1. Liberate your values

The values we live by are a source of individual pride and set expectations for how we behave with one another. Be bold and have an honest conversation that tests the strength of these values in your organization.

How to do it:

• Use an adaptation of the Liberating Structure Triz to make it possible for people to talk honestly about behaviour. It's a 3 step process:

1. Go through your list of organizational values and ask people to describe the worst possible behaviour imaginable with respect to each value.
2. Go down the list behaviour by behaviour and ask “Is there anything we are doing that in any way, shape, or form resembles this?” Be brutally honest as you create a list of all your counterproductive behaviours.
3. Go through your second list and identify first steps which will help you stop what you know prevents you from living your values.

Case study

In Dare to Lead, Brené Brown estimates that only 10% of organizations have operationalized their values into teachable and observable behaviours

2. Choose a charity

People love to feel they make a positive difference to the world. And organizations that support social and environmental causes have more motivated workers. Allow staff to choose a cause to receive a donation from company profits.

How to do it:

• Publicize that the company will be donating a fixed sum or a percentage of profits to charity and arrange a voting process to choose which charity receives the benefits.
• Allow all staff to suggest charities and give everyone the chance to vote.
• The donation could even be split proportionally between a handful of charities.

Case study

The apparel company Patagonia encouraged employees to take political action to protect the land around their warehouse location in Nevada. Four employees took the initiative, getting support from company leaders in the form of salaries and facilities. They built a broad coalition, went to Washington, and as a result of their lobbying, 1.2 million acres of wilderness were protected. Today, the clothes company campaigns to safeguard 30% of land and waters by 2030.

Research

Research has found that donating to charity increases worker productivity by an average of 13%. This increase occurs regardless of whether the charity donation is dependent on performance or not. The least productive workers seem to benefit most, with the largest rise in productivity of 30%.

3. Create volunteering opportunities

When we focus on the wellbeing of others, we usually improve our own. Volunteering can support core psychological needs, which help us to feel happy and proud of the contribution our organization is making to society.

How to do it:

• Design a corporate volunteering program using the Sustainable Development Goals; they provide a useful framework
• Digital platforms like Alaya have helped large corporations from PWC to BNP Paribas create opportunities for employees to do good and connect to the Sustainable Development Goals
• Organizations like Employee Volunteering can help you think through the practical steps of setting up a corporate volunteering programme
• Organizations like Pepal provide challenging experiences for rising leaders.
• Create a tag group in Friday Pulse for your volunteers so you can compare their happiness to average levels of happiness in your organization.

4. Build emotional connections to the organization’s mission

Remind colleagues why your organization is a great place to work. Does it help solve a problem, give back to the community, or have excellent employee benefits? Campaigns that communicate successes internally - especially when they align with the organization's mission - are highly motivating!

How to do it:

• Bring HR and marketing colleagues together to create an internal campaign that reminds everyone why your organization is a great place to work.
• Convince marketing colleagues to invest time by explaining the links between high pride scores among employees and new customers. When people feel proud to work for an organization, they become brilliant ambassadors.
• Pull celebrations from the Friday Pulse platform to populate your campaigns.