Cultivating a Healthy Business Culture
Cultivating a Healthy Business Culture
3 Ingredients to Massive Results
August 1, 2024; By: Justin Teeuwen
“Changing the corporate culture has become the latest management fad. Every business magazine carries articles about it.”1 If that quote feels accurate, that is because it is – Forbes magazine produced over 20 articles on the subject in 2024 already; Harvard Business Review released an issue with a headlining article on the subject. But, it isn’t new. Peter Drucker wrote this quote to open his famous article in March of 1991.
Business leaders and analysts agree that corporate culture is important – losses due to employee absenteeism, employee turnover and reduced productivity are estimated in the billions across industries.2
So if culture is important, what makes a healthy culture? A healthy culture is one which is supported throughout the organization – inside and out. When all members are individually healthy, trust each other, and are rowing in the same direction with the same beliefs, massive results follow4. There are three ingredients to healthy teams:
Safety. A healthy culture brings out the best in individuals by supporting their individual wellbeing.
PRO-TIP: Wellbeing includes health and safety, mental health, nutrition, physical activity and general health.
Vulnerability. Teams reach highest levels of performance when they are able to trust each other implicitly.
PRO-TIP: Vulnerability begins with the leadership – by owning their mistakes and inviting lessons to achieve growth.
Purpose. Cultures which foster shared goals and values direct the actions of the teams into results.
PRO-TIP: Values must be actionable, built around real-world scenarios, described vividly, and be the source of driving culture (but not at the expense of results).
When supporting individuals’ wellbeing, it is important to consider the whole person – wellness is not a hierarchy, it is a wheel; each spoke of your being depends on the health of the other. Examples include encouraging physical exercise, connecting work to purpose, and acts of kindness.5 Leaders inspire high levels of trust when they model behaviours of truth-sharing and growth.
The culture that is right for your organization depends on the need to respond to change and how people interact within it6. The right structure is the one which meets your needs. It’s supported by all7 – management, every individual, and yes, even every client.
For example, one of the core values of Meta Excellence is Love of Learning – take chances, keep growing, and have fun! We grow every day when we challenge our assumptions and discover rewarding results from our questions. We work with clients who are driven to reach for even greater heights. We select our clients and teams by these values, it drives our every move, and so we grow every day.
To learn more about fostering a healthy culture, set up a free consultation with a Meta Coach.
1 Drucker, Peter. (1991). Don’t change corporate culture – Use it! Wall Street Journal, 28, A14.
2 Celestine, Nicole. Wellbeing at Work: 24 Ideas for a Healthier Workplace. Positive Workplace. Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/workplace-wellbeing/
3 Lein, Andrea. Company Culture: How to Create a Flourishing Workplace. Positive Workplace. Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/company-culture/
4 Coyne, Daniel. (2018). The Culture Code: The secrets of highly successful groups. Bantam.
5 Routledge, Clay. 3 Ways to build an organizational culture that supports mental health. Harvard Business Review. Health and Wellness. https://hbr.org/2023/11/3-ways-to-build-an-organizational-culture-that-supports-mental-health
6 Meyer, Erin. (2024). Build a corporate culture that works. Harvard Business Review, 04(102).
7 Yohn, Denise Lee. (2021). Company Culture is everyone’s responsibility. Harvard Business Review. Organizational Culture. https://hbr.org/2021/02/company-culture-is-everyones-responsibility
