The goal for every organization is to create a high-performance culture allowing employees to perform to their fullest potential. When you cultivate a culture that supports skill development and continuous learning, you’re creating a work environment that encourages high productivity and performance. But other factors contribute to high employee performance, including fewer environmentally-influenced traits like IQ, EQ, and personality. While there may not be a clear answer (which is most critical), you may want to consider some important factors  when thinking about key contributions to employee performance.

IQ

IQ is a measure of an individual’s intelligence—their ability to learn and synthesize information.  Individuals need a certain level of intelligence to function in life and do their jobs effectively. Historically, IQ was considered a strong predictive measure of performance. In the early 2000s, organizations began to recognize that IQ, while an effective measure of cognitive ability, could not effectively measure an individual’s ability to be smart about the needs and motivations of others—key skills needed to succeed in business. The limitations of IQ began to pave the way for an expanded discussion about intelligence based on the introduction of emotional intelligence.

Emotional Intelligence and EQ

Emotional intelligence, measured as EQ (emotional quotient), is the ability to identify and manage your emotions and the emotions of others. It helps you navigate and manage tough personalities at work while guiding your ability to display empathy, demonstrate active listening, and work successfully as part of a team. There is evidence of a strong link between high employee performance and high EQ, as research has found that high emotional intelligence determines 58 percent of success at work.

Some organizations value a high EQ over a high IQ, in large part because intelligence about the motivations, desires, and emotions of others is such a critical success factor at work. In fact, in a CareerBuilder Survey of more than 2,600 hiring managers and HR professionals, 71 percent said they favored emotional intelligence in an employee over IQ.

Personality

A high IQ and EQ are not the only traits that can contribute to an individual’s high performance. Personality—what makes you ‘you’—also impacts performance. Despite many theories on the psychology of personality, the traits comprising our personalities do impact job performance. For example, our level of extroversion and introversion, communication style, and level of conscientiousness affect our behavior at work. In fact, one study found that 37% of variations in job performance are attributable to extroversion personality characteristics.

While personality (who we are) is not exactly the same as behavior (what we do), it can affect job performance and the way we approach our work. For example, when faced with the challenge of giving a presentation at work, an individual with an extroverted personality may feel energized by the prospect of being in the spotlight. Conversely, an individual with an introverted personality might feel less comfortable as the center of attention, and might structure the presentation to pull the audience into a discussion so more views can be heard. Depending on the expectation level, either the extrovert or the introvert will perform better when giving the presentation.

Secret Sauce for High Performance?

Research has shown that environmental factors, as well as IQ, EQ, and personality, contribute to high employee performance. The combination of an individual’s innate characteristics and a high-performance work culture are the main building blocks for employee success at work. When all these ingredients for success merge, when they come together, then an individual is in the best position to learn new skills and behaviors that will lead to continuous performance improvement.

Experiential learning is an ideal tool to support continuous learning and performance improvement.  When individuals learn and repeat behaviors, neurons in the brain grow stronger, and performance improves. This is at the heart of experiential learning; individuals learn and practice new behaviors in training, which are reinforced through repetition, coaching, and follow-up after training.

While there are indicators, there is no secret sauce for high performance. Coupled with the fact that each individual is different and possesses a unique mix of capabilities and personality traits, the reality is that IQ, EQ, personality, and work culture must blend together to support individual learning and productivity.  Once experiential training is added to the mix, your employees can be well-positioned to learn, practice, and master the behaviors that will contribute to sustainable high performance.

Stress in the workplace is a reality for most people at some point, although some handle it better than others. With remote working and a hybrid workforce introducing a new realm of workplace stressors.  The American Psychological Association report on Stress in America found that the majority of people (61 percent) cite work as a source of stress, and a Paychex survey identified the top three sources of stress at work as:

• Complicated or hard work
• Long or erratic hours
• A lack of control at work or a lack of resources

While these factors cannot always be avoided, it’s entirely possible to manage stress better by equipping yourself with the right skills.

