Confidence Classic: Build an EPIC Workplace Culture That Drives Results with Jessica Kriegel, Chief Scientist of Workplace Culture
In this episode of Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan, Jessica Kriegel shares insights on building an effective workplace culture that drives results. She emphasizes the importance of clearly defining organizational goals and embedding them through consistent messaging to ensure employee alignment.
Kriegel also highlights the role of leaders in shaping employee beliefs and behaviors that support the desired culture. She provides guidance on overcoming challenges in prioritizing culture amidst operational pressures, advocating for empowering employees to model and reinforce desired behaviors.
This is a preview of the Shortform summary of the Apr 16, 2025 episode of the Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
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Defining and Aligning Organizational Goals and Metrics
According to Jessica Kriegel, many organizations lack clarity in their objectives, leading to misalignment and lack of focus. Clear shared goals, however, can significantly boost engagement and success. Kriegel discusses how embedding goals and metrics through repetitive messaging ensures all employees understand how their roles contribute to broader objectives.
Shaping Employee Beliefs to Drive Behavior and Results
Kriegel emphasizes the importance of influencing employee beliefs to promote sustainable actions and desired results. Beliefs about work, colleagues, and the organization shape actions and results. Leaders should identify and transform hindering beliefs to drive effective behaviors through feedback, recognition, and storytelling that align with stated organizational values.
The Role of Leaders In Intentionally Creating Culture
Leaders play a pivotal role in shaping organizational culture through their behavior and communication practices. Kriegel stresses that leaders must demonstrate skills like giving feedback and recognition to cultivate the desired culture. If leaders don't adapt their leadership style accordingly, Kriegel considers it "lazy leadership" signaling low priority on culture.
Overcoming Challenges In Prioritizing Culture Amidst Other Pressures
Kriegel acknowledges the difficulties executives face in giving attention to culture amid operational and financial pressures that often lead to prioritizing short-term results over long-term cultural health. She advocates empowering employees to share stories and model desired behaviors to ease leaders' burden in driving cultural change.
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Counterarguments
- While clear shared goals can boost engagement, they may also lead to inflexibility in rapidly changing markets where adaptability is key.
- Repetitive messaging of goals and metrics might be perceived as micromanagement or lack of trust in employees' understanding and commitment.
- Influencing employee beliefs is important, but there is a risk of creating a monoculture where dissenting views are not valued, potentially stifling innovation.
- The assumption that leaders can transform employee beliefs may overlook the complexity of individual values and the potential resistance to top-down cultural initiatives.
- The focus on leaders in shaping culture might underestimate the influence of grassroots movements within an organization and the role of employees at all levels in culture creation.
- The term "lazy leadership" could be seen as overly simplistic and may not account for the nuanced challenges leaders face in balancing multiple responsibilities.
- Prioritizing culture is important, but there may be circumstances where immediate operational and financial pressures are so acute that they must take precedence to ensure the survival of the organization.
- Empowering employees is beneficial, but without proper guidance and support, this approach could lead to inconsistent behaviors and messages that dilute the intended culture.
- The emphasis on storytelling and modeling behaviors assumes that these methods are universally effective, which may not be the case for all types of employees or organizational contexts.
Actionables
- Create a personal mission statement to clarify your objectives and align your daily actions with your goals. Start by writing down what you value most and what you aim to achieve in different areas of your life, such as career, relationships, and personal growth. Use this statement to guide your decisions and prioritize tasks that contribute to these objectives.
- Develop a habit of self-reflection to influence your beliefs and actions. Set aside time each week to reflect on your beliefs about your work, relationships, and personal goals. Consider how these beliefs affect your behavior and results, and challenge any that may be hindering your progress. Replace them with empowering beliefs that align with your mission statement.
- Foster a culture of recognition in your personal relationships by regularly acknowledging the contributions and successes of friends, family, and colleagues. Make it a point to give genuine compliments, express gratitude, and celebrate achievements. This practice can strengthen your relationships and encourage positive behaviors that resonate with your values.
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Defining and Aligning Organizational Goals and Metrics
Jessica Kriegel discusses how lack of clarity in organizational objectives leads to misalignment and a lack of focus, while properly shared and understood goals can significantly boost engagement and success.
