Welcome to The Ledger where we sum up the latest finance and accounting news and trends for you. On this week’s entry, we’re diving into the topic of how to curate a business strategy centered around leadership. Read on to learn how to create a more inclusive work culture through leadership, how leadership strategies can support burnt-out teams, why having the right content strategy and action plan promotes industry leadership and how to bring strategy back into focus.
Top Leadership Strategies For A More Inclusive Work Culture
Employees want to feel valued for the work they do as well as included in all aspects of the company. And leaders play a vital role in maintaining a company’s work culture. Take a look at a few strategies to implement in order to encourage a more inclusive culture:
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Ask your employees what is important to them. Don’t assume what the culture is.
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Partner with an expert – somebody who knows more than you. Hire someone who can help you craft or change the recruiting process.
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Foster different perspectives. Make an effort to get to know potential candidates.
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Pay attention to who you’re hiring and why. Are you hiring people who add value to the team?
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Take a people-first decision-making approach. Consider different culture, beliefs, etc.
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Encourage team bonding. Reward your team for achieving a goal or milestone.
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Create optimal working conditions for all. Make your employees feel like they matter.
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Raise wages if you can afford it. An immediate solution to making sure everyone feels included is by raising the starting wage.
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Ensure that your management roles are filled with people from different walks of life. Culture starts from the top and seeps downward.
To read the full article on how to develop business strategies around a more inclusive work culture, head over to Forbes.com.
8 Leadership Strategies to Support Burnt-Out Teams
It’s easy for your employees to get burnt out at work. And after a year of uncertainty, it’s no surprise that many people are mentally and physically exhausted. Luckily, leaders don’t have to fret on whether or not this pandemic effect is mendable. Here are a few tried and true ways (thanks to a few experts) on how to keep your employees feeling invigorated and encouraged during a remote work era.
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Practice willfulness each day. Ask yourself what you can achieve today.
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Plan virtual team-building activities. Just because your team is working virtually, doesn’t mean company culture ceases to exist.
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Empower your team to work when and how they see fit. As long as they are producing results, let them work when they want to work.
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Create a new beginning. Employees get energized when there is a new initiative.
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Be generous with PTO. Make sure there is a distinction between work and home life.
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Encourage daily breaks. Mini breaks allow your employees to step away from work and recharge.
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Give your employees freedom over their work hours. This allows them to be in control of their day.
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Recognize how your employees are feeling. This year has impacted employee well-being and companies need to support their employees during this time.
To learn how to get employee morale back on track (thanks to the pandemic), read the full article on Newsweek.com.
How Choosing The Right Content Action Plan Increases Industry Leadership
Having a content strategy can be a win for your company. However, not all digital content is created equal. In fact, the right content strategy aims to educate, entertain, inspire, and more. So how can you develop the right digital content strategies? Here are a few ways to line up your strategy:
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Start with a thought-leadership strategy. Give your audience what they want – a critical source of information within your industry.
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Utilize PR to feature your brand. Money can’t buy the best publicity.
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Become SEO savvy. Content and SEO go hand in hand; content that is armed with buzz-worthy keywords helps establish your brand as a leading industry authority.
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Get familiar with influencers. It’s not just about what you know, but who you know. Partnering with the right influencer can take your company to new heights.
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Shell out the money. Amplify your content with paid advertising efforts.
To explore how to utilize your content to boost your company’s industry leadership, read the full article on Forbes.com.
How Leaders Can Bring Their Action Plan Back Into Focus
According to research done by Gallup, only 22 percent of employees feel that leaders have a clear direction for the organization. It’s clear that people are losing confidence in their employer. Moreover, McKinsey research found that companies allocate 90 percent of their resources to the same places every year. If we’ve learned anything from this past year and these surveys, it’s that companies need to rethink their business strategies. Here’s how:
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Find a shared purpose. As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a letter to his employees, “It is in times of great disruption and uncertainty that our ability to stay grounded in our sense of purpose and remain true to our identity is of the utmost importance.”
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Listen deeply and with intent. Today’s employees want to be a part of their company’s story. In fact, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly once said, “The higher you go, the more you must rely on other people, and if you’re smart, you will listen to them.”
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Align goals across all levels of the company. Allowing your employees to be a part of the strategy increases buy-in and speeds up activation.
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Develop strategic planning rigor. Pandemics might happen once in a blue moon, but strategy failures happen more often than not.
To explore how to build an effective organizational strategy and action plan centered in leadership, head over to Gallup.com.
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