Understand the Impact of Stress in the Workplace

Stress is a real issue, and depending on the severity of it, it can have a significant impact on the mental and physical well-being of employees. we can’t ignore that working from home can create added stress, with the constant juggle of work and personal life. Chronic stress can lead to health issues for individuals, such as increased risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks, and stroke.

Stress in the workplace also impacts business performance. According to Harvard research, higher levels of stress lead to more missed days at work, costing U.S. businesses $30 billion per year. Fortunately, an investment in skills training can help employees at every age, experience level, and in any department reduce their stress by learning to manage challenging situations more effectively.

3 Crucial Stress Management Skills

1. Time Management

Managing time to be optimally productive—and not just active—helps reduce stress by making it easier for employees to meet their deadlines, manage expectations, and achieve their goals. Some of the most practical tactics to use for managing time better include:

• Writing to-do lists
• Understanding what is urgent
• Prioritizing tasks
• Defining goals and the paths to reach them
• Proactively scheduling tasks
• Making weekly plans

Training sessions and individual coaching focused on time management teach employees how to plan their time, handle interruptions, prioritize incoming tasks, and alter their behavior to overcome procrastination. All of which lower stressful situations because employees are able to manage them.

2. Conflict Resolution

Whether between individuals, teams, or competing priorities, conflicts arise in the workplace all the time and can be major contributors to stress. Employees who develop strategies for handling these types of situations will not only reduce their own stress levels, but will contribute to a more collaborative work environment. Some of the strategies that help reduce stress related to conflict include:

• Using active listening skills to understand other perspectives
• Having an open group conversation in which everybody has a chance to speak
• Addressing the issue in a timely manner to avoid further escalation
• Knowing when it is appropriate to escalate the issue

Ignoring conflicts—or engaging in them—is a sure way to increase stress and tension. Equipping employees with the tools they need to effectively address conflicts as soon as they arise benefits everyone.

3. Project Management

Successfully managing a project can help prevent stressful situations from arising in the first place. Although everybody experiences crunch time or an emergency every now and then, it should not be the norm. With the following project management skills, employees will be better able to deliver results without unnecessary stress:

• Set realistic deadlines and make a plan to stay on top of them.
• Use time management skills to avoid unnecessarily working long hours.
• Learn how to prioritize tasks so that the most urgent work is completed on time.
• Set realistic goals and allocate resources appropriately.
• Implement an effective communication plan.
• Incorporate risk management and contingency plans.

While it might not be possible to entirely avoid stressful situations in the course of managing a project, it is possible to minimize them.

Learning to Manage Stress

Stress is a real issue that has an impact on both individuals and organizations. Taking steps to avoid stress and giving people the tools to handle stress when it’s unavoidable will help you create a healthier, happier, and more productive workplace. Although there are many ways to teach new skills, experiential learning has one of the highest retention rates, enabling participants to quickly and effectively practice and then apply their new stress management skills on the job.

Rather than focusing on customer service or the customer experience, healthcare professionals appropriately concentrate on their patients’ experience. Creating a positive experience goes beyond meeting a certain standard of medical care—it has to do with the entire patient journey, from the first person patients have an interaction with to the very last (and we’re not just talking about medical staff here). Now more than ever, this has become particularly important to healthcare organizations, because patients have more choice and the ability to shop around for their healthcare providers.

In addition, healthcare professionals face challenges beyond the typical customer-provider relationship, because they must adeptly handle sensitive information, physical examinations, and the expected emotional stress that patients feel. Shifting your organization to a patient-centric mindset can help address those challenges and ensure that the entire patient experience is a positive one.

What Is Patient Centricity?

Patient centricity is about more than customer service training—it’s about behaviors. You more than likely already have programs in place that teach employees skills such as how to maintain a positive attitude with patients, handle billing disputes, and so on. To go one step further, consider whether every employee personally understands and believes the power they have to influence the patient experience. What your employees believe will inform their behaviors, and ultimately, the patient experience.

