Use technology to positively influence the workplace

Clued-in organizational leaders know business strategy alone isn’t enough to succeed in today’s world. They know if their workplace culture isn’t strong — and if their people aren’t aligned and engaged — even the most brilliant plan is dead on arrival. Culture change is hard. But culture technology is changing everything. Social media and forms of anonymous, two-way communication are just a couple of examples of technology that can positively influence the workplace. Culture technology seeks to help senior leaders and individual employees collaborate to build an intentional and purposeful culture. It supports new ways of working (remote employees, collaboration across teams, project and task management). It supports the cultural bonds that bring teams together. Technology has the potential to substantially improve our work experience. In our own research, Energage has identified three key practices that achieve high levels of employee engagement: 1. Leaders at top workplaces must place employees at the center of their thinking. During the 1980s and ’90s, there was a mantra of customercentricity. In time, employers realized the benefits of putting employees — especially front-line employees — at the center of strategy. Today, leaders seek to understand what motivates and engages the workforce through feedback channels such as surveys. 2.Leaders must connect with all employees in a way that builds trust. requires going beyond traditional internal communications efforts such as town halls, executive videocasts, or Im-jams. Rather, it involves setting up communication channels through which employees can collaborate, build community, recognize oneanother and provide candid feedback without fear of repercussion or exposure. 3. Managers must adopt a coaching mindset. Team members now don’t want to be “managed.” Rather, they want their managers to help them to learn, grow, and realize their full potential. Historically, these changes required enormous investments in senior leadership time, consultants, and in manager training. Now, leaders can rely on powerful tools to gain a deeper understanding of their organization’s culture and work dynamics. They also help get ahead of issues that are barriers to success. Consider how today’s technology can support meaningful shifts in your organization’s workplace culture. How work is organized. How teams are built. How people interact. Those go a long way to forging the best possible culture. And in today’s workplace, the best culture wins. Doug Claffey is CEO of Energage, a Philadelphia-based research and consulting firm that surveyed more than 2.5 million employees at more than 6,000 organizations in 2017. Energage is The Denver Post’s research partner for Top Workplaces.