1. How Does Work Climate Affect Performance?
Gregory Rodway, MBA
Workplace Climate Consultant

2. Diagnosis Increasing employee absenteeism and tardiness
Decreasing employee productivity
Disengagement and inflexible work habits
Reports of dissatisfaction among your clients
The failure of your work group to meet specific performance targets
Frequent or unresolved conflict among staff
May simply be to provide the scores or may be to set an action plan in place and work with manager and team

3. Diagnosis Common staff complaints:
“This place is so disorganized. We don’t know what direction we are going in. Today, one task has high priority, but tomorrow a different task has priority”.
“We are asked to produce results, but we don’t have support or necessary resources”.
“No one appreciates our work. No one says thanks”.
May simply be to provide the scores or may be to set an action plan in place and work with manager and team
We get plenty of criticism when things go wrong, but rarely any positive feedback.
Things are tense and unpleasant. Our boss just barks at us. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to go to work.

4. Reflection
Think about a time when you were part of a great, high performing workgroup or team…..
What did it feel like to participate?
How did you respond?
Break into small groups or a paired share
Use the flip chart
Allow 7 minutes for this discussion
Reflection
Paired share
Collect ideas on flip chart
Debrief on flipchart

5. Impact!
Climate impacts how you feel and behave.

6. What is Work Climate?
Work Climate is the prevailing workplace atmosphere as experienced by employees
Climate captures what it feels like to work in a group, it is the weather of the work place.
Stress focus on the work group level – not organizational level

7. What is Work Climate?
a negative work climate impedes performance and leads to increasing levels of absenteeism and turnover.
a positive work climate leads to and sustains employee motivation and improved performance.
influences the “discretionary effort,” or level of effort above and beyond job expectations, that employees exert.
Stress focus on the work group level – not organizational level

8. Why impact Climate?
When we looked at the impact of climate on results ….. work climate accounts for nearly a third of the results. And that is simply too much of an impact to ignore.” (Goleman, 2000, p82)
Boss impacts climate
Climate makes a difference of up to 30%
Case in regional government – communication, including teamwork, morale, supervision, involvement and information flow (Zamanou & Glaser 1994)

9. What causes Work Climate?
Two teams example within a department, same history, culture, strategy, structure and external environment (Home Depot, McDonalds examples)
Management – doing things right: plan, organize, implement, evaluate
Leadership – doing right things: scan, focus, align/mobilize, inspire
EXTERNAL ISSUES – government regulation, economic conditions, competitive industry forces, changing technology (engineers working in a fiercely competitive high tech industry versus a conservative, semi-monopolistic public utility where technology is not changing
HISTORY – perceptions as to how crises were handled, traditions regarding rewards for performance, organization’s memory of past leaders and role models, history of resource allocation
ORGANIZATIONAL ARRANGEMENTS – formal aspects of the organization including the design of tasks and jobs, reward systems, policies and procedures
STRATEGY – has a profound impact on climate and can influence how employees feel about ACH opportunities, rewards, obstacles to success and sources of opportunities, no strategy = low levels of commitment, no clarity
LEADERSHIP – single largest determinant of climate is the day to day activities of leaders within an organization, ie directly controlled by leaders, other four are less or are not controllable by leader
History
Culture
Strategy
Structure
External Environment
Manager can’t change these
All impact climate but the one thing a manager who leads CAN CHANGE are Management and Leadership practices!!!!!
These can be be impacted by ALL supervisors!
Climate impacts motivation, increases discretionary effort
Performance+++
Refer people to page 4 of The Manager.
Leadership and management practices that provide clarity, support, and challenge contribute to a positive work climate,
which leads to and sustains employee motivation and high performance
because it increases the “discretionary effort,” or level of extra effort, that employees exert above and beyond job expectations.

