Although profits are vitally important to the success of any business, there are other factors that, when added to the quest for money, contribute to a company’s overall well-being. These are the less visible elements that influence how successful an organization is, like self-awareness, leadership, vision, morale and motivation. When you pay attention to these areas you build a healthy foundation that makes your organization stronger. Let’s look at some practical questions you can ask yourself to develop self-awareness and evaluate the health of your organization.
- What do your employees really think about your leadership?
- What are the areas your organization is never able to fix?
- If you asked other organizations what you could improve, what might they say?
- What would an outside person say is the general health of your organization?
- What’s your turnover like and how do you retain talent?
- What opportunities to grow do you offer your employees?
- How fulfilled do your employees feel in their jobs?
- How are decisions made in your organization? For example: Top down, bottom up or horizontally. What could be modified to function even more effectively?
- How much autonomy do your employees have to make decisions?
- What is the morale and motivation in your organization like at every level?
- In what ways and how often do you talk openly with all your employees?
- How easy is it to disrupt the veneer of civility between people in your organization?
- What would an outside observer say about how your employees are treated?
- How does your organization encourage creativity?
- What do your clients say about your organization?
- What do you need in terms of people and resources to address these issues?
Leaders have a choice whether they build a profitable company where people are miserable or where they’re happy. Ask yourself questions like the ones we’ve looked at here and you’ll be on your way to building an organization that not only makes money, but does so in a healthy and balanced way.
What will you do to increase self-awareness and build a healthy organization?
Cheers,
Guy