Exemplary Diversity and Inclusion Practices from a Culture-Driven Company

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StrategyDriven Diversity and Inclusion Article | Bretton Putter | Culture Decks DecodedThe conversation about diversity and inclusion (D&I) has gathered a lot of momentum in the last few years, in the corporate world as well as in society more generally. Thinking about D&I is by and large no longer a tokenistic gesture. We have grown in understanding that we all have unconscious biases and that our companies and society as a whole benefit when we strive to support and empower under-represented groups. We have come to realize, too, that there’s a clear benefit when we utilize people’s skills, creativity and life experiences – particularly of those whose voices, skill sets or perspectives have historically been unheard or marginalized.

In many culture-driven companies, thinking and talking about diversity and inclusion is non-negotiable. Culture-driven leaders recognize the immense value that a diverse team brings. They think about diversity and inclusivity on a number of different levels, including ethnicity, age, nationality, gender, expertise and experience, personality type and neuro-diversity, to name a few.

By paying extremely close attention to making their culture a conscious, tangible asset, these companies are helping to set the precedent for what an exemplary D&I conversation and set of practices looks like. Leaders who want to create companies that thrive commercially while simultaneously supporting their people to thrive, too, can learn a lot from studying these companies.

In my new book, Culture Decks Decoded, I do just that. I review the slides of culture decks from a wide range of culture-driven companies in order to provide inspiring examples of best practice in terms of all aspects of company culture, including D&I. One of the most outstanding companies in this respect is Patreon, which addresses diversity and inclusion with a depth of thought that shows how genuinely important they consider it to be.

Patreon is a membership platform that provides tools for creators and creatives to run a subscription content service and build relationships with subscribers, and it places a very high value on D&I. The company’s overall mission is to fund what it calls “the creative class” — makers and creators from all walks of life. Their opening slide on D&I states that they work hard to fight the “unfair practices and trends” that they see in other tech companies. The following two slides go into comprehensive detail about all the things they are doing to build a diverse, inclusive environment.

Some of the exemplary practices in place at Patreon include:

  • Being direct about the language and messaging: The slide emphasises that there is no such thing as a “diverse person” or “diverse candidate” and clearly requests that Patreon employees do not use that language.
  • Informing employees that if someone slips up and uses improper language, as that person’s colleague, they are encouraged and even expected to provide direct yet kind feedback, given with compassion.
  • Making it clear that employees can and should learn about each other’s pronoun preferences via their Slack bios.Making all restrooms gender neutral at the Patreon offices.
  • Using a D&I census to collect data that report son fairness across areas such as compensation, promotions and other resources.
  • Offering trainings on unconscious bias, ally-ship and active listening skills.
  • Directing teams to set inclusivity-based objectives and key results (OKRs): the company is explicit about aiming to be “champions in this space.”

While not all of these practices are relevant or suitable to every company, the depth of thinking that went into creating them arguably is. The practices at Patreon have been developed with the aim of creating a truly inclusive workplace, and the final point is one that I would encourage leaders of organizations large and small to pay attention to: do not shy away from conversations about diversity and inclusion. As Patreon states, “Frequent discourse and debate are key to making progress.”

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Bretton Putter | Culture Decks DecodedBretton Putter is a leading expert on startup and high-growth company culture, consulting companies worldwide on how to leverage culture to prepare for and execute at a rapid scale. He is the author of Culture Decks Decoded and the forthcoming The Culture Gene: Leadership and Culture Development Lessons from High-Growth Companies. Connect with Brett on LinkedIn and learn more at culturegene.ai

The Big Picture of Business – Each Role Matters. The Value of Support Staff

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StrategyDriven Big Picture of Business ArticleEvery person in the company matters to its success. Every job is important, as is filling them with the best people for each job. The art and skill of being great support staff is a cornerstone of business success.

From pop culture, think of the great role models that we grew up watching:

Della Street was the loyal secretary to Perry Mason. She knew what everyone was thinking and was the glue to the cases. She was the model for executive assistants and office managers everywhere.

The CEO is made stronger with a good C-suite team. Ed McMahon was TV’s premier second banana. He worked as assistant, announcer, commercial pitchman and sketch narrator to Johnny Carson throughout their 29-year run on NBC-TV’s “Tonight Show.” They had previously worked together on a game show, “Who Do You Trust” on ABC-TV. Bandleaders on the late-night are vital #3 characters on the show, including Doc Severinsen, Skitch Henderson, Paul Shaffer and The Roots band.

