How do you spread the sense of commitment throughout an organization when you as an owner are the only one ‘actually’ on the hook? Here are examples of what a culture that encourages commitment should look like.

There are many ways one can commit. In business, there are specific commitments that owners make regarding time, money, energy, emotions, creativity and values that they must invest to make their business successful.

But how do we build a culture of committed and engaged employees?

First, consider this: Commitment is a pledge, an obligation, and emotionally driven.

This is not a word to be taken lightly as it binds those to action. It demonstrates a vow to stay true to a course of action before them. It binds those who commit to the company’s goals and objectives on more than just a symbolic level, but must be done with great emotional depth.

It is vital to any organization and even more important in today’s marketplace, as hiring has never been more challenging and retaining employees feels like sand slipping through your fingers.

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So consider these things when striving for improvements to your culture:

1. Establish a team environment where all members have input and contribute. Foster teamwork with project-based work and which requires collaboration. Shift team leads or project leads to ensure that every member of the team feels like a valuable part of the whole.
2. Ensure your team members understand what you expect from them. Set clear and defined roles and responsibilities and don’t forget to set metrics to measure results. Make sure your team understands how their commitment to what and how they do their work is equally important and how they reap rewards as the organization thrives.
3. Make sure that your organization is transparent in all areas and keep your team informed about major decisions as soon as you can. Whenever possible, make them a part of the decision-making process and allow them to provide relevant input.
4. Keep communication open, candid, and honest. Have hard conversations and address concerns head-on. Eliminating conflict is not the goal. It is about instilling a commitment to work through issues before they spiral out of control.
5. Your organization should have a strong focus and commitment to ethics and ethical behavior. Reinforce the tenets of the values you define as foundational to your organization and ensure team members relate to and understand the mission and vision of the company.
6. Build trust by sharing success and acknowledging the learning from failures. Don’t sweep mistakes under the rug, instead use them as learning and education to improve processes and systems to make your company more effective.
7. Celebrate and encourage innovation and creative thinking and problem-solving. Give your team members a voice and opportunities to stretch their skills and gain experience. Keep them growing personally and professionally so they know the organization cares about them beyond the role or position they hold in the company.

Finally, have fun and create times to kick up your heels and celebrate success. All work and no play make your company a boring place to be for 8 hours a day. Instead, give your team members reasons to arrive early and stay late and give their 100% commitment to the growth of the overall organization.

Is this your ideal dream?

Schedule a complimentary coaching session with one of our experienced business coaches to discover strategies to renew commitment in the new year.