What to fix for the best company culture
Building a positive workplace culture isn’t easy, and a number of factors can throw an organization’s efforts off course.
Company culture is an absolutely crucial component in employee satisfaction and engagement. More than a third of U.S. and Canadian workers say they wouldn’t accept a job that was an otherwise perfect match if the corporate culture clashed with their beliefs, according to a Robert Half study.
Employers appear to be aware they’re sometimes missing the mark when it comes to aligning their culture with employees’ expectations. Eighty-seven percent said workplace culture and engagement is one of their top challenges in a Deloitte survey.
Could any of the following elements be hindering your organization’s attempts to strengthen its culture?
Not knowing how to describe company culture
Employers seem to recognize that a favorable corporate culture can be a big draw — an Eagle Hill Consulting survey found 75 percent of C-suite executives say their workplace culture is one of the top reasons why people join their company. Yet a number of organizations don’t clearly define it.
While just over half (56 percent) of executives agree or strongly agree that their business articulates the key elements of corporate culture well, 45 percent have a neutral view of their organization’s efforts or don’t feel it explains its company culture very distinctly.
Failing to support workplace culture from the top down
Only half of the respondents in a HR.com and EVERFI survey said the leaders in their organization uphold the company’s values. Just over a third — 38 percent — feel their leadership takes proactive steps to promote a positive work environment.
However, the research indicates a fair amount aren’t establishing a positive culture partly because management lacks the necessary skills to — indicating culture building-focused training for managers may be beneficial. Similarly, trying to hire people on an ongoing basis who will support the company’s values may have a positive effect on engagement and overall culture. A significant amount (84 percent) of the respondents from organizations that have an encouraging workplace culture say their company’s behaviors and procedures tend to be aligned with their core values.
Choosing the wrong culture configuration
Technology, finance, legal, energy and healthcare industry professionals consider a welcoming workplace culture that provides connectivity and camaraderie among peers to be one of the top corporate values, according to an FTI Consulting and Mine The Gap survey.
Of the four typical organizational cultures the survey mentioned, both women and men overwhelmingly felt they would thrive in a clan culture, built on teamwork, participation and consensus. Less than a third, though, work for employers with that type of company culture. One in three employees said they work in an office with a hierarchy culture, involving a focus on formalized structure and efficiency-based procedures — yet professionals gave that type of workplace environment the lowest rating when asked which culture they felt they’d succeed in.
Correcting any structural issues, management capabilities or confusion surrounding your corporate culture can help employees fully understand and embrace it. For more on how to create a supportive work environment, view these posts on whether or not your organization should have a team-based culture, several secrets that can help you find the perfect candidate culture match — and how to get your workplace culture mojo back, if it seems to have waned.