Are you creating a Culture of Value and Impact?

This was the question I asked my new friends at the American Dairy Association North East during their recent Recipe for Success event in Philadelphia.

The Culture of your Community, Workplace or Organization is created by the Environment and the People in that environment. I have always thrived in cultures promoted personal and professional growth. Cultures where I was valued as a resource and not seen as a number. This empowered me to leave a positive impact on the people I worked with and the people we served.

So, what's the recipe to create a workplace culture people hunger for?

1. Recruit passionate people. People who believe in your mission and goals. Be sure to learn what they are passionate about too. What are their motivations (More about this in step 4.)
2. Recognize their unique talents. Make time to understand their strengths and unique abilities.
3. Retain them. Your team is a valuable resource, not a commodity that you easily dispose of. If you move the letters around in Retain, you get the word Train-E. The best way to show you value people is to train Everyone, Everyday, Every opportunity. Invest in their growth and you'll earn their trusty and loyalty.
4. Reward their actions. You'll will never be able to pay people what their worth, but the pandemic proved that people are looking for more than just good pay. What are the fringe benefits you offer. We are quick to criticize people, but slow to recognize them. When you recruit people to be a part of your mission or organization, be sure to learn their intrinsic (internal) and extrinsic (external) motivators.

The recipe I just shared is about engaging not only your team, but the people you serve. When we make time to consistently engage and understand people, we show we value them.

When you do this, you will see the impact it has on your productivity and profits.

Thank you to Jerry Simmons and Tawanna (Toni) Wasi for inviting me to encourage the School Nutrition Professionals you work with to continue engaging and empowering their students and teams to be the best they can possibly be by creating a culture their hunger for.