Posted: May 1st, 2025

2-1 Disucssion OL342

After reading the article “The #1 Workplace Culture Challenge” in the Module Two Reading and Resources section, select two of the nine items listed that you identify as most valuable in convincing leadership to include culture as part of any change strategy.

Respond to two of your peers on their selections. Did their choices influence your opinion? Why or why not?

Peer 1

After reading the article, “The #1 Workplace Culture Challenge,” I believe that two of the nine items listed are particularly valuable in convincing leadership to include culture as part of any change strategy. The first item that stands out to me is improving performance, specifically in terms of growth and profitability. By emphasizing the impact of culture on performance, leaders can be convinced that a strong culture can drive productivity, innovation, and ultimately, financial success. When employees feel a sense of belonging and alignment with the organization’s values, they are more likely to be motivated and engaged, leading to improved performance outcomes.

The second item that I find significant is improving how talent is attracted, hired, and retained. In today’s competitive job market,  attracting and retaining top talent is crucial for organizational success. Culture plays a vital role in this aspect as it can be a key differentiator in attracting high-performing individuals. By highlighting the connection between culture and talent management, leaders can understand that a positive and inclusive culture can help attract top talent, enhance employee engagement, and reduce turnover. This, in turn, can lead to a stronger and more sustainable workforce, contributing to long-term organizational success.

peer 2After reading the nine items listed in the article, the two that I feel would be the most valuable would be “reacting to or preventing serious bad behavior and compliance issues” and “improving how talent is attracted, hired, and retained”. The reason I chose those two ideas is due to my experiences with nearly every place I have ever worked.

Reacting and preventing poor behavior has two major advantages. Firstly, not adhering to compliance protocols and set rules put into place for employees has a major effect on the culture of the staff. This can cause tension in the workplace between staff members, management and other departments who struggle with employees who do not work in accordance with set regulations. Employees who do follow the rules are made to feel as if they must retroactively fix mistakes, work harder to compensate for the lacking staff, and will eventually feel unappreciated or burnt out from having to deal with non-complying employees. This builds a great deal of resentment and lack of incentive to continue to follow rules, which leads to overall poor performance, culture, and employee satisfaction. Secondly, especially in the case of businesses that have a large customer base, the customers themselves suffer from having to rely on employees that cannot be trusted or create a negative experience with the company. This not only massively affects the customer base, but greatly affects overall profits and liability of the company. Reacting to these incidents and correcting these issues will ensure that all employees are operating under the same rules and guidelines that align with the goals and mission of the company, creating a workplace where staff feels empowered and unified.

Improving how talent is attracted, hired, and retained is another great way to ensure a great company culture. Fine tuning the interview process and seeking out individuals who function under the same principles as the company’s vision is imperative to a positive workplace culture. It is important to make sure that the staff members who are hired not only have the experience that is required to fulfill the position, but also have the interpersonal skills that resonate with the other staff and management of the business. This will eventually tie in with the previously mentioned item of preventing poor behavior, because if the hiring process is taken seriously, the type of employees who do not adhere to compliance would have never been selected in the first place.

I have experienced firsthand how damaging it is to have staff who simply do not care about the job they are doing as well as employees who are hired as “warm bodies” during times of staff shortages. I personally feel that most employees are willing to compensate and compromise during periods of short staffing if it means that the next employee hired is driven, focused, and aligns with the positive workplace culture that is hopefully set into place.