The Foundation of Power is proud to present The Undercover Temp and her exclusive insider story on today’s business cultures.

 

Several years ago, I studied corporate culture by becoming what I comically refer to as the Undercover Temp. It all started when I realized that no matter how much I thought I knew about business culture, there is no knowledge like insider knowledge. Yes, we had cultural surveys and studies, but how accurate were they?

To find out what was really going on, I decided to do my own hands-on undercover research. I did this by taking on temporary assignments as an administrative assistant, covertly studying the culture everyday as I worked.

This research experiment took place over several years with assignments in 13 major companies, spanning 11 industries. To make sure I gathered enough relevant information, I worked assignments that lasted 3 months or more. This timeframe enabled me to thoroughly study each business culture by truly become part of it.

During these assignments, I saw first-hand what worked and what didn’t. What motivated people and what demoralized them. What drove productivity and what killed it.

It soon became clear that, regardless of size or industry, similarities ran through every culture. So much so that, after the first few assignments, I could accurately judge a company’s turnover rate within the first few weeks.

 

One of the most surprising observations was how much culture affected me. It didn’t matter that I was a temp or that my assignments were research motivated, the culture always influenced me.

In the beginning I thought I could be a positive influence in a negative culture. It was shocking to find out just how wrong I was. Not only was I unable to have a positive impact on the group, the group was having a negative impact on me!

When working in a negative culture, I had to make a conscious effort every day to remain positive. Even so, I still left work most days feeling less hopeful than when I arrived. Considering that I was the Undercover Temp, it spoke volumes that I could not hold my own with the culture that I was studying.

As you can imagine, cultural impact became a key piece of my research. Each time I noted a shift, I would interview employees to find out why whatever happened motivated or demoralized them. This not only helped me note what worked and what didn’t; it gave me first-hand knowledge into why it worked or didn’t.

 

One of the craziest things about my experience as the undercover temp was that people would tell me anything. At first, I was astonished at how freely people shared information, ideas, and feelings with me. Eventually, I figured out why.

1. The administrative temp role I played posed no threat.
2. I wanted to know what people thought about their workplace.
3. People wanted to share their ideas on how things could be better.

 

My prior consulting experience enabled me to comfortably interact with anyone. This helped me have fascinating conversations with people from all departments and positions. From individual contributors to CEO’s, the information and perspectives I gathered were priceless.

 

It was remarkable how often it backfired when companies did something intended to help. Whether implementing a new software program, a holiday party, or offering new health incentives, the results were often not the expected positive ones.

Worse yet, even though employees were unhappy about it, fear of rejection kept them from speaking up to leadership. Instead, they would voice their displeasure in great detail to any non-leader who would listen. Many times, I watched in wonder as this behavior spread like wildfire through the entire organization, gaining power as each person added their two cents to the flame.

 

The saddest thing I saw was how resigned and hopeless most people were in their jobs. They came to work because they had to survive. Employees didn’t particularly like the company, the product, or the culture. They needed a job, and this was the one they had.

When I asked if they had always felt this way about their job, I got the same story every time. The enthusiasm and excitement employees felt when first hired had evaporated. They were working simply for a paycheck.

 

Let’s face it. Going to work every day just for a paycheck is depressing. It’s the type of daily grind that makes it harder to exercise and eat healthy. It also makes it harder to avoid negative coping mechanisms such as alcohol, cigarettes, junk food, drugs, etc.

A particularly disturbing observation happened one day when I came upon a group of employees talking about their health. They were comparing their medications and sharing info on which ones worked best for their common ailments. Every one of them had digestive issues. They all suffered with frequent headaches. They were all on anti-depressants. Shockingly, they were also all under 30.

The link between health and culture became more obvious with each assignment. The better the culture, the healthier the employees. 

 

Most companies I studied were trying to create a culture by creating a mindset. Some had t-shirts with slogans, some had posters on the wall that outlined the company’s values or mission. Others talked about it at townhalls and meetings.

The reason none of these worked was because culture is not a mindset.

Culture is the result of shared behaviors that shape everyday actions and experiences. 

Most companies were missing the shared behaviors that would shape their culture so that it expressed their values or mission.

 

A company needs to supply shared activities that generate the behaviors they want.

Case in point. If you want to create a culture that delivers outstanding customer service, you need shared activities that will generate outstanding customer service. Customer service training would be a shared activity that generates the behaviors you want. Taking everyone out  to dinner would not.