The movie star heroes had buddies to help them navigate the adventures. John Wayne and Roy Rogers had Gabby Hayes. Gene Autry had Pat Buttram.

TV show stars had great support casts. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz had Vivian Vance and William Frawley as Ethel & Fred Mertz. This historic teaming became the formula for most other TV sitcoms. Shows like “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “30 Rock,” “The Office” and others had expanded ensemble casts.

Some performers made careers as supporting players. Ann B. Davis was Schultzy on “The Bob Cummings Show” and Alice on “The Brady Bunch.”

Back characters on TV shows included restaurant and bar operators, where the stars went top relax. There were friendly, familiar places such as Cheers bar, Arnold’s Drive-In on “Happy Days,” the Krusty Krab on “SpongeBob Square Pants,” Dale’s Diner on “The Roy Rogers Show” and other homey places. In the business world are those staff people who make us feel more like family. Therefore, our loyalty to the company rises, and we are more productive.

Still other back characters bring cohesion to the enterprise. On “Gilligan’s Island,” those glue-adhesive characters were the Professor Roy Hinkley and Mary Ann Summers. Those vital employees in the business world might include the IT guy, the receptionist, the mailroom manager, the ethics adviser and the secretary to the Board of Directors.

Great executives know the value of crediting support figures for the business success. Lt. Columbo was always quoting his wife as basis for testing hypotheses, though the character was never shown. Newspaper publisher Perry White was always upstaged by his employees, notably Clark Kent/Superman. Al Roker does the weather on “The Today Show,” and he is also the motivating segment host as well. Nobody turns letters like Vanna White, making her essential to the legacy of “Wheel of Fortune.”

And then there were those mentors behind the scene who were responsible for lots of creativity. The Beatles had George Martin as their producer. Steven Spielberg had John Williams as music composer for his films.

A host of people make the CEO look good. Further, they transform the company to greater plateaus. Warmly recognize the contributions of executive assistants, trusted advisers, mentors, support staff, hier apparents, adjuncts, vendors and outside stakeholders.

Here are some characteristics of support personnel and rising stars who will make it as professionals and business leaders:

  • Act as though they will one day be management.
  • Think as a manager, not as a worker.
  • Learn and do the things it will take to assume management responsibility.
  • Be mentored by others.
  • Act as a mentor to still others.
  • Don’t expect status overnight.
  • Measure their output and expect to be measured as a profit center to the company.
  • Learn to pace and be in the chosen career for the long-run.
  • Don’t expect that someone else will be the rescuer or enable you to cut corners in the path toward artificial success.
  • Learn from failures, reframing them as opportunities.
  • Learn to expect, predict, understand and relish success.
  • Behave as a gracious winner.
  • Acquire visionary perception.
  • Study and utilize marketing and business development techniques.
  • Contribute to the bottom line, directly and indirectly.
  • Offer value-added service.
  • Never stop paying dues and see this continuum as “continuous quality improvement.”
  • Study and comprehend the subtleties of life.
  • Never stop learning, growing and doing. In short, never stop!

About the Author

Hank MoorePower Stars to Light the Business Flame, by Hank Moore, encompasses a full-scope business perspective, invaluable for the corporate and small business markets. It is a compendium book, containing quotes and extrapolations into business culture, arranged in 76 business categories.

Hank’s latest book functions as a ‘PDR of business,’ a view of Big Picture strategies, methodologies and recommendations. This is a creative way of re-treading old knowledge to enable executives to master change rather than feel as they’re victims of it.

Power Stars to Light the Business Flame is now out in all three e-book formats: iTunes, Kindle, and Nook.

How Is Tech Benefiting The Healthcare Industry?

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The healthcare industry has seen a rise in the tech available to them in the last couple of years. The industry is benefiting greatly from all of the new tech that they can now use to diagnose and keep better patient records. You might be wondering how tech is doing this for the healthcare industry, and you’re not alone. In this article, we are going to be looking at some of the benefits that tech has brought to this industry in recent years.

StrategyDriven Editorial Perspective | Healthcare | Business Technology

Improving Efficiency

One of the biggest benefits is that efficiency has been improved, and is still improving. Items like portable ultrasound machines make it possible to move the equipment instead of the patient which can save a lot of time. You know if you have been in a hospital how busy it is, and how manic it can get. This is why improving efficiency is always a goal, and one that tech happily obliged to.

