22 Keys to Creating a Meaningful Workplace -- Part 1
A meaningful workplace does the following:
| Recruitment: A meaningful workplace attracts great people. |
| Retention: It fosters a deep sense of loyalty among the people who work there. |
| Performance Excellence: It brings out the best in these people... |
| Quality: ...so they can deliver the best stuff (products and services) in the best ways (processes and systems) to their customers. |
| Customer Loyalty, Market Share, Revenue: And it results in thrilled customers who can't wait to come back. |
What can companies do to get those talented people? Provide a meaningful workplace.
The huge hedge against turnover is a great place to work.
The 22 key ingredients to a meaningful workplace (meaning keys) are divided into five sets of related keys: mission keys, people keys, development keys, community keys, and me keys.
The Mission Keys
purpose, direction, relevance, validation
The People Keys
respect, equality, informality, flexibility, ownership
The Development Keys
challenge, invention, support, personal development
The Community Keys
dialogue, relationship building, service, acknowledgement, oneness
The Me Keys
self-identity, fit, balance, worth
Meaning keys can be used to understand what's happening in a workplace.
Mission Keys
 | The organization's underlying purpose involves more than just producing goods or services, making money, or even being the best in a given business. |
| There's a feeling widely shared among people that daily activities, even individual tasks, fit the theme of that larger purpose. |
| A compelling vision of the future draws people in a common direction. |
| People understand and are invested in goals and objectives that serve as a meaningful, down-to-earth complement to the vision. |
| People spend their time on activities that are relevant to the mission. |
| Rules and red tape are kept to an absolute minimum. |
| Individuals can see the impact of their work. |
| Even when people produce intangibles, they have opportunities to see how their work benefits others. |
People Keys
| People show respect for one another regardless of rank and title. |
| The golden rule is an implicit working principle throughout the organization. |
| People throughout the workplace genuinely feel that they're on the same level, regardless of titles and positions. |
| All individuals are considered to be equally important, and actions back this up. |
| An open-door policy is practiced by everyone, not because the business books encourage it, but because it simply seems like the right thing to do. |
| It's not unusual for a major project to turn into a major pizza party -- with the work still getting done. |
| Good judgment is used in applying rules. People accept the subjectivity that goes along with this. |
| If a rule, policy, or procedure stands in the way of awesome service to a customer, people do what's best for the customer. |
| People view themselves as owners of their work and act accordingly. |
| Change is done by people instead of to people. Co-creation is the method of choice for setting direction, developing ideas, and seizing opportunities. |
Development Keys
| The workplace offers a wealth of challenges to employees who want them. |
| People understand what is meant by a positive challenge. It is not seen as piling on more work in order to get more done with less. |
| Risk-taking in the name of improvement and innovation is strongly encouraged |
| Improvement and innovation are seen as everyone's business -- and not the restricted domain of people with certain credentials or titles. |
| People have access to all the resources they need to be successful in their work, such as information, time, funding, learning opportunities, and equipment. |
| Managers know when to get involved and when to stay out of the way. They offer help instead of imposing it. |
| The workplace provides people with all sorts of opportunities to learn and grow. |
| People take responsibility for their own personal development |
Community Keys
| People widely recognize the benefits of engaging in constructive conversation. |
| People at all levels and in all areas of the organization have freedom and opportunities to talk among themselves about work-related problems, issues, and opportunities. |
| People in the workplace understand the need to build strong relationships with each other. |
| Workdays are filled with opportunities to build relationships. |
| People create all sorts of opportunities to help one another. |
| There's an organizational obsession with helping others to be successful. "Others" is broadly defined: colleagues, customers, the community. |
| Genuine appreciation is at the heart of all acknowledgement in the workplace. |
| Everyone helps bring acknowledgement to the workplace. It is not seen as something periodically "given" to people by management. |
| There's a prevailing sense that "we're all in this together." |
| Working relationships are best described as collaborative, not competitive. |
Me Keys
| Differences are viewed as something that people can learn and benefit from, rather than something that must be "dealt with." |
| The workplace makes the most of people's unique know-how and skills. |
| Individual employees see how they and their work fit into the bigger mission of the organization. |
| People feel a good fit between their own values and the values of the workplace. |
| People can take work home if they want to -- but they don't feel guilty if they choose otherwise. |
| There's an understanding and acceptance of the fact that employees will sometimes bring family concerns and other preoccupations to the workplace. |
| A belief is widely held that each and every employee is important to the organization. |
| People believe that the work they do is important and valued. |