S6E21: Why Workplace Culture is Mission Essential

Mike Johnson, CEO of the Yakima Union Gospel Mission, shares a one-of-a-kind story that you need to hear. Listen in, as Mike highlights the one thing that is mission essential for his organization's success.

Listen to the Audio

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Stitcher Radio  | Listen on Google Podcasts

In this episode:

• The Yakima Union Gospel Mission is dedicated to “bring the unique hope of Christ to the struggling on the streets.” (03:50)
• "For us, our workplace culture is mission essential. It’s literally our change engine" (06:54)
• How receiving employees' honest, anonymous feedback helps to build strength into workplace culture (07:57)
• Yakima Union Gospel Mission had a clear idea of their values but didn't know how well they were operationalizing them (08:10)
• "What inspires people is how values are at play in their work." (09:38)
• Yakima Union Gospel Mission made sure their core values were clear, with strong buy-in, and then implementing around them in every way at every level (10:02)
• "We do role, not rank. There is only one rank in the Kingdom of God, and it’s Servant." (10:56)
• If Yakima Union Gospel Mission hadn’t surveyed its employees, it might have been left with a little or a lot of subjective guesswork trying to figure out where and how to make its culture better (12:06) 
• "Our core values are Love, Professionalism and Outcomes" (12:36)
• "If we don’t measure our culture, we betray our values." (13:18)
• Dealing with silos within an organization (17:58)
• How to improve collaboration, communication, and onboarding (19:40)
• What’s one way you’ve grown as the Mission keeps improving, as we like to say, on the Road to Flourishing? (24:11)
• "The most important thing I can do is model our values and show our people that they matter" (25:55)
• "Operationalize your core values or you will never be trusted" (31:33)

Read the Transcript

Read a complete, word-for-word transcript of the episode.

FOLLOW OUR HOST

Follow our Host, Al Lopus, on LinkedIn & Twitter.

Email our host at info@workplaces.org