Setting Clear, Aligned Goals Drives Engagement and Results
Kriegel illuminates a pervasive issue in which many organizations chase success and growth without defining what it truly means for them to succeed or what their ultimate victory should look like. This scenario, akin to a “spinning hamster wheel,” offers no real end or success to celebrate, causing organizational frustration and ineffective effort. Even within Fortune 100 companies, Kriegel points out, executives may have divergent understandings of their growth aims, leading to conflicting figures concerning revenue growth goals. This discord stems from different interpretations, whether it’s a number penciled into the budget, a figure mentioned to the board, or considered as a stretch or realistic target. Such lack of alignment prevents employees from rallying behind a unified goal. According to Kriegel, clarity in expected results is not just a key driver of staff engagement but is also a crucial determinant of success.
Aligning Organizational Goals
Understanding the "why" Boosts Employee Engagement and Motivation
Kriegel highlights the critical role of purpose in the workplace, stressing the necessity for team members to recognize and express their individual "why". Aligning personal motives with the overarching aims of the company is a central theme during job interviews where she questions candidates on how aligning with the organization's objectives could enable the realization of their own goals. This strategy focuses on establishing a "purpose fit ...
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Defining and Aligning Organizational Goals and Metrics
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Clarifications
- "Spinning hamster wheel" is a metaphor used to describe a situation where an organization is constantly busy but not making progress or achieving meaningful results. It implies a sense of repetitive, futile effort akin to a hamster running on a wheel without reaching a destination. This metaphor highlights the lack of clear direction or purpose, leading to frustration and inefficiency within the organization.
- A "stretch target" is a goal that is ambitious and challenging to achieve, pushing individuals or organizations beyond their usual performance levels. On the other hand, a "realistic target" is a goal that is more attainable and within reach based on current capabilities and resources. The distinction between these two types of targets helps in setting expectations and guiding efforts towards achieving desired outcomes effectively. Organizations often balance setting stretch targets to drive innovation and growth while also ensuring realistic targets to maintain motivation and focus.
- "purpose fit" vs. "culture fit" are concepts related to aligning individual motivations with organizational goals. "Purpose fit" emphasizes aligning personal goals with the company's objectives for enhanced engagement and performance. In contrast, "culture fit" typically focuses on how well an individual's values and behaviors align with the company's culture and values. The distinction lies in prioritizing individual purpose alignment over cultural alignment for driving motivation and success within the organization.
- "Embedding goals and success metrics" involves integrating and reinforcing organizational objectives and performance measures throughout the company. This process ensures that goals and key performance indicators are consistently communicated and understood by all employees. By embedding these goals and metrics, organizations aim to align indiv ...
Counterarguments
- While clarity in objectives is important, overly rigid goals can stifle creativity and adaptability in a rapidly changing business environment.
- The assumption that all employees are motivated by aligning their personal goals with the company's may not hold true for everyone, as some individuals may prioritize job security, work-life balance, or other factors over the company's objectives.
- Repetitive and consistent messaging can sometimes lead to message fatigue among employees, reducing the effectiveness of communication over time.
- The focus on aligning personal motives with company goals during job interviews might overlook the importance of diversity in thought and experience, which can also drive organizational success.
- The idea that understanding the "why" always boosts engagement and motivation assumes that all employees are driven by purpose, which may not be the case for every individual.
- The emphasis on success metrics might inadvertently promote a culture of short-termism, where long-term goals and sustainable practices are overshadowed by the need to meet immediate targets.
- The text does not address the potential downsides of a unified goal, such as groupthink or the suppression of minorit ...
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Shaping Employee Beliefs to Drive Behavior and Results
Jessica Kriegel and Heather Monahan discuss the necessity of influencing employee beliefs to promote sustainable actions and drive desired results within organizations.
Influencing Employee Beliefs Drives Sustainable Behavioral Change
Beliefs About Work, Colleagues, and Organization Shape Actions and Results
Kriegel delves into the relationship between employee beliefs and the culture within the workplace. She talks about a model known as the results pyramid, which identifies creating the right employee beliefs as essential to driving the actions necessary to achieve specific results. She explains that the presence of high levels of diagnosed anxiety or depression among employees leads to workplace behaviors and actions rooted in fear. Consequently, this influences the overall culture of the company, emphasizing the need for leaders to transform hindering beliefs into ones that drive effective actions.
Kriegel also touches on the importance of the beliefs and mindsets held by employees, particularly their perceived value to the company, their colleagues, and their tools. These beliefs are vital in prompting actions that lead to achieving organizational goals.
Leaders Should Transform Hindering Beliefs to Drive Effective Actions
The discussion reveals a dissonance between what leaders believe their teams hold as true and the actual common beliefs within the team. Conversations with employees to uncover and understand these commonly held beliefs are encouraged. These discussions should involve diverse groups from various departments and generations to uncover a unifying reality.