 

Forget trying to achieve a high-performance culture with parties, lavish benefits, or the ultimate workplace.

During my assignments, organizing parties was often one of my tasks. I saw first-hand how employees reacted to parties and, I promise you, most employees did not appreciate them. In fact, parties were the #1 good intention that ended with negative results.

Lavish benefits and ultimate workplaces may help you attract and hire high-performance employees, but they won’t help you keep them. High performance employees are high-performance employees because they like to perform. To keep them engaged and motivated, you’ve got to give them the opportunity to grow.

 

In the end it was clear that trust, contribution, and growth were the key ingredients needed to create a healthy, highly productive culture.

Seth Godin nailed it when he said “Earn trust, earn trust, earn trust. Then you can worry about the rest.”

Trust is essential. In every company I studied, the level of employee engagement and productivity matched the level of trust. The higher the trust, the higher the productivity. The good news is that earning trust is not as complicated as it may seem. Employees just need to know that the company values them and trusts them to do their job.

 

My research revealed three vital components that build employee trust.

1. Feeling valued
2. Feeling included
3. Feeling trusted

Training delivers all three.

1. Employees felt valued when they received training.
2. Training made employees feel included as an important part of the company.
3. Training acknowledged that the company trusted them by considering them a worthwhile investment.

As my research progressed, it was obvious that training was a highly prized commodity by employees in every company. Companies who supplied training on a regular basis had the highest performance cultures of all.

 

Online training was another good intention that ended with negative results. I saw first-hand how most people felt burdened or stressed by the need to learn on their own. I also watched massive amounts of time wasted as employees struggled to access and complete their online courses.

It wasn’t necessary that every part of the training be live. Training just needed enough live interaction to create personal connection and engagement.

 

I watched companies achieve the greatest ROI from three types of training: personal growth, innovation, and purpose. Not only were employees able to contribute more of their talents and skills, the company enjoyed an immediate increase in productivity.

 

At the end of the study, I concluded the most effective trainings were those that focused on personal growth. The reason personal growth worked best was because it created growth for the employee both professionally and personally. As employees became a stronger more effective person at work, they used those same skills to make their personal lives better too.

Personal growth trainings built employee trust and confidence at the highest level. This resulted in improved productivity, job satisfaction, and retention. It also helped the companies become better equipped to handle the next challenge.

 

Almost every employee I met wanted to contribute to the success of the company beyond the scope of their daily job.

Some had great ideas on how to improve internal systems. Some had exciting new product or marketing ideas. Others had ideas to improve customer service. Whatever their area of expertise, employees had suggestions on how to help the company grow.

The #1 reason employees became resigned and disengaged from the company’s goals was when those ideas were ignored or dismissed.

Innovation training supplies a way for companies to effectively capture those ideas.

It does this by teaching employees how to think through their ideas for feasibility and ROI. Then, if the idea meets feasibility and ROI targets, they learn to effectively deliver it in writing so that it’s easily understood. This training also helps the company create efficient systems for receiving, reviewing, and implementing the very best of those ideas.

Innovation training energizes the workforce and directly ties employees to the profitability of the company. The more engaged employees are in the company’s future, the more invested they are in its success.

 

According to “Power of Purpose”, an article by Steve Taylor, Ph.D. in Psychology Today: “The need for purpose is one of the defining characteristics of human beings. Human beings crave purpose and suffer serious psychological difficulties when we don’t have it. Purpose is a fundamental component of a fulfilling life.”

The companies who figured out how to add purpose into their workplace had the best cultures. It gave the company heart and brought people together in ways that transcended the differences found in many groups.

Purpose training helped interested employees create projects that engaged their passion while adding value to the company. Most projects involved employee health and satisfaction, community involvement, and environmental sustainability.

These meaningful projects ignited a level of employee passion and loyalty that far exceeded the norm. This helped companies attract and keep the absolute best talent. It also increased market share by igniting passion and loyalty in customers who demand companies with good reputations in those areas.

 

We can all contribute to a brighter future just by creating working environments that enliven and empower employees.

Just imagine a world where employees look forward to going to work. Where they’re engaged in the continual growth of the company and its profits. Where they get to use their passion to make a difference in the world. Where their company blows by their competitors and they know it’s because of their unique contribution.

It’s not some far-fetched vision. Some of the most successful companies are building these cultures right now and using them to create a tremendous competitive edge. A bright new future is coming, and I’m thrilled to help usher it in.

 

Kalee Gracse
The Undercover Temp