How to turn disruption and change into opportunity and advantage

Culture is the key to a company’s growth and profitability. So how do we create and grow a prosperous work environment at a time when two-thirds of employees in the United States are disengaged or disinterested?

It starts with the way the company is structured to begin with. Think of the difference of being a culture-first company instead of one that only evaluates its collective values and mindset as an afterthought. Some companies had to suffer high-profile executive shakeups and lawsuits before they started taking culture and employee well-being as serious as their shareholder’s value.

But this is far beyond avoiding embarrassing public displays of dysfunction. A culture-first company signals awareness and progressiveness in today’s strong economy, where recruiting and retaining employees is a considerable challenge for all companies.

Having a pool of talented, engaged employees who are committed to the prosperity of their company means having a work environment where employees feel valued and supported.

“You are going to be disrupted again and again and again. You are either going to be the disruptor or the disrupted; there is no middle ground anymore,” as Daniel Burrus, technology futurist says, “Change comes from the inside out. Transformation always from the inside, not the outside”

There are so many benefits to having a healthy and inclusive culture, but how do we do this and how do continuously iterate upon it?

One way is through HR platforms. It allows business leaders to develop a framework of maintaining, monitoring and improving the company’s mission and people management. HR functionality as a service is growing and is not going to slow down anytime soon, given the growing awareness of the importance of having an engaged and healthy workforce through recognition and feedback (check out Hi5). There has also been a steady increase of leadership positions such as Chief People Officer or similar titles, further demonstrating this phenomenon.

It is not only massive Fortune 500 companies that need to prioritize human capital management. People analytics and management platforms are desperately needed by all sizes of businesses — I speak with a lot of smaller companies who don’t do HR very well and either they can’t afford it, or they don’t see value in it. These companies are prime candidates to use a platform as an HR service (although it should be noted that a lack of company cohesion and communication can topple a small business far faster than a large one).

When companies are searching for the correct platform here are some points to consider. Firstly, most platforms offer some sort of trial period, normally 14 days which can give you an insight on what the platform offers and if it's a good fit. Secondly, check if the platform can easily integrate with your current systems and tech in place.

Things to consider in the testing phase:

1. Ability for co-workers to give regular feedback.
2. Giving recognition must be specific in order for it to be meaningful.
3. The ability to link to the values and culture of what you and your company are trying to create or uphold.
4. Will this make people excited and better in the workplace? (This answer is very subjective; you may want to run a quick pulse survey to check this with your team).
5. Will it make life easier and more enjoyable in the workplace?

Mission, vision and value are what is needed for great leadership. We have to be looking into the future and following hard trends. Make a move as seamless as possible to avoid a complete overhaul or disruption in the workplace (unless this is what is needed at your company). Do your research and make educated decisions based on your company culture, values and mission.