How Magnetic is Your Workplace?

This is a 4 part series on the various points of a workplace culture. Find the four parts here: Workplace Culture, Toxic culture,  Tolerable culture and a Magnetic Culture.
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Is your workplace ideal?

Probably not. Whose is? 

Most leaders, you included, probably recognize that your workplace is less than ideal. It may not be as bad as the toxic stories we’ve shared, and it may even be more than the barely tolerable ones we’ve described.

However, strong, effective and impactful leaders are always looking to grow their team and improve their workplace culture - no matter where it stands now.

We all want to be working at one of the Best Places to Work. Why? Because we want to work in places where we feel like we’re making a contribution, where we are wanted, where we are making a difference. 

That happens when we are part of a Magnetic Workplace - one that draws people to it. A place where people feel that they matter, they are cared about, and they are contributing to something bigger than themselves.
In a Magnetic Workplace, employees are actively engaged in the organization’s work. In our experience, a magnetic workplace is characterized by:

• Openness
• growth
• belonging
• generativity
• creativity ​

In short, a Magnetic Workplace is that magical place where work becomes something more than a paycheque, where you willingly give your best effort, and where you know you belong.
In one of our earliest blogs, we talked about a woman who got ready for work only to find out that it was her day off. She was so disappointed!

Now we know that’s a stretch. Everybody needs time off to recharge and enjoy life. We call that having a work-life balance.

And … isn’t that the sort of employee we’re all seeking - the one who is drawn to the organization because she feels she matters; she feels she’s making an important contribution to something bigger than herself. 

What we are talking about may sound Utopian to you or maybe expensive. However, we believe that to find and retain key personnel, today’s leaders must create the conditions that allow Magnetic Workplaces to thrive regardless of the circumstances.

Each person’s experience with their organization is different. Yours is likely to be different from your co-workers. You may view life at work to be tolerable, while your colleague sees it as toxic, while a third colleague may believe the workplace isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty magnetic.

Take a moment to score your experience in your workplace. Your scores reflect your perception of your workplace culture. Doing so will help you identify your starting point along the continuum as you do the work to move towards sustaining a Magnetic Workplace culture.