Creating Positive Organization Culture Through Employee Engagement

This was a very engaging and informative session.  As the session went on, those things we at RCPL have in place to promote a positive organizational culture- Staff Development Day or this conference, for example, came to mind. For those of us who were able to attend, the time we spent together off site getting to know each other, exchanging ideas, and bonding is invaluable.
With the current period of change and adjustment we're experiencing across all levels, there is the opportunity to do more, change things up a bit, or try something new.  Feel free to add ideas, comments, suggestions below.
-Carmen

Summary from the Conference Program:

Creating Positive Organizational Culture through Employee Engagement"What is it like to work here?" 
Employee engagement is about morale, productivity, workplace happiness, and a sense of inclusion and belonging. Connections between departments (horizontally) and interactions from entry level through upper management (vertically) can form an organizational culture that creates a high performing team and has a positive impact on the visitor experience. Join four CEOs as they kick off this inclusive discussion of staff engagement and how it promotes organizational and individual growth. 

My notes:

Organizational Culture
...What do we mean by organizational culture?

• the defining characteristics of how we behave towards each other (staff) and the community
• the unwritten stories, the myths
• how we address mistakes
• what we choose to address and how we deal with difficult situations
• what the community sees when the boss isn't looking

...why are committing resources towards a positive culture beneficial?

• employee turnover is expensive
• happy people have good ideas
• it builds relationships which lead to increased, beneficial, risk taking= Innovation!

...How does the organizational leader influence culture?

• leaders set the tone- good or bad
• but at the same time, leaders should not be the ones to define what the Fun staff events are
• remember that the culture is embedded within the floor team! 

Engagement Strategies

• Staff retreats- "Don't try to change the tires while the car's still running"
• opportunities for staff to talk/share and identify challenges, needs, and or issues
• purposely mix people from different departments
• compliment cards 
• after hours staff nights- movie night, clay nights (pottery)
• Culture surveys
• anonymous
• open ended questions
• questions to  measure employee satisfaction
• important: these then lead to committees of non-management staff  that come together to
• discuss issues/ needs/ problems identified through these surveys
• brainstorm solutions and action plans

***staff are sometimes concerned with whether these are guided through favoritism, friends nominating friends, some people being left out...we were encouraged not to worry about this so much- the important thing is to do SOMETHING, always better than doing nothing

**also important to always consider Introverts as well!

Measuring Success

• Staff Surveys- this was mentioned multiple times
• the amount of staff turnover
• through observation
• Exit Interviews- measure what is NOT working as well!
• by the attitude of service from management towards lower ranking staff
• do managers ask for feedback from all staff, all ranks?

Wrap up:

• Corporate culture can take 4-6 years to develop 
• aim towards unity and inclusiveness- differences should be invited and accepted! 
• leaders set the tone