Keys to a True People-Centric Culture at Work
Experts share their insights on how to create the kind of good work culture that shapes long-term success.
According to the 2023 Workplace Learning Report, 83% of organizations want to build a more “people-centric culture.” More than four in five organizations (81%) have even enlisted their L&D departments to help them with this.
But what does “people-centric” mean? And how are you supposed to go about building a people-centric culture in the first place?
By cross-referencing expert guidance on creating positive workplace cultures, a few patterns emerge. As you’ll see, the most successful and truly people-centric cultures tend to be:
Motivate employees to take the lead
First thing’s first: If you’re going to create a people-centric work culture, you have to understand what kind of culture your people actually want. In the course Organizational Culture, leadership strategist Sara Canaday spells out how to gain this understanding:
“To create a winning culture, you want to begin thinking about how you create the ultimate employee experience,” she explains. “You'll want to serve your internal employees just like you would your external customers. Work to understand their mindsets, interests, their needs, and then figure out how to meet those needs. Developing a new culture means working to better understand the people you wish to hire or have hired, what they like, what makes them tick, what motivates them.”
Start by assessing the current state of your culture. “Get feedback directly from the people who are experiencing it,” Canaday suggests. “Talk to employees at every level in every department. Use surveys, interviews, focus groups, whatever feedback tools will give you an accurate view of your existing culture. Your goal is to find out what's important to your employees.”
Once you know what your employees truly want from your work culture, use their responses to recalibrate your company values.
“Begin thinking about how you create the ultimate employee experience. You'll want to serve your internal employees just like you would your external customers.”
Center your company culture on values
In Creating a Culture that Inspires Your Employees, leadership expert Aaron Marshall explains that “creating a great company culture depends heavily on you helping your team to identify, adopt, and maintain a shared understanding of your organization’s values.”
To explain how to create these values, Marshall uses a helpful hiking metaphor: “If you’ve hiked much, you’ve probably seen precariously stacked rocks along the trail. These rock stacks, called cairns, have been carefully constructed to mark the path. Organizational values are a lot like those rock cairns, and identifying, adopting, and maintaining a shared understanding of those values is like marking the trail.”
“First, you have to ‘pick the rocks’ or identify your values. Have a conversation with your whole team on each value — pass the rocks around and make sure everyone agrees they’re worth stacking. Then, stack the rocks. Your team has to see how those values are going to fit together. Build a consensus around the kind of workplace you want to have. Finally, you’re going to have to do some trail maintenance by checking up on your values. Time and turnover are going to impact your organizational culture. Maintaining it will take effort.”
“Time and turnover are going to impact your organizational culture. Maintaining it will take effort.”
Keep employees in the driver’s seat, and elevate champions
You can start the process of creating a positive work culture, but ultimately, if you want your values to take root and truly guide cultural practices, they will have to be driven by your employees.
As culture consultant Catherine Mattice explains in Creating a Positive and Healthy Work Environment, “people have to feel valued by their peers and leaders. They have to feel like their ideas are heard, that they are appreciated, and that they are trusted to get their work done. Employees have to feel connected to the mission.”
To help employees connect with the mission, Mattice recommends deputizing “culture champions” within the ranks of your employees to form a culture committee.
“While leaders should lead culture, they surely shouldn’t do it alone,” she explains. “You need some culture champions on your side, and that’s where a culture committee comes in. What does the committee do? Three things: They champion change, they spread positive gossip about the things the committee is working on, and they develop and execute your strategic plan. So they aren't just committee members executing action items, they are cheerleaders for your organization.”
“Employees have to feel connected to the mission. You need some culture champions on your side, and that’s where a culture committee comes in.”
Connect values to behaviors
Employee-driven values are essential to creating a people-centric culture at work, but they aren’t enough on their own. The best way to translate values into real day-to-day action, according to Marshall, is to determine how each value should guide concrete behaviors.
“You're going to need to translate each value into a list of behaviors,” he argues. “This is going to take some imagination. Consider the different ways each value plays out in your workplace. Really take time to explore how you expect each value to look by identifying tangible behaviors that you're hoping your employees will practice.”
“Knowing the behaviors isn't enough, either,” Marshall clarifies, “Now, you need to bring them to life in your team. To do this, you need to answer the question, ‘What protocols do we need to have in place to encourage, maybe even ensure, that these behaviors show up more frequently?’ You're going to need to practice this process regularly, so that your team stays clear on what your organizational values are and how they come to life in your workplace.”
“Take time to explore how you expect each value to look by identifying tangible behaviors that you're hoping your employees will practice.”
Strive for a consistent work culture
As Canaday says, “Meaningful change isn't going to happen if you don't follow through and back it up. Consistency is mandatory. The values of your new culture need to be part of everything you do, who you hire, how employees are motivated and rewarded, and how supervisors interact with their teams.”
“From employee manuals to HR policies,” she adds, “the tone of every component needs to send the same cohesive message. When you use a well-defined plan that includes consistent communication and practices that support the new culture, you will pave the way for real progress within your organization.”
Sara Canaday
in the course
Organizational Culture
“Meaningful change isn't going to happen if you don't follow through and back it up. Consistency is mandatory.”
Make learning foundational to your company culture
As the experts suggest, creating a people-centric culture in your workplace is largely about empowering your employees to envision and then build the kind of organization they want to be a part of. Providing your employees with this power is a matter of motivation, education, and resources: They must want to build their own good work culture, know how to do it, and have what they need to do it.
One of the best ways to empower a people-centric culture, therefore, is to equip employees with robust learning opportunities. The personalized learning platform provided by LinkedIn Learning can provide:
Motivation: By tying skill and behavior development to each employee’s own career development, you’re providing a very compelling reason for them to adopt the behaviors conducive to a people-centric culture.
Education: LinkedIn Learning courses like the ones outlined above provide critical context for understanding not only how to acquire the skills and behaviors necessary, but also why those skills and behaviors are valuable.
- Resources: Providing employees access to LinkedIn Learning makes ongoing skill development a key part of their employment, and gives them everything they need to pursue it.
The LinkedIn Learning library also has plenty of content to help leaders bring their people together and activate the workforce. For more expert advice on how to create a people-centric culture in your organization, explore any of the courses referenced above or check out Lisa Bodell’s course on Creating a Culture of Collaboration.
For more information on how LinkedIn Learning can help you provide your employees with the motivations and resources they need to build a good work culture, click here.
Help your employees develop skills they can use right away.