Using tablets instead of or alongside paper records has made keeping patients data safe much more manageable. Now, people can’t just come in and pick up a medical history without having the proper authority. As well as this, it is far easier to lose paper copies of patient files than it is to lose that which is on a tablet. Having all the tablets linked means that any doctor or nurse can access a patient file without having to dig through mountains of paperwork.

Faster Results

With tech evolving all the time, getting the results from a test can be a lot quicker. This means that patient care can be given faster, which in some cases could save a life. Anybody who knows about the medical profession knows that it can be a case of seconds between life and death. With improved speeds of getting medical test results, patients can be treated more quickly, and given the best chance possible.

Easier Diagnosis

The more advanced the equipment, the better the imaging. This the case with items such as a portable ultrasound machine. With crystal clear imaging, it can be easier for doctors to see, and therefore diagnose what the issue is with the patient. Previously, it had been known to happen that something that looked like an issue could have been a spot on the machine, but with new tech coming in to play, the room for error here is significantly reduced.

Growing Medical Practices

Thanks to a lot of new medical equipment being available, it is a lot easier for doctors and dentists, like this dentist in New York, to grow their medical practices. This means that they can see and treat more patients, as the equipment is readily available to do so. By doing this, patients no longer have to go out of their way to go to a medical practice, because the one closest to them is full.

We hope that you have found this article useful, and now know some of the ways in which tech has been benefiting the healthcare industry. These are just a few of the benefits, if you want to know more, you can find these online.

Sales Dwindling? Here’s Why

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Online Marketing
 
All businesses need to keep their sale numbers up as high as possible to ensure that they are bringing in enough money each month to ensure they can cover all costs and still have enough money left over to make a profit. However, sometimes this isn’t always possible. Even though you might think that everything has been going well with your company’s operations and marketing strategies, there could still be periods during which your sales seem to tail off.

Even though you might not think that there is an obvious reason why your sales are dwindling, there probably is a cause for these poor sales. Sometimes, you just need to look a bit closer at your business to determine what that cause is. Here are a few common reasons why a company’s sales might dip every so often. Thankfully, most of them are simple enough to recover from.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Online Marketing
 
Shake-Up At Management Level

Any issues at the management level of a business can create a trickle-down effect, and the consequences can often be felt throughout the organization. Even something that shouldn’t be too problematic, such as a manager resigning and a new professional taking their place, you might be surprised to find just how disruptive these changes can be. They can also affect areas of your business that they aren’t necessarily linked to, including sales. It’s just unfortunate that the trickle-down effect will disrupt most departments, so your sales won’t be immune to any changes at management level.

Poor Marketing

Ideally, your company’s marketing needs to be consistent at all times. There always needs to be a current strategy or campaign that your marketing department are implementing to ensure that your company is always visible to the public. If your business’s marketing efforts ever dip at any time, then you might notice that the quality of your marketing gets slightly worse. This will lead to fewer sales as it won’t be tempting any consumers to come and try out your brand. If you feel that your marketing campaigns need a bit of a revamp, you might want to invite an external marketing agency to come and collaborate with your in-house team.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Online Marketing
 
Forgetting To Follow Up

Most of your sales team will be busy every day with contacting potential clients and cold-pitching to the public. This is hard work and I’m sure that most of the team will have a seemingly never-ending list of leads to contact. However, just contacting everyone once isn’t enough and this will rarely lead to any sales. Your sales team need to always remember to follow up on any leads that they have made contact with. This will then remind the lead about your company and can encourage them to go through with a purchase.

Bad Forecasting

At the start of every year, you should be making a few different business forecasts, including a projection of your potential future sales. It’s also important that these projections are regularly updated to reflect current data and figures.However, if you use bad data or make some mistakes while creating these projections, you could end up with some incorrect forecasts. If these overestimate how many sales you are estimated to make through the year, then there is no way your real sales figures will live up to the forecasts. This could reflect very badly on your company. So, it’s a good idea to use a sales management CRM to help you manage your current sales figures and turn them into a reliable forecast. These kinds of CRM can also give you other useful insights, such as how you can go about increasing your annual revenues.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Online Marketing
 
No Training

Can you remember when the last time you offered training to your sales team was? If it was a few years ago, or you can’t even remember when you last trained the department, it’s a good idea to organize a course or one-off training day for them. It’s important that you stay on top of all your staff’s training so that they are continually at the top of their game. If you let training slip, then so will the standard of their work too. Ideally, you need to offer your sales staff at least one day of training each year so that they are always up to date with the current trends and best practices that are dominating the world of sales.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Online Marketing
 
