Why Complacency Can Be the Greatest Risk to Team Culture -

Why Complacency Can Be the Greatest Risk to Team Culture -With competition for talent at an all-time high, a companys employer brand can play a critical role in landing top hires. Bringing this employer brand to life starts at a kollektiv level. Daily actions and habits and what a manager encurages or disallows sets the tone for kollektiv performance and key aspects of company culture, like collaboration, innovation, and employer pride. While many companies push hard to build a strong culture, less attention is paid to maintaining this culture. And I know first-hand how dangerous complacency can be.The High-Performance Red Flags When the Momentum ChangesOn paper, our kollektiv had never looked better. The market was hot, our sales were at an all time high, we had a number of top producers, and team morale had never been stronger and thats where our issues began.Wrapped up in our success, confidence turned into hubris for a few of our top producers and their activity levels dipped. In our culture of team success, the top performers set the pace and the team cadence. Now, with our pace cars slacking, the entire team began to slow. The changes were subtle at first later arrivals, longer lunches, earlier departures, fewer calls and emails but collectively these new habits sent the team a message its okay to work less. We were no longer hungry for success and this culture shift risked derailing our previous hard work.If you focus solely on performance numbers, its easy to miss the red flags until its too late. In recruiting, like sales, success is cumulative. Its built through daily effort and maintaining effective habits. When the entire team thinks its okay to arrive late and leave early, this is no longer an aberration its a new habit. As a manager, these are the habits you need to watch. These habits signal an attitude shift and team culture change, the red flags you need to catch before the team misses its quarterly sales targets.For my team, correcting t he problem started where it had begun a behavior shift from our top performers. Its not enough for a manager to say the right things you have to be willing to be candid and take action early.I called out my concerns with our top performers and explained the need to set a new example. Our performers responded immediately, and within a week our entire team attitude shifted. We became more collaborative, harder working and recommitted to taking the extra step for success. Our high-performance culture returned, even stronger than before.Guarding Against ComplacencyEven on a high-performing team, culture can be fragile and should never be taken for granted. As a manager, its your job to nurture this culture, working with your top performers to maintain a positive attitude and strong pace. What happens on a team level will impact a branch office and will then impact the overarching company culture. Set the standard you want everyone to live.