By Nancy Padberg, MBA, President and CEO

The Importance of a Healthy Culture in Building a High-Performance Team

Many business leaders like to talk about a healthy culture, but are they truly effective at building a high-performance team? A healthy office culture is not simply an investment in an office ping-pong table or Friday pizzas. It’s built on trust, respect and value for one another, requiring an investment of time and focus.

While building a healthy culture takes work and dedication, the payoff is tangible. Happier associates typically produce better work, and the benefits of a strong culture can reach internal and external stakeholders—from customers to Board Members.

Components Of A Healthy Culture

Here are some key pieces of a healthy work culture, based on what I’ve seen and experienced.

A Healthy Relationship To Innovation

A healthy culture is a flexible culture, and adapting to change is vital for finding solutions to modern problems. A healthy environment creates space for and values innovation and flexibility. I ask myself ‘how can we best scale our time?’. Innovations like AI and robust CRMs allow associates to work smarter and have the technology work hard and smart for us. 

Invest in innovative technology 

  •     MarketSmart: Accelerates donor relationships, allowing Development Directors to focus on donor relations. 
  •     Salesforce: CRM like Salesforce helps your team track and organize customer relations 
  •     Chat GPT: Generative AI helps marketers scale their time by assisting with ideation, social media copy, and more. 

An Invitation For Ideas

I’ve found that when team members know they are valued and respected, they are more likely to share their suggestions. In such environments, creativity can thrive because individuals feel empowered and comfortable sharing their ideas.  

On the contrary, unhealthy work environments often stifle creativity. Associates may feel their creativity is choked by close-minded leadership and a lack of freedom to express their ideas.

We use a format called Brain Bangers for ideation sessions. We start with an idea and can build on it or offer new ideas. You never know where a good idea will come from or from whom! For example, when we started a new fundraising division, we needed to come up with an official name, so I called for a Brain Bangers ideation session. We sat down with a laptop and typed out all the ideas that came up. This is a time for unpolished thoughts and to build on each other’s ideas. There is no wrong answer. The team’s ideas are captured, leaving you with a long list of potential. This is how we arrived at the name of our new fundraising division. We took inspiration from our mission statement and thus, the Changing Lives with Legacy division was named.

Employee Engagement And Motivation

A positive culture fosters employee engagement and motivation, which typically leads to higher productivity levels. More productive employees enable organizations to meet customer demand more efficiently, resulting in increased sales and revenue.

Long-term, fostering employee engagement and motivation early on can help when times get tough economically. Maintaining employee morale, retaining customers and innovative solutions, and helping to protect and grow revenue over time can all be the result of a strong culture. Keeping your team engaged can look like a month-end report meeting to discuss the team’s progress, or even a fun Friday meeting set aside for relationship building. 

In a 2024 Onepoll study, it was found that a majority of employees prefer to hear praise  than receive a raise. On the other hand, keeping your team motivated stems from keeping the mission in mind. Make time to share testimonials you receive, mission moments, and spread gratitude. Simple moments like these make a world of a difference.

Results Of A Healthy Culture

Cultivating and maintaining a healthy culture often yields natural benefits for an organization, such as the following:

Higher Customer Satisfaction

In a healthy culture, associates have more mental capacity to care for customers and provide the best service. Stressed associates are not the best representatives of an organization.

When associates are stressed, it can be challenging for them to consistently put their best foot forward, especially when dealing with potential clients, donors or customers. To reduce workplace stress, increase flexibility and encourage honest updates on workload. Prioritizing your associates’ well-being will lead to a less stressful culture, allowing them to represent the organization at their best.

Fewer Errors

When associates have too much on their plate, stress builds up and projects are rushed. This is when errors can slip in. Create an environment where workloads are manageable, reducing stress and ensuring higher-quality work.

Decreased Costs

High employee turnover is expensive. Healthy cultures are more likely to attract good talent and retain associates. By keeping top talent, companies save on turnover costs and maintain continuity, contributing to consistent revenue growth.

Increased Retention

Effective leaders want to attract and retain good talent. Talented individuals know their worth and want to work for the best organizations. To keep them happy, they need a healthy culture; to keep them long-term, they must love where they work.

Building a team built on trust, respect and value for one another is a deliberate investment for CEOs to make. 

Bramell, J. (2024). Gratitude is Better Than a Pay Raise for 55% of U.S. Workers, Survey Finds. CPA Practice Advisor.com. https://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/2024/02/29/gratitude-is-better-than-a-pay-raise-for-55-of-u-s-workers/102148/#:~:text=A%20recent%20survey%20of%202%2C000,or%20a%20promotion%20(28%25