. Stressful.

And I loved almost every minute of it. Without consciously thinking about it at the time, I can now see that I was drawn to opportunities where the challenges were growth, change, and overcoming resistance.

However, in those same environments where I thrived, others were miserable. For some of my colleagues, consistent change, dealing with unknowns, and constant pressure to solve big problems was overwhelming – not energizing.

I learned that when it came to recruiting and hiring for each of those companies, it was critically important that we understood the work experience that we were offering to current and future employees and communicated those challenges/opportunities in our employment branding efforts, as well as during the interview process.

As my friend Kris Dunn, SVP of Global Talent Acquisition at Marriott International and author of The 9 Faces of HR: A Disruptor’s Guide to Mastering Innovation and Driving Real Change says in one of his classic DisruptHR Talks from a few years ago – Who To Hire When Your Culture Sucks:

“If you have a freak show, go ahead and tell the world you’re a freak show. You’ll actually get better matches, and people will think you’re authentic.”  

Whether your company is a loveable “freak show” where only the strong survive, or it’s a Zen garden where the brightest minds blossom in tranquility — or somewhere in between — the most important thing is that you call it what it is. Because if you don’t, you’ll be called out by others who found out too late, and that can prevent you from being able to attract (and retain) the great talent that is truly a match for your culture.

3. Consistent Evaluation and Evolution

While it’s important for companies to have founding principles that establish and drive culture initially, the reality is that in our constantly changing world, company cultures must evolve and change as well.

To evaluate your company’s culture, I’d suggest at least a semi-annual review of employee satisfaction surveys, as well as customer feedback to understand how your culture is performing.

If feedback and results are positive, then no change may be necessary. But even when feedback is positive regarding the current state, maybe there are challenges ahead within your industry, or with the environment (workforce trends, economic shifts, societal norms, etc.) that will require removing, changing, or adding new values to create and sustain an environment that supports the company’s goals.

Companies that aren’t consistently doing a “culture check” may find themselves in a situation similar to the one faced in recent years by Uber.

Of course, Uber is known for completely disrupting an industry, and consistently having to overcome extreme resistance to change the way we think about transportation. When the company was founded, their original values included Meritocracy, Toe-stepping, Superpumped, and Always Be Hustlin’.

However, as the business matured, and the internal and external work environments evolved, this type of culture no longer served them well, and that led the company to near catastrophic failure. After several negative events involving both employees and customers, the company was forced to make significant changes in both their leadership, and their values, in order to survive.

4. Culture Is Not One Size Fits All

The importance of company culture, and what it is/what it isn’t doesn’t have to continue being debated. We all know it’s important, and every company is different. The path to success is not in trying to make your culture like another company’s, but to determine the values that you want to infuse into your own workplace, to communicate and re-enforce those values, and to be willing to change them as needed to meet the needs of our employees and customers.

The world — and the world of work — has dramatically changed over the last few years and will continue to change at a faster pace than ever before.

As a leader, one of your most important responsibilities is to ensure that your organization can attract and retain the RIGHT PEOPLE who not only have the skills necessary to do the work, but also are aligned with how the work is expected to be done (your company’s culture.)

_______________________________________________

As a keynote speaker and leadership coach, Jennifer McClure helps leaders to embrace the future of work, and to develop the skills necessary to lead their organizations and the people on their teams to take bold actions that positively impact business results.

Want more leadership and future of work insights from me?

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Categories: Blog, Company Culture, Employee Engagement
Posted on September 26, 2023

Written by Jennifer McClure

Transformative HR Leadership: Embracing Disruption and Shaping the Future of Work

On episode 85 of the Impact Makers podcast, I’m sharing a conversation with you that I had recently with Shari Simpson – Senior Manager of Thought Leadership at Paylocity – on the HR Mixtape podcast, which she hosts.

I asked Shari if I could also share the conversation with the Impact Makers community, because I thought she asked some great questions about the challenges and opportunities that HR leaders are facing in a world where work and employee expectations have changed forever.

We discussed how technology and artificial intelligence impacts HR, as well as how HR can lead in the future of work in the areas of attracting and retaining talent, redefining employee engagement, and connecting employees with meaning and purpose in their work. We also touched on how HR leaders can build their influence, and make a significant impact in their organizations as well as the broader HR community.

I’ve linked to the episode of the HR Mixtape podcast where this conversation originally appeared below. I encourage you to connect with Shari, and to follow or subscribe to the HR Mixtape podcast so you can listen to more thought-provoking interviews, compliance tips, coffee chats, and the latest HR-related news.

