“Leaders care about employees as people, not just as resources, units, or ways of achieving a business outcome. So, for me, that’s what caring is.”
Snapshot
- The importance of caring in the workplace
- Overcoming COVID with caring as a mission
The following article is based on our interview and insights on The Caring CEO podcast.
Didier Elzinga, the Founder and CEO of Culture Amp, leads the world’s top workplace culture analytics platform. Culture Amp’s primary goal is to improve the work environment, and they strongly believe that prioritising culture is essential in achieving this objective. Established in 2009, they have recently been valued at $2 billion and recognised as one of the most innovative companies worldwide. With their current monitoring of 6,000 workplaces and 25 million employees, it is evident that their culture-driven approach is highly successful. Didier exemplifies a compassionate CEO, offering valuable lessons for anyone who values the importance of caring.
We gained many valuable insights when Graeme Cowan, WeCARE365’s co-founder, interviewed Didier for the The Caring CEO podcast.
Caring is a Cycle
At Culture Amp, caring in the workplace is seen as a continuous cycle, and we think it’s an approach we can all learn from.
Didier believes that when leaders genuinely care about their employees as individuals rather than just viewing them as resources or a means to achieve business goals, it creates a positive and mentally healthy workplace. It’s not just about assessing their capability to complete the required tasks; it’s about genuinely caring about them as human beings.
Caring is a Mission
There are two ways to balance the importance of caring and high performance in a company’s culture:
- Openly acknowledge that what truly matters to our people is important.
- At an individual level, it’s increasingly important, almost a moral imperative — for the workplace to be meaningful and supportive, enabling us to lead fulfilling lives. This is the mission Culture Amp has committed to – fostering a culture of care is central to this outcome.
Caring during COVID
The importance of people cannot be overstated. When the pandemic hit, everyone found themselves in an unprecedented situation, trying to navigate the unknown alongside their teams. This experience has reinforced that people truly matter. The effects of COVID are still being felt, and workplace mental health has become an ongoing challenge. For a long time, it was often overlooked as something outside of work. With more recent legislative changes, mental health and caring for the psychological safety of our people have become not just a ‘wellness’ point of interest, but also squarely a Risk and Safety one too.
Even before COVID, organisations were starting to realise that we have a responsibility to support our employees who may be facing various levels of suffering. How we show up at work can have a significant impact on their wellbeing. COVID, like many other factors such as remote work and increased reliance on technology, has accelerated this awareness and brought us to a whole new level. Consequently, many organisations are grappling with the immense challenge of dealing with collective trauma. Building a caring culture is so critical to building sustainable and resilient teams that can face these challenges together.
To learn more about The Caring CEO and WeCARE365, visit us here: https://wecare365.com.au/
About WeCARE365
We create simple skill-building programs that help managers lead mentally healthy teams. We believe that the #1 priority for every leader and team is to be more caring and mentally healthy and to enjoy growing together. In the very best teams, people care about each other, have each other’s backs, and enjoy each other’s company. We know the best learning solutions are those that ‘everybody gets’, which are easy to roll out, promote, and provide ongoing practical support. If you would like to see a demo, please book here.