“If we were to start a new company, what kind of company would we want it to be?”
That’s the question my business partner and I asked ourselves when we started dreaming up the company that would eventually become Insperity. Our first instinct was to hire people for their input rather than their output. Instead of what we would sell or how much we would charge, our ideas stemmed from how employees would interact and work with each other.
These ideas grew into Insperity’s long-held approach to fostering a strong workplace culture and a sense of belonging. Quite naturally, this foundation became our values-based, culture-driven, people-centric strategy. Like all good foundations, it is an immovable force that has empowered our business to succeed and innovate for the future. It is how we achieve the new concept of Commonality, Equality, and Cohesion at Insperity.
Focusing on this strategy allows us to create a work environment where employees of all backgrounds value and appreciate each other as a natural outcome of their interactions. It develops dynamic employee engagement and creates organizational unity while driving a powerful level of care for our clients. It’s our roadmap for success.
Dive into the three elements of this strategy to discover the positive impact they can have on your leadership and your business’ success.
Values-based: This is the solid foundation. Values are aspirational, but they also establish the framework and ground rules for relationships, standards for employee interaction, and personal responsibility. When values align, employees will work harder, be more committed, and bring their best to the workplace.
How committed are you to a set of values in your business? Do you have guidelines for how your employees should interact with each other?
Culture-driven: This is the secret sauce. Culture is the oil in the engine – it’s not any one part, but it makes the whole operation run smoother and faster. When intentional, culture can drive optimal levels of efficiency, innovation, and resiliency. Your company’s culture ultimately determines what your success level is going to be.
What is your company culture and the ongoing standard of behavior in your business? What obstacles could be cleared with some attention to your culture?
People-centric: This is the secret weapon. People are the key to the success or failure of your business. When you realize that each person has inherent value, a unique point of view, and unlimited potential, you generate respect for the worth of each individual – which is an essential element to being people-centric.
Do you believe each person elevates the potential of your company? Do you put significant thought into communicating with your employees and establishing a process for feedback?
As you consider how to implement this values-based, culture-driven, people-centric strategy, Insperity is here to guide you forward. With decades of experience, we can analyze your foundation and identify areas of improvement to boost your company culture and business outcomes.
In our book, we share how we empirically tested elements of the values-based, culture-driven, people- centric strategy’s impact on four key business outcomes: Collaborative Culture, Organizational Identification, Discretionary Effort, and Team Creativity. Every organization would like to achieve these four outcomes because they represent employee engagement to the fullest extent.
A highly collaborative workplace, a testament to a strong company culture, fosters an environment where employees actively seek opportunities to work together, enhancing productivity and innovation.
Organizational Identification is the extent to which employees feel that their personal values align with the organization’s. When core values align, great things happen.
Individual Discretionary Effort shows that when people feel like they fit in and belong, they work harder and smarter, are more engaged, and stay on the job longer. They go above and beyond what is expected of them.
Team Creativity is innovation. Employees strive to improve their work on behalf of their team and are “all-in” in pursuit of the team’s goals.
Our research has shown that at Insperity, standards of commonality, equality, and cohesion—all part of being a values-based, culture-driven, people-centric culture—push the measurable business outcomes above. Paul and I encourage leaders to read Making Differences Work to discover ways to further employee engagement and move their organizations forward in this highly competitive business environment.
Learn more about this strategy in our new book by Paul Sarvadi, CEO of Insperity co-authored with Dr. Eli Jones: Making Differences Work – A New Values Based, Culture Driven, People Centric Approach to Achieving Commonality, Equality, Cohesion, and Business Performance.