When an organization commits to a culture of patient centricity, the culture must be implemented at every level, especially with those not directly interacting with patients as they be most unclear about their effect on the patient. Creating a patient-centric culture requires every person in the organization to approach every decision with the mindset of “how will this impact the patient experience?” Not only does this make a challenging or stressful situation more positive for patients, it also leads to improved performance in patient metrics, and ultimately, a true, lasting change within the organization that inevitable efforts employee engagement and the employee experience.

5 Benefits of a Patient-Centric Culture

One of the end goals of cultivating a patient-centric culture is to improve patient satisfaction. A culture change, not just skills training, can do this, thanks to:

1. Better Communication

Patients and loved ones are often anxious to hear status updates throughout their journey with you. Whether the news is good or bad, the more clearly and more frequently healthcare professionals communicate, the better the experience will be for the patient. In addition to learning the skills to communicate with compassion, patient centricity also creates the impetus to be proactive about communication so that questions are answered before the patient feels the need to ask.

2. Culture Alignment

Every organization has a culture, including healthcare organizations. When all providers and support staff are on the same page about how to interact with patients in a patient-centric culture, the experience will be more consistent. Get your employees aligned around why your organization does what it does, the vision for how that is done, and the values to live by. This gives everyone a greater purpose and allows them to ensure their everyday actions support them.

3. Empathy in All Situations

Many healthcare providers are naturally skilled at expressing genuine empathy about health issues, but are not always trained to do the same about service issues. The patient experience encompasses every interaction, and when billing errors or other administrative mistakes occur, it’s important for staff—including medical staff—to respond with sensitivity and to help resolve any issues. In a patient-centric culture, employees are able to see beyond their own roles and contribute to delivering what patients need, even if it’s outside the scope of their job descriptions.

4. Employee Engagement

While it’s true that many healthcare professionals and support staff start their careers with a sincere commitment to providing excellent patient service, this can wane over time as the rigors of the job take effect. Organizations that take steps to keep employees engaged and enthusiastic about their work will benefit from the results of a good employee experience and a stronger commitment to the entire patient journey.

5. Less Burnout

Burnout is a real issue for healthcare professionals. Patient centricity encourages employees to look at the bigger picture and take the necessary steps to deliver an exceptional patient experience. Creating an environment in which employees know to look at the bigger picture when they are overwhelmed, and seek help to achieve what’s needed, will allow them to serve others better.

When you strip away the details, healthcare is a business and patients are customers. However, the practitioner-patient relationship is a complex one. Creating a culture of patient centricity is the way to achieve lasting change and the desired results, such as increased patient loyalty, more referrals, and a better return on investment.

Introduction

Every organization has a unique combination of leadership characteristics and employee behaviors that contribute to the shared values and standards that are expressed and acted on. At Eagle’s Flight, we have identified several types of corporate culture that can be cultivated to create a higher-performing workplace. Of course, not every corporate culture is suited to a particular organization, as each comes with its own set of benefits and potential detriments to be monitored.

4 Types of Corporate Culture

This list of pros and cons for four different types of corporate culture outlines how they can foster, or potentially hinder, organizational excellence.

1. Culture of Accountability

In this type of corporate culture, individuals feel accountable for both their own work and that of their teams. As such, they feel empowered to take ownership and trust that their colleagues do the same.

Pros:

• Potential issues are identified before they become real problems
• Employees feel comfortable coming to leadership with new concepts
• Individuals are motivated to share ideas that might improve the organization

Cons:

• The word “accountability” can sometimes have negative connotations to employees
• A heavy focus on accountability for poor decisions can decrease morale

In a culture of accountability that functions well, every team member actively and willingly contributes to the success of the organization, because they understand that their contributions have value. On the other hand, organizations that place too much emphasis on accountability for negative outcomes can experience a decrease in performance, as employees are less willing to risk testing new methods and ideas.