Feedback, Recognition, and Storytelling Shape Desired Mindsets
Leaders' Feedback, Successes, and Narratives Shape Employees' Beliefs
Kriegel discusses how everyday experiences shape beliefs and behavior within the workplace. These range from texts from a boss to overheard conversations among colleagues. To foster the right beliefs, Kriegel emphasizes the importance of intentionally creating experiences through recognition, storytelling, and feedback. These tools must align with the stated beliefs of the organization to ensure consistency between actions, values, and larger organizational goals.
Research with 50,000 frontline workers demonstrates a strong correlation between employees feeling cared for by their management team and the effectiveness of management's communication, which is three-fold less likely to cause work-related stress.
Kriegel challenges the concept of "culture fit," associating it with unconscious bias that hinders effective decision-making. She advocates for focusing instead on aligning personal purpose with organizational objectives.
Embedding Target Beliefs Into Culture Through Aligned Communication and Experiences
Reflecting on her experience with a poor performance review which led her to "quiet quit" only to receive a glowing performance rev ...
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Shaping Employee Beliefs to Drive Behavior and Results
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Counterarguments
- Influencing employee beliefs can be seen as manipulative if not done transparently and ethically, potentially leading to distrust and disengagement.
- The assumption that all hindering beliefs can be transformed may not account for deeply ingrained or external factors that affect employee behavior.
- The effectiveness of feedback, recognition, and storytelling can vary widely among individuals, and overemphasis on these tools may neglect other important aspects of management.
- The focus on shaping beliefs might overshadow the importance of structural and systemic changes that could be necessary for improving workplace culture and results.
- The concept of aligning personal purpose with organizational objectives may not always be feasible, as individual goals and company goals might inherently conflict.
- The idea that management's care correlates with reduced work-related stress does not address all potential sources of stress, such as workload, job security, or work-life balance.
- The emphasis on leaders identifying and transforming beliefs could lead to a top-down approach that may not empower employees as much as a more collaborative culture change proces ...
Actionables
- You can create a "belief diary" to track and reshape your perceptions about work. Start by jotting down daily work experiences and the beliefs they trigger. For example, if a meeting left you feeling undervalued, write down the belief ("My contributions aren't appreciated") and challenge it by seeking evidence to the contrary or discussing it with a colleague for a different perspective.
- Develop a personal recognition ritual to reinforce positive behaviors in yourself and others. Set aside time each week to acknowledge your own achievements and those of your peers. This could be as simple as sending a congratulatory message for a job well done or creating a visual board displaying collective successes, which serves as a reminder of the positive impact of your work.
- Engage in role-playing exercises with ...
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The Role of Leaders In Intentionally Creating Culture
Leaders play a pivotal role in shaping organizational culture through their behavior and communicative practices.
Leaders Shape Organizational Culture By Demonstrating and Scaling Skills
Jessica Kriegel emphasizes the importance of leaders in fostering a culture of recognition within an organization. She observed during her time at Oracle that many top executives had a "complete lack of understanding on how to drive culture," even though they were adept at driving results and strategy. Kriegel notes that recognizing employees and giving feedback explicitly should be exemplary behaviors demonstrated by leaders to cultivate the desired organizational culture.
Lack of Leadership In Cultivating Desired Culture Signals Low Priority
Kriegel insists that when leaders don’t exhibit behaviors that indicate a commitment to actively shaping company culture, it can be seen as a form of "lazy leadership." Kriegel posits that if leaders can’t or won’t adapt their leadership style to foster the desired culture, they should improve their skills through talent management strategies, or step down from their leadership roles.
Training Leaders for Authentic Dialogues and Meaningful Experiences Is Crucial
The discussion highlights the false narrative that leaders must choose between focusing on people and profitability. Kriegel refutes the idea that investing in people might harm profitability, advocating instead for engaged employees who are personally invested in driving results, which she says can lead to fostering a culture of recognition.
Seeking Feedback and Transparency Builds Trust and Engagement
To build trust and engagement within the organization, leaders must be open to receiving candid feedback and practicing transparency.
Hearing Frontline Views and Addressing Issues Fosters Accountability Culture
Kriegel points out the need for leaders to listen to employees and actively seek their feedback, not just through engagement surveys or among themselves, but through inclusive dialogue that invites people from all levels of the organization into the conversation. She ar ...
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Counterarguments
- While leaders are important in shaping culture, the role of employees at all levels in contributing to and reinforcing culture should not be underestimated.
- Recognition and feedback are important, but there may be cultural differences in how these should be delivered effectively.
- Some leaders may prioritize culture but struggle with systemic barriers or lack the resources to make significant changes.
