The road is long
There are mountains in our way
But we climb a step every day
Love lift us up where we belong
Where the eagles cry
On a mountain high
Love lift us up where we belong
Far from the world below
Up where the clear winds blow
Love Lift Us Up Where We Belong might be a love song, but cool business is about love (actually!), needs and belonging.
Is your business where it belongs?
A sense of belonging is a human need, just like the need for food and shelter. Feeling that you belong is the most important when seeking value in life.
Belonging means acceptance as a member or a part of something.
Before you as a company accepts and integrates employees they won’t give their full potential. They won’t climb that mountain. It’s not that they don’t want to do it, they just don’t.
We yearn for connection. Finding ways to belong - be it within a family or a team at work - enhances our happiness, health, purpose and motivation.
Motivation engages engagement, and it is a well known fact that engaged, high-performing employees drive business success. Engaged employees are more productive, more profitable, more customer-focused, and more likely to stay. And highly engaged workplaces grow faster, adapt quicker, and innovate more.
Unity
As a business you must find a way to bring people together, not in a job but in a movement to do meaningful things, united in a shared identity of purpose. This creates a substantive belonging.
Inc.com has listed 13 motivational keys to unlock your employees’ full potential, to engage them, making them feel part of ‘the greater good’:
#1
Follow through on your promises with a clear plan of action within an agreed upon time frame. Then, make it happen!
#2
Tell the truth and explain the context of who, what, where, when, and why in their decision making. If you can't pull something off, explain why something cannot be enacted.
#3
Keep motivation high in challenging times by painting a positive and realistic picture of business life, communicating what's really going on, and reset expectations to keep your team focused on the prize.
#4
Let your people know regularly how they're meeting performance goals and how their work is supporting larger organisational goals.
#5
Don’t be afraid to state your feelings, such as "I'm really not sure where to go with this. What would you do in my situation?” It's not a sign of weakness, in fact, it's the opposite: It creates a space for authenticity and truth.
#6
Welcome thoughts on how team and company are doing. An open-door policy is a keystone for good company communication and increases morale and lets employees know that they are part of the team.
#7
Be transparent. Let your employees engage in discussions directly with their C-level members, in ‘pre-set fora’ (town halls, Intranet…??). Even despite criticism, transparency has paid off as a business value.
#8
Give employees praise and recognition for the hard work they’ve put in. It’s the most important performance motivator. Sure, pay checks, bonuses, and cash incentives are good, but that money will be spent tomorrow. But being recognised in front of the organisation? That's gold, because everyone can then see the value that they’re bringing.
#9
When looking to improve an employee’s performance, start by acknowledging what is already working, then ease into how you'd like to see performance specifically improve in the areas of concern, and end the conversation with a solution to a problem.
#10
Leverage good relationships with trusted employees by asking them for advice. The reality is that people view those who seek their advice as more competent than those who do not.
#11
Trust your employees, they in return will be more inclined to return the favour and trust you back.
#12
Say: "I couldn't have done it without you." This is quite possibly the highest form of saying thank you.
#13
Be humble and say "you are right". Humility is a leadership strength that is often misunderstood, because it's misinterpreted as a lack of self-confidence. In actuality, humble leaders display a determination and fierce will to create results by directing their ego away from themselves to the larger goal of leading their company to greatness. They ask for help, they learn from others, and they acknowledge that others may have a different, and better, solution to a problem: "Yes, you are right."
An attractive business culture, a sense of belonging, a movement, is not only vital in keeping your motivated employees staying; it is also what attracts the best talent available.
Do you have what it takes to reel them in?
On a mountain high
Love lift us up where we belong
Far from the world below
Up where the clear winds blow.
Corporate Candy: Experience. Empowering Change
Management Consulting for Talents Attraction and Internal Recruitment | Advisory for HR and People Management Departments | Executive Coaching and Leadership Development.