Man Made Climate Change-An Inconvienient Truth

Man made ecological climate change is constantly in the news. More important to me is another type of man made climate change, that is organizational climate change, one that we actually have a chance of influencing.

What is workplace climate? Simply stated, workplace climate is the weather of the workplace. Just as the weather might influence our daily activities, workplace climate will effect the behavior of the employees. Using the weather analogy we can then refer to company leadership as the "weather man" or meteorologist, since forecasting and climate change must start at the top.

It is important to remember that what employees see, hear and experience will manifest in the workplace/organizations climate. Climate is also derived from perceptions of what the organization is like in terms of its practices, policies,and rewards. For instance, if workers observe the company's rules and regulations not being evenly or fairly enforced, it is not likely that there will be company wide buy in to follow the rules. It will be virtually impossible to enforce accountability.

We have all most likely worked in a place that suffered from a poor workplace climate. But what are the tell tale signs that the climate is suffering? The symptoms of a dysfunctional climate can include but are not necessarily limited to; absenteeism, low morale, job dissatisfaction, low productivity, disengagement, psychological injuries (stress) and employee turnover.

Unlike ecological climate, organizational climate can be controlled. Good leaders can create change with a number of low cost incentives. The following leadership model is based on my experiences as a leader, educator, student, friend, father and husband.
1. Make your people feel welcome and tell them how important they are to the operation. Make their jobs a source of pride.
2. Clarify the goals, vision, and mission of the company and work unit. Set high but achievable standards and goals.
3. Invest in your people; time, money and training. Identify promising people early and develop them into leaders.
4. Be friendly, not necessarily a friend.
5. Be truthful and respectful.
6. Give timely and candid feedback and support.
7. Be approachable, get to know your people.
8. Enforce rules and regulations fairly and even handed.
9. Unlike wine and cheese, bad news does not improve with age. Deal with problems promptly.
10. Keep information flowing with two way communication. Feedback to leadership must be taken seriously. Let employees know what has what has become of their feedback. Provide feedback on the feedback.
11. Allow employees to be part of the decision making process, create "buy in".
12. Hand out medals whenever you can, do it publicly when possible.
13. Allow the work to be fun.
14. Make life better for your people. Remember the gestures do not have to be grand to be effective.
15. Celebrate victories while monitoring the quality of failures.
16. Create a climate of trust. Care about your people, if you don't they will never fully trust you.

I also have been contemplating creating a contract, a commitment to a positive workplace climate that everyone would be required to sign. Without going into too much detail the contract would be as follows.
Every employee will:
1. Demonstrate a commitment to the client.
2. Demonstrate a commitment to organizational success.
3. Promote respect and practice civility.
4. Demonstrate integrity.
5. Execute her/his job duties in a professional manner.
6. Participate actively within the organization.

There is a metaphor used in chaos theory called the Butterfly effect. It states that a butterfly flapping its wings in Japan can create a tsunami in Indonesia. It essentially implies that even the smallest of actions can create a ripple effect that leads to substantial change. It is important to remember that the ripple effect can lead to both positive and negative change. If leadership is commited to functional climate change the effects will be positive. If not, board up the windows and get ready for the STORM!