2. Culture of Innovation

In organizations that depend on innovation to maintain success in the marketplace, it is essential to integrate team members with diverse skill sets and provide the tools and processes that enable them to develop and implement new ideas.

Pros:

• A shared commitment to innovation at every level of the organization
• Competitive advantage in the marketplace
• An inclusive environment that welcomes all ideas

Cons:

• Internal competition can become unhealthy if not handled appropriately
• There is potential to create a culture of secrecy

Creating a successful culture of innovation depends on empowering teams to be creative and giving them the necessary resources to execute their ideas in a safe environment. However, too much emphasis on competition between teams can lead to secrecy and ultimately hinder performance by preventing knowledge from being shared.

3. Culture of Safety

Industries that require work that poses potential safety risks to individuals and the environment can benefit from a culture in which employees inherently protect not just themselves but also their teammates and their surroundings.

Pros:

• Cost savings due to fewer safety incidents
• Inherent knowledge that the organization values employee safety
• A proactive approach to safety and compliance

Cons:

• Lost productivity if employees don’t have proper training for operating both efficiently and safely
• A strong focus on adhering to strict protocols and regulations can limit innovation

A culture of safety contributes to high performance while mitigating risk and maintaining compliance. However, an organization that also wants to promote innovation must balance internal communication and training in a way that allows individuals to experiment with new ideas while also considering their own well-being and that of those around them.

4. Culture of High-Performance Sales

Organizations with a large salesforce benefit from having a common culture that supports the activities that generate revenue by providing access to the necessary information and resources to promote new products and services.

Pros:

• An informed salesforce that can successfully promote the organization’s products and services

• A commitment from leadership and employees to support the salesforce
• Accountability in setting and exceeding sales goals

Cons:

• Potential competition that results in not sharing knowledge or resources
• Loss of focus on customer centricity

A culture of high-performance sales has the potential to increase revenue, but without a tandem focus on truly satisfying customer needs, the team might not be able to achieve long-term success.

Balance Is the Key

When undergoing any type of culture transformation, consider both the desired positive impacts and the potential negative effects that might arise. Understanding the possible pitfalls can help you address them through organizational training, internal communication, and behavior modeling.

A collaborative workforce in which individuals work together to achieve a common goal is more likely to function as a productive, high-performing team. In a survey of C-suite executives, 73 percent said that their company would be even more successful if employees worked more collaboratively. Furthermore, 56 percent of respondents said the number one factor that would have the greatest impact on overall profitability was collaboration between employees. In a collaborative workplace, individuals don’t just exercise strong teamwork skills some of the time; they operate in a culture where collaboration is consistent and evident in their everyday behaviors. Here are the seven characteristics of a workforce that is truly collaborative.

Strong Leadership

Leaders set the tone for employee behavior, helping to encourage and guide collaboration within and between teams. They also communicate expectations for teamwork and coach individuals to be better at working together. Research conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity found that the top behaviors of collaborative leaders include:

• Modeling collaborative behaviors through their own example
• Building strong internal networks and frequently working with individuals in other departments and roles
• Rewarding others who engage in collaborative behaviors

By engaging in these activities, collaborative leaders can help the organization resist the formation of silos and build a culture in which collaboration occurs naturally.

Clearly Defined Roles for Subgroups

When each team has clarity about their role in helping the company achieve its goals, collaboration is not only more possible, but is likely to be more rewarding for everyone involved. Instead of individuals quickly growing frustrated about duplicated efforts or a ball that’s been dropped, they can more easily share information and ideas when they’re clear about where team accountabilities lie and who’s responsible for what. Individuals in a collaborative workforce understand how their respective roles fit together.

Consistent, United, and Enthusiastic Effort

Although results are always important, individuals in a truly collaborative workforce also maintain a united and enthusiastic effort throughout the life of any activity. That united effort is important because if any person or team loses enthusiasm for the shared goal or begins to give less than their best effort, the whole organization can suffer. Everyone working together as a team from the beginning to the end of each task, project, or quarter ensures a consistent effort.

