The Multiplier Effect of a Human-Centric Workplace

Join, Nancy Nouaimeh, Culture Transformation & Excellence Expert and the Excellence Foresight Podcast host, on this solo episode and a captivating journey into workplace culture where employee engagement and customer satisfaction take center stage.  Drawing from research and extensive experience in cultural transformation, Nancy shares the undeniable benefits of prioritizing people in organizations and the pitfalls of neglecting workplace culture.

In this episode, you will learn how businesses thrive by embracing empathy, inclusion, and respect as foundational values, creating workplace environments where every individual feels valued, and leaders lead with humility. Through the lens of the Shingo model guiding excellence principles, the path to a leadership style characterized by compassion and human-centricity is emphasized as a practical way to make impactful changes in your organizations.

This episode isn't just a conversation; it's a call to action for leaders and organizations prepared to champion a culture where people are at the core, leading to a happier workforce and a more robust bottom line.

Tune in to uncover the practical outlines for nurturing a human-centric culture that not only weathers economic storms but emerges triumphant, ensuring lasting success.

Join the Excellence Foresight community and subscribe to the newsletter on LinkedIn to be part of the positive change we all aspire to see in the world. 

Chapters

• 0:13 Fostering a Human-Centric Culture
• 9:53 Importance of Human-Centric Culture in Organizations

Transcript

Nancy Nouaimeh: 0:13

Hello and welcome to the Excellence for Sight podcast. I'm your host Nancy Nouaimeh, a culture transformation and organizational excellence consultant, leadership coach and a youth mentor, and my passion is to make excellence an everyday habit. Whether you're striving for organizational excellence or pursuing personal excellence, this podcast will bring you practices that matter now and for the future. You might want to stay connected with us to make excellence a new habit. In my Excellence foresight podcast episodes, I will share with you a sequence of best practices to focus on that will help you on your journey towards excellence. My work with culture has taught me that pursuing excellence and focusing on designing the culture that you require for your organization pays off. Not in one area only, but on multiple fronts. So here is a multiplier effect of Human Centricity podcast episode. I hope you will find some good tips to put into practice. One of Gallup's research projects highlighted that, when taken together, the positive behaviors of highly engaged business units result in 23% higher profitability than others. Is this the kind of differentiator and high performance that you're looking for within your organization? So let us see how can you get closer to achieving this and what practices will make a real impact and help your improvement journey. Having worked in different parts of the world and different industries. I have experienced the difference when working with engaged employees versus non engaged employees. Engaged employees are definitely more present and productive, they are more attuned to the needs of customers and they are more observant of processes, standards and systems. So having good culture that supports an engaged and performing workforce pays off. You might have heard similar great stories about cultural transformation and the outstanding results it's achieved. For example, one of the companies I've worked with had a 10% increase in employee engagement scores over just one year span by focusing on changing their culture and the leadership behavior towards employees. Another company achieved 50% reduction in safety issues over five years when the program shifted the focus to people first and a behavioral based safety approach. I'm sure all of these are very appealing. As you can see, having a positive culture in place induces good results and it's worth the effort.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 2:33

In today's episode, I will focus with you on what is the most important differentiator for such a winning culture human centricity. All right, so let's dive right into that concept of human centricity and how we can foster a human centric focus within your organizations. Now many of you leaders know that truly revising the core DNA and the ways of working inside the organization are the hardest change of all. It's also the kind of change that is the most meaningful and important for leaders to get right, isn't it? I like the quote that says leaders get the culture they deserve. Well, while this might bring you a negative connotation, for me it's a wake up call for any leader to pay attention to the culture that is being built inside the organization.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 3:16

Yes, cultures should not be left to organically evolve. If you're a leader who doesn't focus on building and designing equal culture, the culture that is needed for the execution of your strategic plans and the completion of the objectives of your organization, one day there will be instances where the culture that's get built within your organization will not be the culture that induces positive behaviors. It could become toxic to the extent that it hinders the success of your organization. Let me share with you one example to illustrate what I'm talking about Unhealthy competition in organizations. If there's no proper system in place to measure performance of people at all levels in a transparent manner, with a fair recognition system, practices will evolve in a way where everyone is protecting himself, working on his own and seeking credits to show to the management that they are performing. Unhealthy competition divides the collaborative effort and everyone will look at his own interests and his own agenda. I will not support the common initiatives and greater good. Is this familiar to you? I've read once a quote from Dr Prahud Singh, director of systems design at the Earth Institute. He said we spend a lot of time designing the bridge but not enough time thinking about the people who are crossing it. So how can we make our organization cultures more human centric?

