I have had the wonderful opportunity to work in a variety of organizations throughout my career–large and small, corporate, consulting, for-profit and nonprofit. In that time, I had the chance to experience different organizational cultures. Some were amazing and some not so much. However, they all taught me something about creating a life-giving culture.
Unfortunately, many organizations have a bad reputation for burning people out. Christian nonprofits often share in this reputation. At Water for Good, we have been working on creating a life-giving culture for our global team. This article highlights some of the key lessons we have learned on that journey. And it truly is a journey—creating a life-giving culture is an ongoing pursuit.
Healthy organizational culture is essential–not only for employee well-being but for the long-term success of the organization to achieve its mission. Healthy cultures lead to higher engagement among employees. Yet, according to Gallup, the average engagement among employees worldwide is only 23%, with the implication being that many organizations experience less healthy cultures than they want. Why is there a gap between where we want to be as organizations and where we are?
Some of the more common causes of unhealthy cultures include a lack of transparency, excessive bureaucracy, poor communication, office politics and lack of employee development. Low engagement leads to low morale, high turnover, stress, and burnout. For a nonprofit, stress may compound because of the nature of the work they are performing and the reality that, despite their best efforts, a considerable number of people remain unserved. For Water for Good and our peer organizations fighting the global water crises, even at the end of our most productive day, millions around the globe still lack basic access to safe, reliable water.
At Water for Good, our 308 staff are spread across the globe in 7 countries and 15 different offices. With many of our teams working in remote and challenging locations, we realized the need to be intentional in building structures that reinforce a life-giving culture. Over the past few years, we have focused on creating a culture that enriches our staff’s experiences and allows them to do their best work. This, in turn, propels the organization to produce its best results.
Thanks to our efforts, we have seen a steady climb in employee engagement and in employees feeling valued. We know this because we take pulse surveys of our entire staff every quarter, and satisfaction surveys twice a year. While substantial progress has been made, we also realize that we are on a journey and still have much to do. Here are 6 things we have learned as we have invested in the journey:
- Make sure our mission, vision, values, and core strategies are compelling and understood. Mission, vision, and values guide the organization’s path and should align with everything the organization does. Our leadership team has worked hard to make sure they are simple to understand, clearly understood by all our staff, and reinforced at every opportunity.
- Pay fairly: This should be obvious and yet many organizations, particularly nonprofits, try to “save money” when it comes to pay. I am not suggesting that organizations must pay at the top end of the ranges or that there isn’t lots of room for negotiation within the ranges. I am encouraging the review and establishment of appropriate salary ranges as a baseline activity for organizations attempting to create a healthy culture.
- Create a collaborative culture instead of being so top down: Leaders do not have to have all the ideas or answers. They do need to know how to find them though. We never know where our next big idea will come from. It could be from a team member working in one of our remote program areas. We have worked hard to cultivate a sense of oneness in our global team. No matter where our staff reside, their voice matters, and invested leaders want to hear them.
- Invest in world-class technology: We implemented and launched 5 new systems in the past couple of years. Why? Certainly not for the “cool” factor–although some are indeed cool. We invested in them because they promote values and behaviors that we want in our organization: transparency, collaboration, peer accountability and connection to name a few.
- Provide clear and transparent communication: Organizations often start by keeping everything private and then allow staff access to information as needed. We have worked to democratize data, starting with the assumption that information and data is available to everyone and then determining which items truly need to be private. Armed with data, team members at every level of the organization make better decisions.
- Invest in developing the team: We all have tight budgets and unfortunately some of the first things to be cut are investments in training and development. Water for Good has focused on helping staff discover their God-given strengths, abilities, and passions, and finding opportunities for them to deploy them. Developing our team has included investments in cultural training, CliftonStrengths, and technical and leadership training. We have had a great start and still have much to learn about the best ways to discover and develop the talented individuals in our organization.
This list is not meant to be comprehensive. If you are reading this, it is because you have a desire to ensure your organization operates in a healthy environment–one where your staff and organization flourish. We have learned that creating and maintaining a life-giving culture is a journey—one with highs and lows. It requires intentionality but is worth the investment.
By Dave LeVan
CEO
Water for Good
