Insights from Emily Martin, Communications & Engagement Manager at Boss Lady Consulting, discussing how we create an innovative and compassionate work culture for our agency.
We take company culture seriously around here at Boss Lady Consulting. We passionately believe that an organization will be extraordinarily successful when it focuses on its people and their needs.
Sounds like a pie in the sky? It’s not, we’re living it.
Here are three core values that help us focus on creating incredible work for our clients and keeping our team happy and healthy.
1) Humankindness = Humans are greater than KPIs.
How many of us have been in meetings that were WAY too long…and we kept talking in circles about how we needed to increase volume in order to meet our quarterly goals without ever mentioning the people we’re serving or their needs?
I remember meetings where, after an hour of venting about all of the reasons why we couldn’t succeed, we came to no solid conclusions – and then finally decided to just stick to the status quo, try the same approach, and hope for the best.
Sound familiar? Yuck – I still have nightmares from those meetings.
So, here’s a thought: What if we flipped the script? What if our meetings and conversations were first focused on WHO we’re trying to serve rather than WHAT we’re trying to get them to do for us?
Treating our customers like people rather than pawns in our strategic game plan. What a revolutionary thought to improve work culture and morale!
When we focus on WHO matters most and how we can SERVE them, we can effectively create human-centric strategies to better fulfill their needs.
“Humans matter most of all. When we put people at the center of our process and work, they will thrive, and so will your business growth indicators.” (Core Values, Boss Lady Consulting)
2) Health: If you’re not taking care of your people or yourself, how can you take care of others?
Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked with small businesses to Fortune 500 companies in agency and in-house market research, public relations, and marketing spheres. At one agency, an 80+ hour-work week was standard if you wanted to advance or succeed.
PR professionals, especially in healthcare, are on-call 24/7 – living, breathing, and observing the latest trends, updates, and news. How else can you be prepared for a potential problem or crisis to solve or an opportunity to stay relevant and/or a step ahead of your competitors?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, I worked for a rural healthcare hospital system. Compassion fatigue, burnout, workplace stress, fear, trauma – every employee from the C-Suite to the environmental services staff felt it all.
Burnout work culture spans multiple industries in both private and public sectors.
We’re still in it; we’re still feeling the effects of the pandemic. People are leaving in droves from healthcare – seeking more flexibility and finding something new to reignite their passion. The same can be said for educators who are leaving the field after years of service to children and their families.
And yet, this Great Resignation didn’t start due to the pandemic – if anything, COVID-19 served as a catalyst or final push for more people to focus on what mattered most and leave their jobs seeking a better work-life balance.
Gen Z & Millennials are tired of the “live to work” mentality and are searching for organizations that care about them, their families, and their health.
Take it from me, an ambitious millennial. That’s why I left my “dream” job of working in-house for a hospital system – a job that I loved but was too burnt out to continue. As a young mom of three kids under seven, I couldn’t work endless hours and be the kind of person or parent I wanted to be.
When I met with Sally Mildren, Boss Lady Consulting CEO & Chief Boss Lady, to discuss this role at our agency, I was shocked when I heard our core values and that we actually meant it. My life changed for the better when I started this job. I’ve been able to heal. Focus on myself and my family. Be present in my life rather than living in survival mode.
Creating human-centric, health-focused policies and culture for your business improves lives.
As you’re revitalizing your work culture, ask yourself – what options does our organization have for our employees? Are we focusing on their physical, mental, and emotional health? Am I setting boundaries for myself so I can be healthier?
Be a boss in your own life. Define boundaries. You’ll be happier for it.
“We honor our bodies, the health of our families and clients, and the total health of our team. When our team is healthy, we can give our best to our clients and ourselves!” (Core Values, Boss Lady Consulting)
3) Honesty is non-negotiable.
Marketing, customer service, and public relations agencies get a bad reputation for being too “salesy” (pretend that’s a word), deceptive, and just out for the money. And for good reason. So many consultants out there schmooze, talk out of both sides of their mouths, and don’t deliver.
We’ve experienced it – and it’s gross.
For this purpose, we like to call ourselves the “anti-consultant” consultants.
We believe in being 100% honest and transparent with our clients. Get this: we tell them the good, the bad, AND the ugly. Communicating frequently with our clients is the one of the best ways to demonstrate trust, so they can know how work is progressing. We champion and congratulate each other and our clients when things are going great.
In our 1:1 and team meetings, we own our mistakes, have kind and candid conversations (yes, they can exist), and constantly strive to improve. Think perfectly imperfect over here.
Honesty goes a long way, and it shows.
“Trust is built on truth, and so is our business. As such, we expect our team to show up, speak up, deliver what they say they will, and always be open in communication.” (Core Values, Boss Lady Consulting / ClarityPX)
Want to Build a Compassionate Work Culture for your Business?
Humankindness, health, and honesty continue to prove a sustainable and successful culture for our team. Want to learn more about our core values and how we can help you develop people-focused values in your organization? We’d love to hear from you.
