Most organizations believe that culture is the key factor of excellence, yet few organizations are intentional in making it happen. In XINNIX’s quest to truly change the future of our industry, we want to help leaders consider the possibilities for their own organizations by bringing together some of the mortgage industry’s very best executive leaders who are willing to share how they lead and what building a culture of excellence means to them and their companies. Last week, we talked about the why top executives embrace servant leadership. This week, we’re talking about the importance of investing in your salesforce and taking responsibility at all time for their performance.
Invest in Professional Development and Training
Every team member benefits from a solid professional development and training program, yet it’s easily forgotten amid the pressures of everyday business or dismissed when margins are tight. However, leaders who make training a priority see the investment is worth it. For one, it helps to attract and keep great employees who are first and foremost “quality human beings.” This starts with the onboarding experience. Professional development and training serves as an excellent recruiting and retention tool. It adds value, builds loyalty, increases your reputation, and brings in good people.
Additionally, investing in your team is the key factor in creating a highly engaged team. An engaged workforce affects the entire company and fosters job satisfaction, performance and a positive customer experience. The best way to engage your team is to “invest harder.” It’s the right thing to do for your employees and your company.
Organizational Culture and Engagement Drives Sales Performance
A high performance culture is about engagement. The higher the engagement level of your team members, the higher they will perform in their role within the company. According to the Corporate Leadership Council, 76% of the workforce expresses ambivalence toward their work experience. Neither strongly committed nor non-committed to their work, team, leader or organization, these employees prompt organizational concern and demonstrate varied levels of effort and intent to stay.
While quite willing to commit for the right reasons, they have not yet found those reasons – or enough of them. There are 8 category levers that impact employee engagement and performance, starting with organizational culture. Building a culture of excellence will manifest itself into a high performing team, bearing fruit throughout the organization. It’s important to measure the engagement consistently through methods such as annual feedback surveys or focus groups, which help leaders ensure your engagement level remains high and is consistent long term.
Take Responsibility for Your Team’s Success
The nation’s best executives live by 3 words: I am responsible. True leaders take responsibility at all times for the big picture and ownership for the actions of their teams. Taking ownership means holding yourself responsible for the successes and failures of the organization. Leadership involves putting structure beneath the team to allow them to reach to the level of success they want to achieve. It also means removing any barriers that are preventing them from being successful. Good leaders are intentional about getting to know their people and what makes them tick. The more you know about your people, the better you understand what could be causing them to fail or succeed at their jobs.
Leaders know when to follow and allow their team to lead. This is critical in empowering your employees to make decisions. By developing an environment of ownership, leaders help their team understand the importance of taking responsibility.
Come back next week to learn more best practices from the nation’s top executives. Want to hear our full conversation with our CEO roundtable? CLICK HERE to listen!