Seven Leadership Principles for Creating a Great Workplace

By Kevin Kennemer, SPHR

Edward R. Murrow, the famous American broadcaster depicted in the movie Good Night, and Good Luck, once said, "The obscure we eventually see, the completely obvious takes longer." In your quest to build a successful company, do not assume that creating a great work environment is complicated. In fact, the steps are quite simple, if not completely obvious from a "people practice" perspective.

Company Culture Flows from the Top

In the "people practice" profession, there is a tendency to overcomplicate work culture and how it impacts the bottom line. The basic principles of a great work environment are quite straightforward and rest entirely on the leader's shoulders.

One of the most important business strategy questions leaders can ask themselves is, "How do I create a great work environment that attracts, motivates and retains the best and brightest talent?" You might be surprised that the answer is not any of these: above-market compensation, best-in-class benefits, top trends in office space design or technological superiority. The answer is summed up in one very important, highly relational, powerful word: trust.

Definition of a Great Workplace

The Great Place to Work Institute, after 20 years of thorough research on the top high-performance companies in America, formulated its definition of a great workplace as a place where employees "trust the people they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with."

A leadership team that can be trusted by employees is well on its way from average performance to a great workplace where magic happens. The good news is that employees are not necessarily looking for expensive perks such as coffee bars, gyms and daycare. Although these benefits are very nice options, they do not guarantee a great work environment.

When leaders sincerely care for their people and build an environment of trust, employees will believe in the company mission and develop respect for their coworkers. Trust is like the secret ingredient in Coca-Cola. Without it, the recipe will not work. Many have tried to copy great workplaces without trust, and have failed. Without trust, the environment will not click, no matter how grandiose the company's compensation, benefit and work/life programs. It is amazing how creating an environment of trust, the missing ingredient in many average-performing companies, will hasten transformation of your company into a great workplace with the potential to outperform your competition many times over.

Seven Leadership Principles

How does a leader create a great workplace through the simple ingredient of trust? Robert Levering, founder of the Great Place to Work Institute, who has many years of experience researching successful companies, states that leaders must follow seven principles to build and maintain trust in their organizations:

1.   Leaders share information. Leaders of great work environments willingly share information with their entire workforce. They are not afraid to provide employees at all levels with important updates about the company's status, whether financial or non-financial, positive or negative. Withholding important company information drives a wedge between employees and leaders and creates misunderstanding, fear and distrust among employees who spend most of their waking hours at your place of business. Because employees are investing their lives with you, isn't it likely they deserve to know where the company has been, where it needs to go, how it's performing and how their efforts make a difference? Open up the internal information highway and you are well on your way to greatness.

2.   Leaders are accessible. Leaders in great workplaces do not hide in their execu-caves. Effective leaders get out of their offices, walk around, and mingle with employees. These same leaders allow employees to voice concerns without fear of reprisal or losing their jobs. Many of the 100 Best Companies hold regular lunches with employees, where leadership shares information, shows sincere concern for employees and listens to their concerns. More important, leaders follow up on employee concerns and improve the work environment with each interaction.

3.   Leaders willingly answer hard questions. Trust is built when employees see leaders who are not afraid to field hard questions. Employees do not expect leaders to have all the answers but develop strong trusting relationships with leaders who honestly admit when they do not have an answer but will respond at a later date.

4.   Leaders emphasize two-way communication. Leaders who actively listen to employee concerns and engage in two-way communication earn the trust of employees. Most management teams are good at sending communications or orders down the pipeline but are not necessarily comfortable with receiving feedback from their workforce. Great workplaces have open, two-way channels of communication.

5.   Leaders always deliver on their promises. Miss this one and you're done. Making a promise and not following through is like going thermonuclear on your workplace; people get burned. Employees want to know if leaders will deliver on their promises. This includes the small things and the big things. Treat your employees like your best customers and you should perform very well in this area.

6.   Leaders show recognition and appreciation. Deep down, employees crave recognition for a job well done. Receiving recognition and appreciation is one of the biggest unmet needs that employees have in today's society. Go ahead and make a big deal about employee and team accomplishments. Brag about your employees in front of other employees. Then sit back and watch a special, positive, energizing company culture develop in front of your eyes.

7.   Leaders demonstrate sincere, personal concern. According to the most recent Towers Perrin Global Workforce Study, the number one driver leading to employee engagement is determined by whether senior management is sincerely interested in an employee's well-being. You can't fake sincerity. It shows in your attitude and other nonverbal cues. If the leaders are not sincerely concerned for their employees as people, your best talent will likely move to a place where they are appreciated.

Live by these leadership principles and your organization will soon be inundated with resumes from the best and brightest talent in your industry wanting to work for your organization.

Kevin Kennemer is president of The People Group, a consulting firm committed to improving employee lives, business performance and society through positive people practices. Kevin is also a board member of Tulsa CASA, a nonprofit group organized to speak for the best interest of abused and neglected children in court. Contact Kennemer at kevin@thepeoplegroupllc.com.