- Talent management strategies for improving leadership skills may not always be effective if they are not tailored to the specific needs of the organization or the individual leader.
- Authentic dialogues are important, but there may be situations where confidentiality and discretion are necessary, and openness can be counterproductive.
- The assumption that investing in people always leads to profitability may not hold true in all industries or economic conditions.
- Transparency is generally positive, but there may be strategic or legal reasons for leaders to withhold certain information from employees.
- While seeking feedback is crucial, there is a risk of feedback overload where leaders cannot feasibly address all concerns, l ...
Actionables
- Start a peer-to-peer recognition program at work to encourage acknowledging each other's achievements. Create a simple system where employees can give each other shout-outs for good work, which can be shared in team meetings or a dedicated space on the company intranet. This not only promotes a culture of recognition but also empowers everyone to contribute to a positive work environment.
- Implement a "reverse town hall" approach where leaders listen more than they speak. Schedule regular sessions where employees at all levels are invited to share their thoughts and concerns with the leadership team. This can be done through anonymous surveys followed by open discussions, ensuring that everyone's voice is heard and fostering a culture of accountability and transparency.
- Develop a personal habit of giving specific, constructive fee ...
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Overcoming Challenges In Prioritizing Culture Amidst Other Pressures
Jessica Kriegel and Heather Monahan discuss the difficulties executives face in giving attention to culture-building within organizations while balancing immediate operational and financial pressures.
Operational and Financial Pressures Hinder Intentional Culture-Building
Executives Prioritize Short-Term Results, Neglecting Long-Term Cultural Health
Executives are often caught between the need to achieve immediate results and the longer-term health of the company's culture. Kriegel mentions that businesses notice the impact of mental health on workplace data like absenteeism, which implies that pressures such as managing the workforce and financial impacts from health benefits might be adversely affecting culture-building. These leaders face stress and conflicting motivations, with many finding culture work to be "touchy-feely" and difficult to scale or change intentionally. Executives also juggle the pressures from investors, shareholders, and employees, focusing more on immediate demands over the company culture.
Leaders May Struggle to Find Time to Consider Cultural Implications
Leaders find it hard to focus on cultural implications due to the anxiety and fear brought about by economic uncertainties, competitive shifts, and new technologies. Monahan and Kriegel discuss the difficulty leaders have in stepping back from day-to-day responsibilities to shape organizational culture. Kriegel emphasizes that true culture change requires consistent effort rather than intermittent team-building events.
Empowering Employees to Ease Leaders' Cultural Change Burden
Empowering Frontline Workers to Share Stories and Model Behaviors Scales Culture-Building
Kriegel argues that every employee is responsible for contributing to workplace culture. She explains that the experiences created by peers and immediate colleagues can significantly influence the organizational culture more so than top-down directives from executives. Leaders should encourage all members of the organization to model desired behaviors and share stories that support culture efforts.
She points out that when she was transparent with her HR team about impending layoffs, it led to voluntary departures, which adjusted the headcount without shock tactic ...
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Overcoming Challenges In Prioritizing Culture Amidst Other Pressures
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Counterarguments
- While executives may prioritize short-term results, this does not inherently mean they neglect long-term cultural health; they may believe that immediate success is a prerequisite for sustainable culture-building.
- Operational and financial pressures can indeed hinder intentional culture-building, but they can also serve as catalysts for cultural change by highlighting the need for adaptability and resilience within the organization.
- Leaders might struggle to find time for cultural considerations, but effective time management and delegation can create opportunities for them to engage with and influence culture.
- Empowering frontline workers is crucial, but without clear guidance and support from leadership, these efforts may become disjointed or misaligned with the company's overall cultural objectives.
- Fostering safe dialogue and feedback is important, but it must be balanced with the need for decision-making and action, which sometimes requires difficult conversations and unpopular decisions.
- Transparency is generally positive, but there are situations where complete transparency may not be possible or appropri ...
Actionables
- You can start a "culture journal" to reflect on daily actions that contribute to a positive workplace environment. Each day, jot down one action you took that aligns with the cultural values you wish to see in your workplace. This could be as simple as acknowledging a colleague's hard work or contributing to a team project in a collaborative manner. Over time, this journal will not only serve as a personal accountability tool but also as a repository of ideas for cultural initiatives that can be shared with others.
- Implement a "feedback Friday" routine where you invite a peer to give you constructive feedback on your work and behavior. This practice encourages open dialogue and helps you understand how your actions affect the workplace culture. It's a simple, recurring meeting that can start with just one other person and potentially grow into a larger group activity, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and safe communication.
- Create a "culture contribution box" w ...
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