A number of companies operating in Australia have implemented the “Pathways to Leadership” organisational and leadership program within their organisation. Developed in the United States by Pathways to Leadership Inc, and based on many of the ideas described in the best-selling business title Stomp the Elephant in the Office by Steven Vannoy and Craig Ross, which among other things, describes how to create a “wellness culture” in the work place. Vannoy and Ross are now (respectively) CEO and President of Pathways to Leadership Inc, and describe some of their key ideas below.
ceoforum.com.au: What do you see as the key features of a “wellness culture” in the workplace?
Steven Vannoy and Craig Ross: There are three key things.
First, it is a way of functioning where people are proactive, not reactive. The vast majority of organisations, people feel the only time they are being developed as people are in formal training programs. A healthy organisation continuously develops people, relationships, processes and systems. When you take the time to do so, you find that there's a lot less to fix and can then put substantially greater time to moving things forward and creating greater results.
Second, a wellness culture allows people to be who they want to be. People want to be great, they want to be part of something special, and they want to achieve. A wellness culture allows people to do just that.
Third, a wellness culture is focused forward. Too many businesses spend too much time focusing on problems, fault, and blame, or what is not working, instead of focusing on solutions and lessons learned, or what is working. Just changing this orientation can have dramatic effects on the bottom line of an organisation.
ceoforum.com.au: Why do you think there is such a problem focus? Is that focus inevitable given the common ‘manage by exception’ orientation in business?
SV/CR: That’s certainly a part of it. Another factor is that a lot of our behaviour is fear-based, both in business and in life in general. That is, we focus on what we don’t like, or what we don’t want to happen. That can create a kind of negative mindset that is pervasive.
There is also a mistaken view that we need to ‘fix’ people, i.e. we need to get them to constantly talk to them about their problems and their weaknesses, rather than concentrate on their strengths. The reality is that, if you do constantly focus on people’s weaknesses, you will drive them into the ground, and they will not perform in the way you want them to.
ceoforum.com.au: What are the key challenges a company faces in creating a wellness culture?
SV/CR: The first requirement is to recognise that creating a positive culture is as important as any other business objective, such as formulating a good strategy. You also need to give people access to a common language, so that when they are communicating about issues of culture, that communication is both concise and precise.
Measuring culture can be a tough challenge for many companies, and each company will require a different approach. Employee satisfaction, however, is a good place to start. Ask yourself and ask others, "Are people excited to come to work?" "Are absenteeism and turnover consistently dropping?". Other questions whose answers will serve as indicators are: "Are meetings productive and shorter?" "Are projects and initiatives being completed on schedule with strong results?" One question that is also very useful is to ask your employees which team within the organisation they would like to work in. It often turns out that the team that are achieving the most are the team having the most fun, so this can help you identify positive cultures in your organisation.
ceoforum.com.au: What do you see as the most important things a CEO needs to get right to create a wellness culture?
SV/CR: A CEO and their senior team have to see creating a wellness culture as a ‘must win’ ie of the same importance as other key business objectives. The responsibility for creating that culture can’t just be assigned to the HR department – all the organisation has to own it. CEOs also have to realise that they can’t create a high-performance organisation by focusing on problems, trying to motivate through fear, and demanding results. Instead, they need to create a culture in which people can thrive and be their best.
