As HR pros know, business literature is packed with statistical proof that companies with people-first cultures outperform their competitors. The companies that routinely appear on “Best Places to Work” lists usually have two things in common: a people-first, employee-centric culture and superior business results.
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People-first, employee-centric cultures excel in:
- Employee alignment and buy-in
- Brand image
- Quality employer branding (people want to work there)
- Agility to change and adapt employee responsibilities and capabilities based on changing business demands
- Superior platform for innovation
People-First Cultures Generate Internal and External Business Benefits
Among the internal business benefits, people-first cultures have increased productivity, efficiency, profitability, and, of course, employee satisfaction. All of these beneficial attributes tie into the same concept: creating an employee-centric, people-first culture that turns employees into intrapreneurs—internal entrepreneurs, working inside the company, but empowered to go beyond their job descriptions to invent new and improved processes, systems, products, and ideas.
Creating a culture of agile intrapreneurship inevitably leads to greater productivity, efficiency, profitability, and employee satisfaction because employees are engaged, enthused, educated, empowered, and trusted to follow their own talents and capabilities within a supportive structure. Employees have better ideas and feel better about their jobs and their organizations because they are true stakeholders who are listened to and rewarded for their contributions.
Externally, people-first cultures drive growth in customer acquisition, retention, and sustainable satisfaction. These external benefits flow from the organization’s internal cultural superiority. Customers are naturally drawn to the energy and trust emanating from an employee-centric, people-first organization. Existing customers and potential customers sense immediately whether an organization empowers its employees to solve problems and customize solutions to deliver unmatched customer service. From presale to postsale, an agile, intrapreneurial organization can grasp what a customer needs, create or customize a solution, and deliver improved customer services that a traditional, slower-moving, hierarchical company simply can’t.
How Leaders Can Transform Organizations to Become People-First
Creating a winning, people-first organizational culture, requires that organization’s leadership to embrace a simple, powerful truth: In this era of talent-centric organizations, employees run companies. Once leadership puts that concept at the strategic center, paths to organizational transformation become visible. To me, HR’s prime challenge (and biggest potential payoff) is leading the C-Suite to this realization.
The key word here is “transform,” since changing an organization from whatever it is, into an employee-centric, people first company requires radical transformation, from the inside out and the bottom to the top. Here are some steps to help implement an employee-centric culture.
Step 1 is where HR can become a hero for the ages by recognizing that there is a problem/opportunity to become a more agile, profitable, attractive organization by making a commitment to change, and to begin implementing that change. There is no sugar-coating the fact that there’s a lot of hard work involved, but the payoff is spectacular for employees, customers, and the company itself.
Step 2 is assuring 100% commitment to change from the C-Suite. Success in becoming a people-first organization requires an almost religious fervor for transformation, and the willingness to go through the pain of change. Again, no sugar-coating: change is painful, but ultimately worth it.
Step 3 is assembling a team to coordinate transformation, with representatives from the C-Suite (preferably the CEO) and from all levels of the company, HR prominent among them. Job one for this team is to define exactly what becoming a people-first, employee-centric organization means. This team must determine what optimal processes, systems, and organizational structures should look like, with one prime principle in mind: IF YOU ARE TRULY GOING TO PUT PEOPLE FIRST, EMPLOYEES – NOT JUST MANAGERS – MUST BE INVOLVED IN ALL DECISIONS.
In fact, one key transformation goal is to change managers (whose orders are followed because they are The Boss) into leaders (whom employees are eager to follow because they create a richer, more rewarding work experience).
Job two for this transformation team is to develop a matrix of “WHY” for change that includes everyone who works for the organization, and the organization itself. Designed properly, this series of “WHY’s” will explain exactly why transformation is not only necessary, but worth the struggle, individually and organization-wide.
Step 4 is realizing transformation can’t be bootstrapped. The processes, systems, and organizational structures mentioned above should be codesigned and implemented by HR and the C-Suite in partnership with outside experts, who have experience in helping organizations evolve to employee-centricity.
Step 5 is having the patience to design and implement the transformation at a reasonable, humane pace. Much as organizations would love to transform their cultures swiftly, in reality, most success in organizational transformation comes in steps and stages. It’s impossible to say exactly how long this should take, but our experience shows that large, global organizations often plan a 2-year transformation project divided into many bite-size changes. That sounds like a long time, but when an employee or a company is living through it, 2 years often feels very fast to implement such fundamental change for the better. Here again, HR can become the hero by keeping everyone informed and committed to transformation.
Best time to start? Now. The pace of competitive business challenges will only accelerate over time. HR leaders will truly and permanently cement their rightful place in the C-Suite if they play leading roles in launching and implementing this transformation.
 Kelly Max is the CEO of Haufe US, provider of employee-centered enterprise transformation solutions and programs. Haufe is a leading global provider of Success as a Service (SXaaS) HR solutions that transform company culture and enhance businesses ability to attract and retain top talent. Working with over 600 companies across 28 countries, Haufe offers a combination of consultative services and people-centric software that empowers clients to address real challenges and build flexible solutions that evolve to meet organizational goals. Haufe’s newly launched HR Operating System, Rhythmix, combines scientific tools and a human-centered methodology to align company culture, organization and tools while also optimizing each employee’s career journey through talent acquisition, onboarding and performance. |