Bad Online Visibility

It’s also a good idea to try to stay on top of your company website’s SEO. Many entrepreneurs think that they only have to work on the site’s SEO when they are in the process of creating the website. Unfortunately, though, that isn’t the case. Ideally, you need to keep on working on the SEO throughout the entire lifespan of the website. Good websites should be regularly maintained or else their SEO will become useless. So, if you haven’t’ worked on your site in a while then there is a good chance that your company aren’t as visible online. Fewer people will be stumbling across the site because it won’t be ranking high in search engine results. And that means fewer people will be buying your products or services.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Online Marketing
 
Aiming At The Wrong Target Market

Every single product or service on the market will have a set target audience. These are the people you need to sell to. If you aren’t 100% sure who is in your target audience, then you can carry out some market research to find out. Once you know, you then need to start aiming all of your marketing at them. If you end up targeting the wrong kind of people, then your marketing won’t be having a positive effect at all. You’ll just be pushing your product or service onto people who aren’t that interested in it at all.

As you can see, there are quite a few reasons why your sales might start to dwindle. Hopefully, you’ll be able to turn things right around before it’s too late for your business’s revenues!

Viral Engagement on a Global Scale

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StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Employee EngagementAcross the globe, 85% of employees are either not engaged or are disengaged at work, according to Gallop’s State of the Global Workplace report, which estimates approximately $7 trillion in lost productivity.

Companies around the world are not performing as well as they could. They are leaving money on the table. But the problem is not with financial capital — it’s human capital, where too many companies are missing a key component of the growth equation.

In my experience, looking at an additional, little-understood “horizontal” approach can deliver huge returns. Research supports what I have experienced personally. It starts with the understanding that any employee can impact the engagement of every employee in a group.

A foundational study by James Fowler and Nicholas Christakis out of the University of California and Harvard, respectively, demonstrated that cooperation spreads from person to person. Significantly, and to the surprise of many, they found that positive emotions actually spread further — from person to person to person to person — up to three degrees of separation, even among people who are not acquainted.

But it’s the breakthrough work of another researcher who proved that positive emotions spread from person to person in a work environment. Specifically, Yale researcher Sigal Barsade authored the study that linked the spread of positive emotion with improved cooperation, decreased conflict, and increased task performance in the workplace.

When you understand that viral engagement is possible — and that it happens when you shift your focus from top-down to side-to side — you have the power to fill in the missing piece and unleash a whole new paradigm in your organization.

Companies would be well-served to consider these 10 opportunities to create the conditions for viral engagement, with the understanding that engagement is contagious and can start from anyone, anywhere in an organization:

Selection: Do you hire good team players and hold the expectation that every addition to your team can have an immediate impact on the engagement of current employees?

Education: Does your company invest in the soft skills that will enable your employees to be more effective in engaging others?

Communication: Do you reinforce verbal and written communication as equally important in engaging others?

Compensation: Could you pay a small team bonus for improving engagement scores?

Recognition: How could you recognize individuals and teams when new practices are adopted that are generated “bottoms up?”

Promotion: Do team members know that engagement success is part of the path to promotion?

Retention: When people do leave, do you ask about engagement in exit interviews?

Performance management: Is engagement a part of performance management discussions?

Values: Could engagement language be added to define your organization’s values?

Assessment: Do you assess for engagement skill sets?

The good news is, that those at the top of organizations are finally aligned around this most critical issue. In fact, in the annual Conference Board survey reported for the first time last year that culture and engagement was the top priority in every region in the world as ranked by over 1100 participating CEOs.

With increasing focus from the top-down, there is reason for optimism. But there is also a need to listen much more intently to those on the frontlines to better understand what it will take for them to fully engage. An investment in the horizontal approach takes time and energy, but the returns are “off the charts.”

About the Author

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | Employee Engagement | Rick Miller | Being ChiefRick Miller is an unconventional turnaround specialist, sought-after speaker, servant leader, and expert in driving sustainable growth. For over 30 years, he served as a successful senior executive in roles including President and/or CEO in Fortune 10, Fortune 30, nonprofit, and startup companies, including AT&T Global Services and Lucent Technologies. Throughout his career, he has been recruited from the outside to turn around poor performance in difficult times. His new book, Be Chief: It’s A Choice, Not A Title, helps leaders at all levels achieve their true potential. To learn more, visit BeingChief.com.