Topics Discussed In Today’s Episode:

  • Current and future challenges confronting HR leaders.
  • The crucial role of HR in adopting technology impacting the workplace.
  • The influence of consumer experience on employee satisfaction and competitiveness in the labor market.
  • Defining employee engagement and strategies for positive impact.
  • The significance of a learner’s mindset for HR leaders and methods to gain beneficial insights.
  • Guidance for HR leaders on enhancing their influence and contributing to meaningful conversations in their profession, company, and industry.

LISTEN TO IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 85

Listen on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts or Spotify

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Shari Simpson – LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram

HR Mixtape Podcast

HR Mixtape Podcast — HR Evolved: Navigating Challenges and Embracing the Future with Jennifer McClure

PCTY Talks Podcast — Creating Your Personal HR Brand with Jennifer McClure

Re:Thinking with Adam Grant — ChatGPT did NOT title this podcast (w/ Allie Miller & Ethan Mollick)

Impact Makers Podcast — Defining Return on Workforce Investment in the Future of Work with Dr. Alexander Alonso

Redefining Work Podcast with Lars Schmidt

Punk Rock HR Podcast with Laurie Ruettimann

Digital HR Leaders Podcast with David Green

Kris Dunn – The HR Capitalist

Noah Warder – LinkedIn

Tracie Sponenberg – LinkedIn

Julie Turney – LinkedIn

Subscribe to Jennifer McClure’s Impact Makers Newsletter

Categories: Blog, Employee Engagement, Future of Work, Human Resources, Podcast
Posted on July 27, 2023

Written by Jennifer McClure

Discovering Your Why: How Clarifying Your Vision Can Transform Your Organization and Create a Bigger Impact

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 077

Do you ever wonder what it takes to be a great leader? To create an impact both at work and in life?

Sonya Shelton, Founder of Executive Leadership Consulting, joins me to explore this and discuss the power of discovering your WHY.

Sonya is passionate about partnering with leaders and high achievers to create a clear vision, enabling them to build work environments where employees are fulfilled and really committed to the organization’s success.

Her WHY? To contribute to the success of leaders to create a bigger impact.

Sonya’s advice is backed by her own experience as an executive, international speaker and consultant, as well as her bestselling book “You’re an Executive, But Are You a Leader?” She shares her wealth of knowledge, as well as actionable steps to help leaders craft a compelling vision and develop their leadership skills.

Tune in to this episode to be inspired and learn how to successfully lead your teams and organization into the future.

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

  • What makes the difference between an executive and a leader
  • Defining success at your company: The importance of clarifying your vision
  • How organizations can create a strong vision in an ever-changing world, where the future is unknown
  • Practical steps you can take to discover your true WHY
  • How discovering your WHY contributes to effective leadership
  • How strategy and culture work together to create success for a company
  • What are the reasons for the increase in employees experiencing stress and burnout at work
  • Red Thread Leadership: The “5 P” formula to grow as fast as your ambition
  • What leaders can do to create the biggest impact right now

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 77

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

  • Sonya Shelton / Executive Leadership website
  • Sonya Shelton on Twitter
  • Executive Leadership Consulting on Instagram
  • Sonya Shelton on LinkedIn
  • Executive Leadership Consulting on YouTube
  • You’re an Executive But Are You a Leader?: The Executive’s Simple Guide to Creating, Communicating and Achieving the Vision by Sonya Shelton
  • The WHY Institute
  • Impact Makers podcast episode 049: Discovering the Hidden Forces That Drive You to Do Your Best Work With Todd Henry
  • Simon Sinek
  • Special Gift -> “How To Create Your Winning Dream Team” Masterclass

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“Organizations make the mistake of thinking that culture is just the values or the benefits the employees get or how they treat each other. And those are all very important things. But if your processes and your structure, and how you make decisions, and who gets hired, and who gets promoted and why, aren’t all tied into that – then there’s a disconnect in the culture.” ~ @Sonya Shelton

“Things are changing so fast, there’s so much uncertainty right now with what’s happening…I think that’s leading into a lot of stress at work. And so that’s why we talk about purpose as being so important. When you know why you’re doing what you’re doing, and you have clarity about the strategy and where you’re going and that vision, then it’s easier to navigate those rough waters.” ~ @Sonya Shelton

Working hard for something we don’t care about is called stress; working hard for something we love is called passion. ~ @ Simon Sinek

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

Categories: Blog, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Podcast
Posted on February 23, 2023

Written by Jennifer McClure

10 Questions You Should Be Asking to Prevent Your Best Employees from Leaving

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 071

In general, employees leave their jobs because they want more career growth, flexibility, and/or appreciation and recognition.

You’ve probably also heard that people leave managers, not companies.

So, how do you prevent your best employees from leaving?

By taking the time to have conversations with your direct reports and team members to understand what’s working, what’s not working, and how you can help to set them up for success.

Whether you’re doing performance evaluations, having end of year discussions, or talking about goal setting and goal planning for next year, I’m sharing 10 questions you should ask.

