Talks On Workplace Culture

Today’s business leaders aren’t facing “The Great Resignation.” When millions of people quit en masse, that is nothing short of “A Quiet Revolution.” 

Like most revolutions, this one started simply enough. At first, employees were happy-ish. After all, our idea of work had not dramatically changed for several decades. The pandemic changed all that. For the first time, employees had a say in where, when, and how work got done. They enjoyed a level of freedom and autonomy never felt before; many finally found a sense of balance between work and life. 

Suddenly, for the 48 million US workers that voluntarily quit in 2021 alone, the “old normal” was no longer good enough.

This high-energy talk focuses on the tactical and practical—based on his bestselling book, Good Comes First with Mark Babbitt—shows today’s leaders how they can win the war for talent through the creation of an uncompromising company culture while simultaneously increasing any company’s bottom line.

We don’t have a so-called labor shortage. Instead, we have a respect shortage.

The data is clear: When it comes to today’s employee experience—and the retention of attraction of top talent—nothing means more to an employee than feeling respected. In fact, workplace respect is a better indicator of a quality employer than pay, perks, benefits, and training—combined. 

And what happens when people feel disrespected? When they grow tired of working unfulfilling jobs for lousy bosses within uninspiring company cultures? They walk. And they keep walking until they find a company where they systemically feel respected and validated for their ideas, efforts, and contributions—every day.

In this interactive discussion, Chris, co-author with Mark Babbitt of the bestseller Good Comes First, shows leaders a proven method for making respect as important as results. In fact, through the use of real-world examples and case studies, Chris demonstrates that in the post-pandemic workplace: Respect = Results.

For years, leaders have posted their organization's core values on the walls of their lobbies and in their conference rooms. And yet leaders rarely live up to those values. Even worse: As they choose to focus almost exclusively on driving results, far too many leaders ignore values and tolerate destructive behaviors. 

The natural consequence: Employees don’t live those values, either. The result: The stated company culture becomes a contradiction. 

This is why today’s best leaders are building accountability systems to make core values—and the human behaviors that demonstrate alignment to those values—countable.

In this insightful keynote, Chris proves that before leaders and team members can be held accountable for living a company’s core values and creating a respectful workplace, core values must become countable. Specifically, leaders must define values in observable, tangible, measurable, coachable, and changeable terms.

The net result: Leaders see across-the-board improvements of 30 to 40 percent in employee engagement, customer satisfaction, retention, productivity, and profits.

For decades, talented team members have tolerated old-school leaders who put results before respect and rationalize destructive, demeaning behaviors while chasing higher profits.

But as “The Great Resignation” and ill-fated attempts to return to the pre-pandemic “old normal” have has proven, those days are over. Today, as companies struggle to recover from the impact of COVID-19, employees are desire (and are proving they deserve) workplaces where they are respected and validated for their ideas, efforts, and contributions—every day.  

To retain and attract talented, engaged staff, leaders, from small business owners to Fortune 100 CEOs, must make the creation of a work culture where respect is as important as results their top priority. 

The challenge? We rarely ask leaders to change work cultures. And most leaders don’t know how. 

So in this interactive conversation, Chris provides the actionable inspiration needed to help leaders build a team of good people... doing good work... in a good company. We share the impact of an inspiring servant purpose and of respect-based workplace values and behaviors and drive optimal results while, at the same time, focusing on the doing of good.

In this era, mistrust, mistruths, and disrespect—not only in interactions with toxic bosses and toxic colleagues in the workplace but also in back-channel communications and on social and digital platforms—are rampant. So it has never been more critical for leaders to demonstrate respect as they earn the respect of their employees. 

Not in some insincere way; certainly not in the same way management has attempted to manipulate employee engagement over the past several decades. Instead, the goal for leaders today is to create a workplace where respect is contagious, validation is pervasive, and employees are treated with dignity while driving results.

In this presentation, designed to offer time for reflection and self-awareness, Chris shows that today’s most valued leaders are exceptional relationship builders, respectful collaborators and engaged mentors. Moreover, those same leaders consistently show employees they matter by demonstrating genuine care for both the work and the people doing the work. 

At the end of this discussion, leaders will know they must deliberately create a company culture where good comes first for employees, customers, and all stakeholders—and those players know they are trusted to do exceptional work.