Listen First, Lead Second: How One CEO Revitalized a Struggling Organization. The Lumbee River EMC Story

Lumbee River Electric Member Corporation (EMC) in North Carolina had a series of CEOs over the previous five years when Jon T. Locklear took the helm in 2023. He knew that instability had eroded trust in leadership, so his first priority was listening to employees at all levels.

He was familiar with Best Workplaces Institute’s Employee Engagement Survey from his previous work for a healthcare organization, so he contacted Best Workplaces Institute to assess the baseline of employee engagement at Lumbee River EMC with the survey.

The results showed a high level of disengaged employees, not surprising considering the leadership turnover.

In just three years, the team at Lumbee River EMC has moved from a workplace that was toxic to healthy, and then to flourishing!

Cary Humphries, Best Workplaces Institute Consulting Director, notes the positive momentum that the organization is experiencing:

“When a new leader who is intent on improvement comes in, people might give leadership the benefit of the doubt and respond positively to a first-year survey on the hope of change. However, the size of improvement at Lumbee River has been remarkable, and demonstrates a ‘sea change’ in workplace health. They now have significant improvement and momentum for the future. The day-to-day experience of staff has been transformed, and they are positively engaged in the work and vision of the organization.”

One key indicator of the momentum is the statement that “over the past year, Lumbee River EMC has changed for the better.” People strongly agree with this statement, demonstrating that their positive engagement is building further momentum to keep improving.

What are some of the steps that the team at Lumbee River EMC took to vastly improve the workplace culture?

Commitment from the Top

Jon wanted the leadership team to be on the same page regarding the importance of workplace culture, so together they read Al Lopus’ book, Road to Flourishing, and discussed the factors that contribute to workplace health. Until they understood and improved the culture on the senior leadership team, they couldn’t hope to improve day-to-day life for their employees.

The commitment at the senior level was not just to take the survey, but to learn from it and create action plans to improve the health of their workplace.

Listen Deeply

Jon reflected on his first few years at Lumbee River EMC on a recent Flourishing Culture Leadership Podcast with Al Lopus, “The first step for any new leader coming into an organization is to listen. Listen first and foremost. Not to listen to respond immediately, but to listen so that people feel that they've been heard.”

Jon also focused on getting around to meet employees, not just having an open-door policy for his office, but talking to people in their office space and visiting workers in the field. He wanted to be present with people. “Sometimes people just need to know that the leadership cares enough to come see them, speak to them, and spend time with them,” shares Jon.

This posture of listening and getting to know people on a personal level builds relationships and trust. One employee who had worked there for eight years mentioned in the survey that Jon was the first CEO to talk to this employee by name.

When people feel heard and known, they are much more likely to trust a leader’s decision-making process.

Trust Goes Both Ways

Employees also want to be trusted to do their jobs. Leaders can set parameters and give guidance, but people don’t want to be micromanaged.

Several of the top-10 strengths in their recent survey reflect how employees feel about being able to use their skills in their jobs. There were high scores for staff having the decision-making authority they need for their job, knowing what is expected of them, and being able to use their skills in their role. These are all components of Life-giving Work, one of the eight FLOURISH Factors identified by Best Workplaces Institute.

Communicate Broadly

Healthy Communication is another essential FLOURISH Factor. For a workplace to thrive, there needs to be effective communication up, down, and across an organization.

As the leadership team worked on improving communication practices, they formed a communication committee that included members from all the different departments in the organization. This team shares ideas to foster transparency and collaboration. They also work to prevent silos that could inhibit communication.

Having input from across the organization is a great way to make sure essential information is shared broadly. It also reinforces a common vision for the overall organization.

Train and Equip

The leadership team at Lumbee River EMC is committed to ongoing investment in its employees. This emphasis will continue to create further opportunities for improvement in leadership and supervisory excellence.

In many organizations, it is common for good employees to be promoted. But if they have never been taught how to supervise people and how to practice emotional intelligence, they may struggle to lead people.

At Lumbee River EMC, emerging leaders are identified, and there is investment in their growth with a leadership curriculum. The components of the leadership curriculum include:

• Operational management – to understand specific policies and procedures for excellence.
• Emotional intelligence - to understand emotions and why people act the way they do.
• Co-op 101 – to understand how being a cooperative, member-owned utility company is foundational to their work.

Have Fun

In the midst of the important work of providing reliable electricity to their members, Jon also wanted people to have fun. When he started at Lumbee River EMC, he noticed that the office was very quiet, and people weren’t interacting much. He launched the “2 Fun Crew,” which was comprised of people from different teams to plan fun, interactive experiences. It was a positive way to get the office staff to interact with the field staff and have shared activities.

In his feedback session interactions with various teams at Lumbee River EMC over the past few years, Cary Humphries has noticed the difference in energy: “People are talking, interacting, and laughing, even as they are sharing ideas for continued improvement.”

Continuous Improvement

The challenge for every organization is to keep learning and growing while it celebrates being a flourishing workplace.

As employee engagement has improved at Lumbee River EMC, improved workplace health positively impacted the satisfaction of co-op members. Member satisfaction metrics show improved communication and trust in the organization. When both employee satisfaction and member satisfaction are increasing, positive energy adds to the forward momentum.

Jon realizes that continuing to be a flourishing workplace requires ongoing leadership commitment and attention to healthy culture. He shares his hope for the future of Lumbee River EMC, “If we can create consistency moving forward, I would be tickled because that means great scores were not just a flash in the pan. We will be successful if we can create practices that drive our culture forward over the next five to 10 years.”

Does your organization have positive momentum that is leading toward a flourishing culture? Every organization can benefit from attention to employee engagement and workplace health. Take your next step toward continuous improvement today.

Resources:

• Understand the health of your workplace and make action plans for improvement through regular use of Best Workplaces Institute’s Employee Engagement Survey.
• Listen to Jon T. Locklear, President and CEO of Lumbee River EMC, talk with Al Lopus on the Flourishing Culture Leadership Podcast.
• 25 Easy Tips That Will Improve Employee Engagement is a resource from Best Workplaces Institute that will help you implement changes that improve employee engagement.