To Discover Skills to Focus on or Develop / Areas to Eliminate or Support

1. What are 3 aspects of your job that you feel you’re best at, or enjoy the most?

2. What are 2 areas in your job where you could use more support or resources, or would prefer not to do?

3. Outside of work, what do you really enjoy doing? Do you have a hobby, or a passion project that you work on that gives you joy?

Learning and Development / Career Growth

4. Is there something that you would like to have an opportunity to learn or explore, that either isn’t a part of your current job, or is something you’d like to try?

5. Are there skills that you would like to learn, or career opportunities that you would like to explore that you don’t fee are available to you in your current role, or at this company?

Flexibility / Work Hours

6. Does the current schedule or work situation allow you to do your best work, while also enjoying your life away from work?

Understand How Someone Likes to Be Managed

7. How do you like to be recognized and appreciated? What is meaningful to you?

8. How often would you prefer to meet to discuss and share progress against your goals?

Support Their Progress and Ensure Success

9. What is one thing that I can do to set you up for success in 2023, that I’m not doing currently?

The Magic Question

10.If I gave you a magic wand, and you could change one thing about your current job, or about the company – what would you change?

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 71

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“More and more people are really focused on making sure that work serves their needs and their life.” ~ @Jennifer McClure

“Flexibility, and how that matches with what your employees are searching for or what they feel best meets their needs, is a big driver of the Great Resignation.” ~ @Jennifer McClure

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Workplace from Meta

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

Categories: Blog, Employee Engagement, Leadership, Podcast
Posted on December 8, 2022

Written by Jennifer McClure

How to Make Work Suck Less By Making It Fun with Jeff Harry

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 067

These days, every workplace expert and futurist worth their salt is talking about The Great Resignation, Quiet Quitting, burnout, and dwindling employee engagement levels.

Some are even offering solutions to these problems, including showing more empathy, focusing on improving access to mental health benefits, offering more workplace flexibility, and suggesting increased communication from leadership.

But I’ve not heard anyone suggesting that we can address these issues through introducing more play and fun in the workplace – until I met today’s guest, Jeff Harry of Rediscover Your Play.

Jeff is passionate about making work suck less, and he does this by assisting leaders in building a workplace where individuals learn how to tap into their true selves, to feel their happiest and most fulfilled–all through play!

Topics Discussed In This Episode:

  • The two questions to ask your leaders to understand your company culture.
  • The difference between forced fun, and introducing play in the workplace.
  • Why allowing yourself to get bored is the key to unlocking creativity and innovation.
  • How to address quiet quitting through play.
  • Why psychological safety is required before introducing fun or play into the workplace.
  • The reason why meetings suck, and what you can do to fix it.
  • How what drove you back when you were a kid can really answer  questions like “How do you  want to show up in the world?”
  • How can you cultivate the next great idea?
  • How to add more play to your grown-up life.

IMPACT MAKERS PODCAST – EPISODE 67

Key Quotes From This Episode:

“What is the worst behavior you are currently tolerating [in your workplace]? Because that sets the tone, that sets the culture.” ~ @Jeff Harry

“Allow yourself to get bored the way you got bored as a kid. And then, when you get bored and…you’re not being inundated by information or not looking at information, then just see what ideas start to come up.” ~ @Jeff Harry

“Challenge the status quo because clearly it’s not working for a majority of people if we have such high disengagement, such high absenteeism and, such a movement around like anti-work or Quiet Quitting.” ~ @Jeff Harry

People & Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Workplace from Meta

Rediscover Your Play 

Jeff Harry LinkedIn 

Play-Well TEKnologies – Teaching Engineering to Kids

Gary Ware – Breakthrough Play

Impact Makers Podcast Episode 67: Building a Culture of Mindfulness and Supporting Employee Mental Health with Headspace CPO Désirée Pascual

Braver Angels

harkness.ai

Lauren Yee – Cultivator of Curiosity

Show Sponsor:

This episode of the Impact Makers Podcast is sponsored by Workplace from Meta.

Everybody’s talking about the metaverse these days, but Workplace from Meta is different – I mean, the clue’s in the name, right?

Workplace is a business communication tool that uses features like instant messaging and video calls to help people share information. Think Facebook, but for your company.

It’s part of Meta’s vision for the future of work – a future in which your job isn’t just something you do, but something you EXPERIENCE. A future in which we’ll all feel more present, connected, and productive.

Start your journey into the future of work at workplace.com/future.

Connect with Jennifer:

Send her a message [https://jennifermcclure.net/contact/]

On LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifermcclure

On Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferMcClure

On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_mcclure/

On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/JenniferMcClureSpeaker

Categories: Employee Engagement, Leadership, Podcast
Posted on October 20, 2022

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