The power of values and culture to renew vibrancy and connection in the workplace

The second blog in a series on renewing vibrancy and connection.

On October 11, 2023, I had the privilege of speaking with RRU Alumni and friends on what is important for leaders in 2023 to know and do for renewing vibrancy and connection in the workplace and beyond.

My short answer: Values and Culture. 

My longer answer…. 

I was walking the land with a friend in Castlegar the other day. He is a forester. 

He was showing me how logging was done by him and his partner- whose family have been homesteading there since the 1920s and making a living off it. I couldn’t tell the land had been logged. I asked him, “why then do other logging companies clear cut?” 

“They have different values and goals,” he said. He explained that those logging companies outsource the work so needed to be clear and efficient to be profitable. He and his partner were able to be clear, efficient and profitable by walking the lands and intentionally creating a culture of vibrant stewardship and environmental sustainability.

For me, at the heart of this is values and culture. Values are what are important to us, and culture is how we do things to harness the power of people to move forward on shared goals with vision in organizations.  For workplace vibrancy and connection, I invite us to consider growing cultures more organically than with what Gareth Morgan [1](1986) identified as Organization as Machine. We can look to Nature for inspiration – in which whole ecosystems are interconnected and each species contributes to the whole. And, to our own nature – where, as individuals, we are in relationship with one another. We can start seeking the collective wisdom. With this as a foundation, we can start getting creative on issues like hybrid workplaces or workplace wellbeing. 

Hybrid workplaces – which are here to stay as identified by Gallup - can be effective in generating trust and loyalty as employees have more flexible arrangements[2]. However, the key is to take into account the whole ecosystem. What may be good for the individual may not be good for the team or customer. As it stands either the individual or the employer decides what will be the hybrid arrangement. What needs to happen is for all people to come together and dialogue about – individual needs, team needs, customer needs and organizational needs. In the collective wisdom, the answer can be found. Another concern is workplace wellbeing. 1 in 3 Canadians[3], 3 in 4 Americans[4], and two-thirds of the global workforce[5] are currently experiencing burnout. In 2019, the World Health Organization declared burnout as an occupational phenomenon[6]. What if we didn’t just forge on like machines but actually came together and created a workplace wellbeing charter. Sometimes, I think people have been mowed down like clear cut tress for a greater good, but what good? I would like to leave with the question, How might we achieve a greater good of stewardship and sustainability through renewing vibrancy and connection in workplace?

Special thanks to Dr. Catherine Etmanski, Dr. Niels Agger-Gupta, Sherry Richards, Andrea Torres Lopez, Arianna Kingerski, Jen Smith, Andrea Proske for putting together such a great event! And, to all those for your passion and commitment to renewing vibrancy and connection in the workplace!

Photo by Arthur Poulin on Unsplash

[1] Morgan, G. (1986). Images of Organization. Sage.

[2] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/390632/future-hybrid-work-key-questions-answered-data.aspx

[3]  https://www.mhrc.ca/psychological-health-and-safety-in-canadian-workplaces; https://www.hrreporter.com/focus-areas/wellness-mental-health/over-1-in-3-canadians-report-burnout/363205

[4]  https://www.conference-board.org/topics/natural-disasters-pandemics/reimagined-workplace-two-years-later-2022According to the US conference board, the number of employees being burned out almost doubled in 18 months (from 42% in Sept 2020 to 77% in March 2022).

[5] ttps://www.forbes.com/sites/tracybrower/2022/07/24/burnout-is-a-worldwide-problem-5-ways-work-must-change/?sh=44e0f4a66c1e

[6]https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases