Every workplace shares one great challenge: finding and keeping the right people. You may think that in a major academic health center, where talent and expertise are abundant, this goal would be easily attainable. Certainly we can recruit and train all the folks we need to grow our clinical, research, and teaching missions. But it’s not as simple as hiring the first qualified individual who walks through the door to fill a position, it's also about finding the people who contribute to a thriving workplace culture that allows the whole staff to grow in conjunction with the bottom line.
Selecting people with solid skills that are suited to their jobs is the starting place, but from there we can also look for people who are aligned with our vision and goals. People who are curious about our processes and who will search for other approaches that may be more successful. I am always impressed by those who show up ready to learn new things and who are not intimidated by challenges but instead meet them determined to overcome and succeed.
Once you hire the right people, how do you create a winning culture? The answer isn’t that simple because there is no “instant” culture. Instant culture would probably be a bit like instant coffee. It would look authentic on the surface but leave a bitter aftertaste. To extend the coffee metaphor a little longer, think of a great workplace culture as if it was a grove of coffee plants that you grow over time. It is a living thing that will become more vibrant and fruitful with careful attention. It's not something you can just roll down to the hardware store garden center and buy.
Everyone Has a Voice
Building a healthy workplace culture starts with adopting a leadership style in which everyone has a voice. Successful culture thrives in an atmosphere of transparency and trust where leadership amplifies the impact of everyone in the organization. Great leaders reinforce this positive culture, showing team members they are appreciated for what they do to expand the culture. They coach people up and encourage team members to go beyond what they thought were their limits. By having selected enthusiastic people who match the team's energy, leaders create a multiplier effect that develops more “culture leaders” within the workplace.
Culture is the result of action, consistent behavior, and truth. Culture is also the byproduct of what you encourage and reward. If you inspire people to share innovative thoughts and you give them the freedom to innovate, then you have built innovation into your culture. If you reward teamwork, then teamwork will become ingrained. In his well-known quote, “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” author and management consultant Peter Drucker doesn’t minimize the importance of strategy in accomplishing an organization’s goals. Rather he conveys that the particular strategy a company employs will only be successfully executed if supported by a strong, positive culture.
Understanding the whole culture and all who work together to create it requires one essential action: listening. A successful workplace culture requires constant maintenance, and the surest, most direct path to that is hearing what everyone on the team has to say. I mentioned earlier that a leader must ensure everyone has a voice. It's the key to supporting a successful team.
If we surround ourselves with like-minded "yes people" who just say the things they think we want to hear, the truth can become obscured. It's the reason why diverse teams are the strongest. People who see all things the same way are bound to have blind spots and miss important opportunities. If everyone holds the same viewpoints, then vulnerabilities are reinforced. But if you build a team of people who all see things differently, together you see everything.
Growing Together
Sustaining a strong workplace culture requires continuing input from everyone. At UCSF, a university-wide climate survey is conducted every three years to gather input and track changes in campus climate over time. We've just completed the most recent survey and will share the results with our community as soon as we can. This survey is valuable because it allows us to share our strengths and highlight areas where we can grow. It's the best tool to find out if there are ways we can improve as an organization. What are we doing right? Are there ways that we can further strengthen our team to better meet the challenges we face?
We not only want to hear what our people have to say, we need to hear it for us to succeed as an organization. As I said at the beginning, our biggest challenge is finding and retaining the best people. We want to keep growing together and continue to find new ways to reward and challenge our teammates. The key to all of this and the only way I know to build a winning culture is to make sure everyone is heard and all our great ideas are acted upon.
We will always welcome the ideas and suggestions of everyone on our team. They might reveal something valuable that has been overlooked, or identify an early trend that will help shape the future of our organization.
Thank you all for your contributions to our continuing success.
