I’m fascinated to learn how companies with purposeful, positive, productive work cultures make that happen – and make sure it keeps happening every day.

We got a wonderful “behind the scenes” look recently at one of Glassdoor’s 2019 Employee’s Choice Best Places to Work – Trader Joe’s.

Last month, a Trader Joe’s employee opened a discussion on Reddit, inviting questions about the unique work culture there, why employees are so happy there, and more.

In response to “why are employees so happy there?,” this employee said, in short, “we’re treated very well.” This employee described five characteristics of their culture:
* No bureaucracy
* Be yourself
* Act with integrity (which is one of their company values)
* Great environment
* Great coworkers

None of these characteristics surprise us Trader Joe’s shoppers. We can see employees’ joy and are wow’ed by the service we enjoy and by the store’s terrific products.

What is shocking is that so few organizations embrace these characteristics. Despite the knowledge that integrity and respect build great workplaces, too many organizations are lousy places to work in.

In today’s three-minute episode of my Culture Leadership Charge video series, I share details about how Trader Joe’s leverages those five characteristics to create incredible employee happiness.

This is episode sixty-four of my Culture Leadership Charge series. Each episode is a short (two-to-three-minute) video that describes proven culture leadership and servant leadership practices that boost engagement, service, and results across your work teams, departments, regions, companies – and even homes and neighborhoods.

You’ll find my Culture Leadership Charge episodes and more on my YouTube and my iTunes channels. If you like what you see, please subscribe!

Create a purposeful, positive, productive work culture with @scedmonds' #Culture #Leadership Charge video episodes! #WorkPlaceInspiration #PurposefulCulture http://drtc.me/ytube Share on X

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To what degree does your company model these five healthy culture characteristics? Share your insights or questions on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

S. Chris Edmonds

Chris helps leaders create purposeful, positive, productive work cultures. He's a speaker, author, and executive consultant. He blogs, podcasts, and video casts. He is the author of two Amazon bestsellers: Good Comes First (2021) and The Culture Engine (2014).
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