Retirement Company Revitalizes Workplace Through Organizational Democracy

The principles of organizational democracy such as transparency, dialogue and listening, choice and reflection are fostering a renewed sense of workplace purpose and meaning amongst the 600 employees of a Pennsylvania-based retirement organization.

Established in 1896, Messiah Village has undertaken a variety of initiatives in the past several years to revitalize and transform its culture under the leadership of president Emerson Lesher.

The vision for the organization is to become more person-centred and community-minded, to be a social organism as opposed to an institution.

To that end it has embraced values such as those listed above and others like being clear about it vision and mission, which have been identified as principles that cultivate a democratic workplace.

Lesher says becoming more person-centred and working from the principles of organizational democracy, while part of an ongoing change journey, are already shifting how employees view their work.

“A lot of employees know our mission and feel a commitment, even a sense of call to that mission and I think the democratic principles really help make that possible,” he says, noting external review agencies have been surprised at how many employees are aware of the company mission.

“There’s a sense of purpose, a sense of mission (amongst employees) related to their jobs and related to the organization,” says Lesher.

Connected to this, comments from employees and various staff surveys have revealed that as the organizational culture is changing staff members feel more “engaged and like they’re making a difference, like they matter and they’re important.”

Messiah Village has been named to the 2010 WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces published by WorldBlu, a Texas-based organization devoted to building the workplace democracy movement. Organizations earn a spot on the list based on the results of a survey, completed by all staff, that looks at how a company scores in such areas as transparency, integrity and choice.

Lesher says he was interested in Messiah Village participating in the competition to evaluate its progress towards a more person-centred culture, as part of a larger evaluation strategy for the organization.

He notes he sees the award as a “good sign” of what’s been achieved, as well as a stepping-stone to advance further in its efforts to build the Messiah Village community.

“We’ll be using (the results of the WorldBlu survey), along with other information, to determine next steps for us,” he says.

According to WorldBlu, boosting employee engagement and loyalty are two of a list of benefits of organizational democracy. Others include being more adaptive and responsive to change and minimizing waste “by reducing the need for bureaucracy, secrets, and meaningless chatter.”

If you have feedback on this article please contact michelle(at)axiomnews.ca, or call the newsroom at 800-294-0051.