Randy Grieser's Blog, page 8

The Culture Question: Book and Survey

I’m excited to share that I, along with three members of ACHIEVE’s leadership team – Eric Stutzman, Wendy Loewen, and Michael Labun – am finalizing ACHIEVE Publishing’s most recent book titled, The Culture Question: How to Create a Workplace Where People Like to Work. The formal release date of the book will be in January of 2019. However, the book is available for pre-order now, and the book will be shipped in early December.

The Culture Question Summary

Unfortunately, far too many people...

Is it Worth It? The Honest Answer

I was meeting a friend the other day, and we ended up having a great conversation about the question, “Is it worth it?” He had been working longer hours than normal after committing to too many projects and speaking engagements – all of which he found enjoyable and meaningful. After one too many late nights, his wife asked him, “Is it worth it?” Most of us know the meaning behind this question – is the focus on work worth the time away from family, friends, sleep, etc.?

Of course we are suppo...

Flexibility – Our New Value

In my previous blog, I noted that during our recent staff development day, we reviewed our current values and ended up adding a new one. It’s important to highlight that everyone – ranging from myself as the CEO to a new employee of two months – was involved in discussing and agreeing to our values. Organizational values should be something everyone agrees to and feels good about, not something imposed by management or boards.

I view values as one of the most important things for an organizat...

Our Off-Site Staff Development Day

We recently had an off-site staff development day with our leadership team and employees. I’ve always struggled with the idea of moving away from the office for these sorts of events. For one, why do we need to go off-site to do what we could do in the office? I mean, we have space to meet there, which also would have been cheaper. Still, another voice inside my head told me, It’s good to change things up.

So, this year we did something a little different – we decided to have three parts to o...

I Was Just Thinking…

I am always thinking about work – at random hours of the night, at weddings (terrible, I know), and as I’m “listening” to my wife. Name a place or occasion when I’m not supposed to be thinking about work, and I am. It’s my nature; my wheels are always turning. Why am I always thinking about work? Because I am motivated and engaged with my work.

I love when employees say things like, “Hey Randy, last night I was just thinking…” or “Hey Randy, an interesting thought occurred to me on my drive i...

Friday Night Conversations

It’s Friday night. For many, the work week is done. You decide to go to a restaurant for a nice evening meal, and you notice one of your employees is there with a group of friends. She doesn’t notice you, and because she’s deep into conversation, you decide not to interrupt to say hello. The hostess happens to sit you close to her and her friends. So close that you can’t help but hear the conversation.

Around the table they go, each taking turns talking about their week at work. One utters,...

Sustaining Culture Change

One of my hobbies is gardening. Every spring I plant a vegetable garden, and for a while I attend to it daily. I water the plants regularly; I keep the weeds away by carefully tilling the soil and mulching. About a month into the growing season, my garden looks like an image from Better Homes and Gardens magazine. And then I go on vacation for a few weeks. When I return the garden is overrun with weeds. Some plants are doing well, while others are not.

For those organizations that already hav...

How To Assess Your Culture

I often get asked, “How does one go about changing culture?” To change culture, you must first truly understand your current culture. Only when you have a clear picture of who you are now can you decide who you’d like to be in the future.

Take some time to observe your culture as if you were an outsider. Look at how people interact with clients. How are conflicts resolved – or not? How do managers relate to employees? How do employees relate to each other? Don’t forget to look for things tha...

Diversify Your Thinking and Operating Styles

One of the keys to developing peak performing teams is to ensure that people on the team think and operate differently.

By think, I mean how we process information. For example, in my leadership role at ACHIEVE and CTRI, I am a very intuitive thinker, whereas one of our other leaders is a more logical thinker. Because of our different ways of thinking, this has allowed us to more easily navigate obstacles.

By operate, I mean the various skill sets people bring to their roles. For example, in...

Develop a Mentoring Culture

Organizational leadership should consciously and consistently be focused on developing employees. When organizations are only as strong as their leaders, they risk struggling, or worse: becoming irrelevant when those leaders are no longer with the organization. In many ways, exceptional leaders should always be working to make themselves dispensable by developing teams that perform at their peak.

These types of leaders recognize that people are the organization’s most important asset and they...