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Joy at Work?
More than just a good idea. Make it your culture.

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If people really are the key, then what kind of place attracts and keeps the best people?

Creating Joy at Work may sound like an airy-fairy concept in the hard-nosed world of business, but let's consider what this workshop is designed to accomplish:

• Create a better atmosphere at work.
• Create an infrastructure to sustain that atmosphere organization-wide.
• Track and measure success against that goal.

What matters most for success in business?

Beyond the noblest of mission statements is the corporate statement: Make money for the shareholders.

The harsh reality is that products and services make money.

But people make products. And marketing plans. And sales calls. And back office systems.

Without a good work environment, many great product ideas will never be born, and a good number of them will walk out of the door - to competitors with better work environments.

Without a good work environment, morale plummets. Effectiveness falls. Enthusiasm wanes. And the desire to go the extra mile dissipates.

That's why Joy at Work exists. To answer the question: if people really are the key, then what kind of place attracts and keep the best people?

Now, let's look at the business case for joy at work.

Suppose you had stock tips on two hot companies.

Both companies have brilliant products. Both companies have brilliant staffs. Both companies are well positioned for the future.

While visiting company A, you notice people obviously enjoy being at work. Communication flows freely. People smile. Problems arise, are discussed quickly, and resolved in a friendly and mature manner. People are challenged to do their best work. Newcomers are welcomed into the fold from day one. The word on the street is that this company is great place to work, and people are clamoring to get in.

While visiting company B, the cultural environment felt subtly different. Morale seems low, and people constantly joke about counting the days until their stock options vest. Only certain people speak at staff meetings; only certain people are asked their opinions. Everyone wants to work on the hot projects, and look down upon those on the "dumb" projects. Groups are cliquish, and noticeably unfriendly with one another. Absenteeism is high.

Since lots of companies can start with a splash, and even last awhile, let's assume both companies are doing well.

Now answer this:

• Which of these companies is more likely to be able to sustain the momentum of their initial success?
• Which of these companies is likely to be forced to use valuable available funds to cover the loss of key employees?
• Which of these companies is more likely to "find" a great idea that can result in whole new streams of revenue?
• Which company appears to be a better place for your long term investment money?

Well… okay, you make good points - but how do you do it? How can you actually build joy into the workplace?

The answer is surprisingly simple.

Joy at work is not a question of mood. It's a question of infrastructure. It's a question of which practices, in the "trenches" of a company, are being rewarded which are being punished, and how. It's a question of which practices are valued. It's a question of culture.

If strong, positive cultures happened automatically, we'd have a very different world. These work environments or cultures happen because they are designed to happen.

There are specific principles that facilitate joy at work - and, conversely, promote misery at work.

Once these principles are identified, the next step is to develop a "diagnostic eye" - an eye for finding those values, practices, and organizational habits which support joy at work.

Using our Principles of Relationship Management © model, as well as the participants' own work experiences, this workshop helps participants to:

• See the principles that facilitate positive work environments.
• See the role culture plays in the presence of joy, or misery, at work.
• Diagnose their culture to see its strengths and weaknesses.
• Develop specific strategies for creating shifts towards a more positive work environment.
• Develop specific support systems to help ensure these strategies are executed.

The strongest argument for joy at work is also, perhaps, the most obvious:

Given a choice, people would rather be employed at a wonderful place to work, than at a mediocre or miserable place to work. So why not create a wonderful place to work?

Why risk losing good people, when you can create an environment that makes encourages them to stay?

Indeed, why not make your workplace culture itself a selling point of your organization?

More details on how is Joy at Work accomplished? Contact us or see next.

Contact us to conduct Creating Joy At Work workshops for your organization.