If your teamwork and engagement efforts have been lackluster lately — due to long hours, grueling deadlines or other reasons — the residual effect on employee retention and productivity can be profound.
The longer you wait to correct the situation, however, the more your cultural hiatus puts your organization at risk.
Maintaining a consistent approach to workplace culture is important. We know, thanks to a Glassdoor analysis, that company culture is actually the most important employee satisfaction predictor in employees with an annual salary of $200,000 or less.
We also know a number of employees don’t feel like their employer offers a strong workplace culture — 64 percent, in fact, according to a TINYhr survey.
If your culture mojo has been waning, all hope is not lost. You can, in time, reclaim it — and proactively protect it in the future — by considering a few of the following suggestions:
Highlight both high-performers and company values
Research has shown employee recognition programs positively influence company culture, particularly when an organization ties its program into company values — which more than half do, according to Globoforce and the Society for Human Resource Management.
Increase transparency
Companies where employees feel openness and honesty is a goal and executives and managers lead by example were identified as being caring employers by more than half of employees, according to a Global Wellness Institute report.
Reconsider your benefits and amenities
In addition to recognition, companies are sponsoring other programs to influence workplace culture, according to GWI, including health and wellness programs, offered at 81 percent of organizations, and learning and development programs, available at 80 percent — which may also help encourage employee retention.
Treat workers well in and outside of the office
Employees in a 2016 survey from The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated and WorkplaceTrends.com ranked coworker respect and work-life balance as two of their three top workplace culture characteristics.
Evaluate your efforts
The board should support regular culture assessments to confirm your endeavors are in line with your intended business outcomes, in addition to company values, and adjustments should be made if you find discrepancies, according to a study involving the relationship between corporate culture and long-term business success in the U.K., conducted by the Financial Reporting Council.
When time is stretched thin, workplace culture can fall to the bottom of management’s to-do list. — which can be the result of being understaffed or, in some cases, mark a period of growth. Ironically, as an organization experiences success in the marketplace, its financial status may soar, while its culture suffers.
Although leadership might think both managers and employees lack the time or interest to focus on culture-related efforts, during hectic times, they become more important than ever.
Maintaining a positive environment that provides career development opportunities, supportive guidance and a sense of teamwork can help ensure productivity remains high, and reduce the burnout and stress that are sometimes associated with increased employee retention issues.
For more tips on ways to make sure employees consistently enjoy coming to work, view our blog posts on invigorating employees with a sense of company pride, how innovation can affect engagement and creating the most effective employee value proposition.