The Positive Energy Workplace

At Active Choices, Inc., we've been in the business of helping organizations cultivate Positive Energy Workplaces for more than two decades, and during that time we’ve worked with many high-performing teams and organizational partners and gathered an immense amount of insights along the way. 

As we continue to reach more companies and expand our Positive Energy Workplace Initiative™ (PEW-i), we've noticed some common themes and symptoms that can help you understand where your organization stands on the positive energy spectrum and identify the support you may need. 

To get things rolling, we’re going to start by sharing indicators that suggest your company is NOT currently a Positive Energy Workplace.

Consider these as warning signs that you might be in (or headed for without even realizing it) what we call "triage mode." 

(But don't worry, in our next blog post, we'll dive into the indicators of a Positive Energy Workplace and share how you can transition to a state of growth and optimization.)

So, without further ado, here are 7 red flags to watch out for:

We've recently returned after several weeks on the road bringing our Positive Energy Workplace Initiative™ and IEP Method offerings to a variety of rooms — from group trainings for a Fortune 50 client, to mastermind sessions with former ACI clients, and finishing up with a keynote session for procurement leaders.

(View the timestamped transcript of this video here)

Here are some common things we heard:

“Why should I care about how I show up? (I'm so busy!)"

“How do I handle the person who always shows up so negatively?"

“What do I do if my leaders don't really care about culture (but say they do), or think this 'stuff' doesn't apply to them?”

“How can I help leaders understand how this work ties into the bottom line?"

Despite the fact that these groups were from different industries and levels of management, we heard a common theme:

Performance culture, workforce development, and employee engagement are hot — and it’s on everyone’s minds. 

3 Questions Corporate L&D Leaders Can Ask to Determine if there is a Stickiness Problem

Your organization is investing in training, coaching, and cultural transformation initiatives and spending a lot of time, energy, money, and “workforce trust equity” in doing so. It’s a big lift with lots riding on the success of these initiatives.

But are they working?

Are they sustainable? 

Are your people getting what they need from them? 

And are they actually helping you create the results you want from doing them? 

If you’re not sure, you could have a stickiness problem!

Here are three questions to consider when engaging in any kind of training, leadership, or cultural transformation initiative:

We've all experienced it, either within ourselves or with our teammates/leaders/direct reports: that feeling that something is off, or you just can't "feel them" fully in the game. It's not BAD... it's just... off. Perhaps you notice it while working on a project, having a conversation, or just in the general relationship. It may be subtle and just energetically felt, or more obvious and physically noticeable. The tricky thing with this 'off' feeling of energy is that if you're not fully present and aware, you likely won't notice it consciously.  But you'll feel it. And so will your team. And if you let it go on unaddressed, it will cost you financially and spiritually, as well as zap your time, energy, trust, impact, life force... and on. No one wins here. (PS. If you're responsible for leading organizational culture, retention/attraction, innovation, change, performance, etc. -- and especially if your organization is struggling with any of these things right now -- you're going to want to pay extra attention to this post as the energy of your workforce lies at the heart of all of them.)

My team and I have been both deep in the trenches with and also witness to many organizations going through big changes right now. There are several things, many very nuanced however VERY LOUD, to pay attention to in order to truly create organizational and cultural health NOW. In this video, I walk you through 5 of the ones that have us most excited to lean into right now.