Effective and Frequent Communication

Collaboration can’t happen without effective communication between teams and individuals. No person or team within the organization can be an island, and frequent communication is what helps people learn, make progress on key projects, and overcome obstacles. When everyone is communicating, each person has the chance to share their ideas and talents with the broader team, and there is less risk of confusion about expectations and deliverables.

Shared Resources

Each team and individual possesses resources that can be helpful to others, and it’s not just information. Resources such as time, ideas, and experience are also routinely shared in a truly collaborative work environment. No one ever said it was easy to share resources, especially when you feel time-constrained. However, when resources are shared rather than consistently held close to the vest, the whole team ultimately benefits.

Periodic and Temporary Suppression of the Ego

Having a healthy ego and a strong sense of confidence is great. However, sometimes collaboration requires that the ego take a backseat so that others can have a voice, apply their talents, and contribute to the team. In a collaborative workforce, it’s ideal for every member of the team to share their ideas and contributions, rather than just one person or a handful of people.

Unanimous Focus on a Common Goal

When people see that they are working toward a common goal, they’re more likely to work together to achieve it. A collaborative workforce is able to look beyond personal agendas and competition between teams and recognize that each person and team has a unique role to play in meeting the common goal. When everyone is unanimously focused on the shared goal, a sense of camaraderie develops and people begin to see that they are “all in this together.”

When you build a truly collaborative workforce, you can achieve a range of benefits, such as productive employees, more cohesive teams, and a more effective organization. A good way to get started in developing the characteristics of a collaborative workforce is through employee learning and development that helps to build leadership, communication, and teamwork skills throughout the entire workforce.

Achieving employee engagement is a commitment that starts with leadership. Every leader in the organization has an impact—good or bad—on the teams they lead, and this influences individual engagement. Factors such as the overall success of the business, an individual manager’s leadership style, and specific issues on a team can all affect employee engagement. In order to get every individual to contribute their best efforts, leaders must have the ability to recognize the factors that cause employees to participate and those that cause them to disengage.

Engagement isn’t magic—it’s craft. It requires open communication, clearly articulated goals, and unambiguous expectations. Therefore, if you are wondering how you can improve employee engagement, building strong leadership skills will be key to success. Here’s how they can support the achievement of your goals:

1. Improving Engagement through Communication

Leaders must learn how to communicate clearly and effectively. This includes sharing goals, strategies, and the rationales behind decisions so that employees can understand why they are asked to do certain tasks. It’s also important for leadership to share success stories, both at the individual and organizational levels. For example, recognizing individual achievements on a team can be very motivating for everybody in the company. It’s also important not to assume that everybody in the company is aware of successes at the organizational level, such as awards, news items, or charitable donations.

Within the organization, communication between leadership and employees should be two-way. When employees have the opportunity to provide honest feedback to leadership, they become more engaged because they believe that their opinions matter. This can be accomplished through employee surveys, one-on-one conversations, and small group discussions.

Practical strategies for improving employee engagement through communication include:

• Committing to consistent, periodic updates about the organizational big picture
• Scheduling regular feedback sessions between leaders and employees that go beyond just an annual review
• Implementing technology (messaging apps, internal social platforms, etc.) that will foster better communication among peers

2. Improving Engagement through Clear Goals

Sharing organizational goals helps employees understand their roles in achieving them. You can then use these larger goals to formulate attainable objectives at the individual level. Setting individual goals that align with organizational objectives fosters better engagement by highlighting exactly how each employee is contributing. This practice also gives every employee something for which to be accountable.

Articulating a compelling vision not only ensures individual alignment with organizational objectives, it also instills a sense of purpose among employees, which contributes to greater job satisfaction.