10. School Leadership Effectiveness
Individual
Characteristics
& Competencies
Job Requirements
Motivation & Performance
Work Climate
Leadership & Management
Styles
Adapted from Watkin, 1999

11. What Do The Experts Say?
What the boss of a workgroup does is the most important determinant of climate” (Stringer 2002, p99)
“50 to 70 percent of employees’ perception of working climate is linked to the characteristics of the leader” (Goleman, 2001, p42)
Boss impacts climate
Climate makes a difference of up to 30%
Case in regional government – communication, including teamwork, morale, supervision, involvement and information flow (Zamanou & Glaser 1994)

12. Reflection What did the manager/leader do?
Think about a time when you were part of a great, high performing workgroup or team…..
What did the manager/leader do?
How did the manager/leader behave?
MSI:
Authoritative
Coercive
Coaching
Democratic
Pacesetting
Affiliative
Break into small groups or a paired share
Use the flip chart
Allow 7 minutes for this discussion
Reflection
Paired share
Collect ideas on flip chart
Debrief on flipchart

13. How do Manager/Leaders influence Work Climate?
Manager/Leaders influence climate by focusing on:
Ensuring clarity and standards
Providing support, rewards and responsibility
Delivering challenge and encouraging pride and team commitment
Clarity – what am I doing here and why am I doing it?
Support – do I have what I need both physical and emotional support?
Challenge – am I stretched and challenged?

14. How is Climate Determined?
Use a climate assessment tool - assessment tools are available commercially
Usually a 180 degree view, i.e. manager/leader and subordinates
Collect additional qualitative data
Contrast manager/leader view with subordinate view
Essential to determine intent as the first component of the preparation process!
What is the WCA being used for?
Measurement only?
As a component of a climate based intervention?

15. Climate Assessment Uses?
Assessment / Measurement – used as a performance indicator
Development – to give feedback for developmental purposes
Essential to determine intent as the first component of the preparation process!
What is the WCA being used for?
Measurement only?
As a component of a climate based intervention?

16. One example - the MSH Work Climate Assessment (WCA)
Easy to Use
12 Items measure Clarity, Support, Challenge
Manual Calculation or Spreadsheet Support
How can I assess climate?
How will I know if I am developing clarity, support and challenge?
Use the WCA.

17. MSH WCA Example . We are recognized for individual contributions
. We have a common purpose
. We have the resources we need to do our jobs well
. We develop our skills and knowledge
. We have a plan which guides our activities
. We strive to improve our performance
. We understand each other’s capabilities
. We are clear what is expected in our work
. We seek to understand the needs of our clients
0. We participate in the decisions of our work group
1. We take pride in our work
2. We readily adapt to new circumstances
Page 5, page 12

18. Use the WCA Complete the assessment Review your results
What gaps exist / which gaps are largest?

19. Why impact Climate?
The better the leader/head understands their climate, the underlying competencies that can be used to shape it and how to use leadership (and management) styles to motivate, the greater possibility of sustained success.” (Watkin 1999, p13)
Boss impacts climate
Climate makes a difference of up to 30%
Case in regional government – communication, including teamwork, morale, supervision, involvement and information flow (Zamanou & Glaser 1994)

20. Appendix

21. Work Climate Process Five Step Process:- Prepare Administer Analyze
Report
Act
Explain process
? Develop a Flow Chart to support this

22. Facilitation – Prepare
Ensure Goals are Clear
Select assessment
Who will be assessed?
Where and when will the assessment occur?
Is an Administrator needed to manage the data collection?
Talk about the timeframe as part of preparation
Talk about the resources required as part of preparation
Manager’s Guide
WCA v4.7
?Tabulation

23. Facilitation – Act Measurement Only Consultant Review
Feedback for Work Groups
Consultant Review – “road test results”
Manager Feedback
Strategy Development
Work Group Action Planning
May simply be to provide the scores or may be to set an action plan in place and work with manager and team

24. References
Goleman, D. 2000, “Leadership that gets results”, Harvard Business Review, March–April
Goleman, D. 2001, “An EI-Based theory of performance” in The Emotionally Intelligent Workplace, eds. G. Cherniss & D. Goleman, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco
Johnson, S. & Rodway, G. 2002, “Creating a Work Climate that Motivates Staff and Improves Performance”, The Manager Volume 11 Number 3, MSH Boston
Stringer, R. 2002, Leadership and Organizational Climate, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey
Watkin, C. 2000, “The leadership program for serving headteachers: probably the world's largest leadership development initiative,” The Leadership and Organization Development Journal, Vol.21 No.1
May simply be to provide the scores or may be to set an action plan in place and work with manager and team