Nancy Nouaimeh: 4:32

During my many travels around the world, I had the chance to be a guest at Marriott Hotels, the hospitality giant, marriott International. They made the 100 best companies to work for list every year since its inception 25 years ago. A fascinating story and achievement. So here's why their culture is grounded in a phrase that they've used for close to 95 years, and that's putting people first. It's not something that they've just used to say, but they work hard on making it a practice and alive. What I appreciate in their drive and approach is that they show it in good times and when times are tough. When times are tough, a good culture will help the organization remain resilient. Culture should always remain the top element on the agenda. Ritz Carlton's hotel with the most amazing and impactful motto we are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. They empower their employees to go above and beyond to meet guests' needs, and they are known for their exceptional customer service. These are all great examples of human centricity. Research indicates also that the best workplaces of the future will empower and inspire their people to communicate, collaborate and solve problems effectively. A people versus strategy that enhances engagement, productivity, efficiency and creativity. This will not only have a direct impact on the bottom line, but also impact all areas from innovation to digitalization, technology adoption, resilience, etc. Prioritizing the human aspect of your business creates a more inclusive and engaging work environment where everyone is involved in contributing to your organization of success. This is a winning situation and a winning culture. A research from Gardner indicates that human-centric work models significantly boost employee happiness and performance, and we all know happy employees lead to happy customer. Human centricity is not only about employees, but also about how you serve your customers' needs too.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 13:08

I think you can visualize the positive impact of a human centric approach in customer service better by looking at an example where this is lacking poorly designed healthcare systems that prioritize administrative processes, such as waiting for insurance approval, for example. Overpatient care. These can result in long wait times for patients and the satisfaction I'm sure. No one starts with a new product or a new service with gaps or failure in mind. That's why I would like to share with you how organizations can cultivate a people versus strategy and embrace human centricity while driving smart and sustainable practices. So let's look more practically now at what makes the fabric of a human-centered culture.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 13:47

A human-centered thinking and culture are when there's a focus on developing solutions to problems by putting the human perspective into all parts of the problem-solving process to meet their needs. I always go to the Shingo model in my podcast, as my work has been centered around it in the past few years, being one of the Shingo Institute licensed affiliates. When we consult with companies to develop a human-centric workplace, it's essential to analyze and evaluate the existing culture first and how it aligns with strategic objectives. A people-first culture and human-centric workplace showcase these four qualities, which I'm sure you will all appreciate, both as team members and leaders, but you might not always see in organizations. First is inclusivity Create an inclusive culture that welcomes everyone's thoughts, ideas and cultures, a listening culture and a place where all employees feel safe to be themselves. Second, focus on wellness. With the remote work, the terminology is shifting now and we're starting to talk more about work-life integration, since the lines between work and home are blurring and leading to increased burnout. Leaders in a human-centric workplace watch for and take steps to prevent an address burnout. I personally promote me-time, for example, to support the flex day off-day a month for my colleagues to take care of themselves.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 15:01

The third characteristic empathetic leadership. In a human-centric workplace, leaders try to embody a leadership style that's positive and empathetic. Actively listening to employees concerns is key to making people feel heard and acknowledged. Empathetic leaders tend to incorporate these three policies in the workplace, something that you could do too. Flexibility to a certain extent, of course, to support some of the needs of the people in the organization. Allow room for experimentation and failure and learning from failure and showing gratitude for the work completed by the team. So, flexibility, room for experimentation and failure, and gratitude.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 15:38

Characteristic number four is about comfortable workspace. Whether it's a physical or a virtual space, your workplace is where you and your employees spend your time, so make it comfortable with areas designed to maximize productivity and space for downtime and recharging. Our leadership style plays a pivotal role in the development of the organizational culture and the four characteristics we just spoke about. So how can you become a human-centered leader? The culturally-enabled principles of the Shingo model lead with humility and respect every individual are instrumental in developing human-centered leaders. To become a human-centered leader, you must develop the following six qualities Be empathetic and practice active listening.

Nancy Nouaimeh: 16:19

Seek feedback on your own performance as a leader. Focus and support employee engagement and well-being. Develop an inclusive leadership style. Develop your continuous learning capabilities as a leader. And have strong abilities to adapt to change when needed and support new ideas. So let me leave you with these two questions to reflect on Is your organization a human-centric one, and are you a human-centered person or a leader? As I conclude this episode, remember that nurturing human-centricity benefits all stakeholders and aligns with the triple bottom line people, planet and profit. Prioritizing people and focusing on the human experience can lead to more productive, happier, healthier workplaces with innovative solutions for sustainability and digitalization challenges. When people are engaged, expect miracles. Thank you for listening and stay tuned for our next episode. Engage with us, be part of the Excellence Four Side community and subscribe to our newsletter on LinkedIn. Let's be the change we want to see in the world. Let's shape a brighter future together.