Organizations that provide a great physical and social environment…

• support the work styles they want and expect of employees
• align policies, management styles and technologies to effectively support accomplishing tasks rather than inadvertently creating barriers
• reflect the organization’s culture; providing a true sense of integration.
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• These organizations will find that their employees…
  
  • are engaged and productive; cynicism is truly the exception
  • have a true sense of shared mission; together, they can accomplish something meaningful
  • love working for the organization whether they come to a specific location every day or often work remotely.  
  As a result, the organizational system…
  
  • has power in its industry and markets
  • is stimulating but neither easy nor overly stressful
  • attracts recruits eager to join
  • retains satisfied employees less likely to look elsewhere
  • is life-sustaining and life-enhancing.
  Workplace strategy clearly differentiates an organization from its rivals or peers.  There is no cookie cutter approach; each organization should have its own look and feel to express its unique qualities and purpose. 

Life-Sustaining Strategies – When and Why

Life-sustaining strategy is a way of initiating and responding to change in ways that make transitions exciting and engaging for employees and, therefore, successful for the organization.  The Life-Sustaining initiative can be implemented at any time.  It is most important when effective action is required to successful steer through the rapids of business growth and change.  Here are a few examples of such critical junctures…

   Life-cycle transitions

– The business has grown rapidly and it time to introduce professional management.  You want to do this without a major disruption to the vitality, pride and sense of accomplishment that has  characterized the staff’s attitude up to this point.

– Your organization is moving from high growth into a more mature phase.  How will you continue to attract the best and the brightest to maintain your competitive edge?
– Your mature business is posed to leap to the next growth curve – betting the business on new products, new markets, new directions, etc.

   The innovation challenge

As the external environment in nearly every field continues change rapidly at an accelerating pace, how do you respond?   Those organizations that survive and thrive, act with foresight – creatively and dynamically.  As a result, they are able to attract and retain scarce talent and maintain growth in sales and revenue.

Creating thriving communities
If your organization is “stovepiped” and/or caught up in turf wars, you are not leveraging the full potential of your workforce.  Life-sustaining organizations foster internal networks and positive relationships.

   Changing composition of the workforce

The impact on the social system of change in the workforce (size, gender, racial, cultural, geographic, generational, etc.) can be energizing or enervating depending on how the changes are managed.  Life-sustaining environments can help organizations build a working environment that employees, customers, community and supplier networks are attracted to, understand and relate to naturally.

   On-boarding process

New members entering or existing members leaving affects the organization’s social system.  Life-sustaining environments introduces new members in a way that benefits both the new member and the existing system, paying particular attention to the integration of high creatives.   It also helps the organization adjust to the loss of key members.

   Merger & acquisition integration
The integration of disparate cultures is often poorly executed in otherwise viable mergers and acquisitions.  Cultural factors account for most of the failures in M&A activity.  Life-sustaining environments can guide the new newly formed entity in truly becoming a whole.