Practical strategies for improving employee engagement through setting clear goals include:

• Writing down the most important organizational goals and posting them in a place where every employee will see them on a regular basis
• Frequently referencing company goals in internal communications
• Having each employee set individual objectives based on the common company goal, and using those goals to coach against
• Following up on each person’s goals throughout the year and seeking ways to support their success

3. Improving Engagement through Unambiguous Expectations

When it’s not clear who is responsible for what, it’s easy for employees to disengage. On the other hand, when individuals know that they are accountable for specific outcomes, they are more likely to fully engage to meet those expectations. Leaders can demonstrate accountability through their own behavior by always delivering on their commitments.

Practical strategies for improving employee engagement through unambiguous expectations include:

• Defining the expected outcomes, including timelines, for each employee objective
• Tracking progress with regular check-ins between managers and employees
• Publicly recognizing individuals when they meet the defined expectations to reinforce the desired behavior

Conclusion: Improving Employee Engagement Is a Process

These three approaches work together to improve employee engagement. Using effective communication to create individual goals and define expectations gives employees a clear path forward. They know what is expected of them and, equally importantly, why they are doing it. Engagement starts with leadership, and if your leaders don’t yet have the necessary skills to deploy these strategies, it require updating your leadership development program.

The role of Human Resources in organizational transformation efforts is an important one. HR acts as a powerful change agent and advisor to company leaders. According to Gartner research, 66 percent of organizational change factors relate to talent, requiring the full involvement of HR to pull together the people and resources needed to make transformation efforts a success. Though it may be tempting to think of HR as the prime driver of organizational transformation, senior leaders are responsible for establishing the vision and championing organizational change, with HR acting as a critical enabler of change. Here are four key areas in which HR plays an important role in supporting organizational transformation and helping to make it a reality.

Employee Training and Development

The role of HR is to understand the unique learning needs of the workforce. During an organizational transformation, HR ensures that leaders receive the necessary training to be more effective in leading change and that all employees have opportunities to expand their skills in relevant areas, such as teamwork, communication, or customer service, just to name a few. Employees need new skills and knowledge to change their behavior, and HR can identify training partners and solutions that will address learning requirements as the organization evolves. With a culture transformation, for example, HR can evaluate and identify an enterprise-wide solution that incorporates coaching, targeted skill-building, and training reinforcement to ensure lasting behavior change.

Workplace Communication

Effective communication is necessary for any initiative to take hold within an organization, and HR is an important catalyst for ensuring that all individuals involved have the information they need. HR also supports workplace communication by ensuring that the appropriate feedback loops are in place so that individuals have opportunities to express their views and ask questions. HR can enhance two-way communication in support of organizational transformation in the following ways:

• Helping to craft employee communications from senior leaders
• Participating in town halls and team meetings
• Advising leaders, from the CEO to the frontline, and helping them to deliver consistent messages at every level of the organization

Tracking Progress and Sharing Feedback

HR helps to develop, drive, and monitor the agenda for change, keeping leaders informed and helping those who derail get back on track. Different functions and teams will have different experiences as organizational transformation gets underway, and HR is well-positioned to monitor each team’s success, making sure that implementation across departments and functions is consistent. Because HR is often central to transformation activities, HR professionals are able to see each team’s progress with clarity and can deliver feedback that will help managers guide their teams more effectively.

Linking Talent Management Programs

During an organizational transformation, HR needs to ensure that each stage of the HR Cycle—including recruitment, rewards and recognition, and performance management—aligns with the goals of the transformation. When talent management programs are aligned to the new state of the organization, people have greater clarity regarding performance expectations and opportunities for growth. Some examples of how HR can link talent management programs to organizational transformation efforts include:

• Ensuring that recruitment efforts and job postings incorporate the skills and competencies required for success in the new organizational culture
• Revising succession plans to ensure individuals who embody the new company culture are positioned for leadership roles
• Integrating new organizational values into the performance review process

As business partners and advisors, HR is at the heart of any initiative that impacts the mindset and behavior of employees. Therefore, the role of human resources in organizational transformation should be to ensure that individuals have the necessary tools and resources to understand the need for change and take ownership of their role in making organizational change a success. On an ongoing basis, HR helps leaders instill new values across their teams and supports employees along every step of the HR Cycle.