Have you ever worked as part of a team that energised your spirit and inspired your engagement? Reflect for a moment on how working in this culture inspired you to behave. On the flip side, have you ever experienced a workplace culture that drained your spirit and undermined your commitment? Contemplate what this meant for the level of contribution you chose to make. How well did you perform and how willing were you to invest your energy and potential in getting the job done?
When people are energised they are more likely to behave in ways that enable success. Energised people are more likely to be focused, driven, determined, and resilient in the way they go about their work. People who are drained of positive energy are more likely to be resistant, pessimistic or guarded. When we lack energy we are all more likely to behave in ways that undermine our own success as well as that of other people around us.
Put simply, people who enjoy working with their colleagues and trust their manager are more likely to be energised and strive to succeed. The impacts of an organisation’s culture however, reach well beyond work performance and business results. By creating a healthy workplace culture every leader has the opportunity to achieve better performance outcomes and positively impact upon the quality of their employees’ lives.
4 ways organisational behavior changes lives:
1. Self respect and confidence
Our sense of personal value is reflected in the depth of self-respect we feel. Having belief in who we are as a person, and what we are able to achieve is essential to anyone’s ability to live a thriving life. The people and circumstances we encounter at work each day have the power to influence what we believe about ourselves, what we envision for the future, and our ability to influence that future.
Have you ever worked with a leader who helped you to see what you were capable of and overcome fears? Have you worked with a team who inspired you to want to be the best possible version of yourself? If you have you will appreciate the extent to which the environment in which we work can have a lasting impact on our ability to see and leverage our potential well into the future.
2. Health and wellbeing
If you have experienced or witnessed bullying in the workplace, you are probably already aware of the devastating impact it can have on an individual. All too often I meet people whose health, wellbeing, and job performance have been impacted by the behaviour of bullies. When someone is being bullied at work, it’s fairly typical that their friends and family are also impacted.
When people are subjected to any form of serious misconduct—such as harassment, discrimination, or bullying—the impacts to their health and wellbeing can be devastating. Anxiety, depression, and panic attacks are just a few examples of the mental health challenges people endure as a consequence of being treated poorly at work.
3. Home life
Its naïve to think that people can keep work and home completely separate. How do you ensure the detrimental impacts of work don’t flow to your home life?
At some point or another, most of us will take home pressures and emotions we experience at home. Reflect for a moment when your own behaviours at home have been impacted by the culture at work. Are there times when you have taken feelings of unhappiness or stress home? Do you constantly feel exhausted and withdrawal when at home?
4. Social responsibility
Each of us is inevitably impacted by the business decisions we make day-to-day. The way organisations choose to behave therefore has the potential to effect you and the quality of your life. Regardless of how we interact with the world of business, the decisions made, actions taken and outcomes achieved have the potential to reach out influence our circumstances.
Reflect on a way in which your own organisation has the potential to impact upon your community or environment. Are the families in your community better or worse off for being associated with your business? Do you behave fairly; do you give people reasonable consideration? How well do you consult with your community on decisions that are expected to impact upon them?
