Company culture is crucial for any business and organisation - a strong company culture helps to retain top talent, and keeps employees happy, engaged and motivated. The crisis this year has undeniably caused a massive upheaval throughout the global jobs markets. However, now is the time for both HR and business leaders to improve and strengthen their company culture in order to set their organisation up for success and to ensure that it remains fit for the future. Culture is said to be defined as the “shared beliefs (either explicit or implicit) that exist within a company and drive behaviors”. The mindset and attitude of your employees plays a significant role in how they perform and interact at work, which could have either a positive or detrimental effect on your organisation.
At Achievers, we recently conducted research that found a third of British workers feel less connected to their workplace culture and colleagues due to the pandemic. Below are three key tips to help combat this issue:
Publicly recognize and celebrate ‘cultural advocates’
As an organisation, it’s crucial that you publicly recognize and celebrate employees within your organisation who demonstrate those core shared beliefs and values through certain behaviors. By widely recognizing those specific behaviors, you are clearly identifying and providing a guide for how others in the organisation should act and behave. Make sure to share that recognition across the business so that other colleagues can learn from their peers.
Make a conscious effort to identify ‘blind spots’ or ‘gaps in learning’
Despite your best efforts, your organisation could still have some cultural blind spots that need addressing. It’s important that you regularly assess your corporate culture to uncover any areas that may need improvement. A great way to do this is by conducting a ‘corporate culture audit’ by gathering anonymous views from around your company. The audit will provide you with valuable insight into the culture that currently exists within your company and what keeps staff motivated, happy and engaged.
Provide training to align employees with company culture
An effective audit will help to identify and determine any areas that need extra attention, which may have been previously overlooked. One suggestion would be to provide on-boarding training to new hires, which will provide them with the opportunity to gain a better understanding of your company’s values, mission and culture. Once these new employees become embedded within the workplace they will soon become ‘cultural advocates’ displaying the behaviors and upholding the values that drive your organisation.
Click here to find out more about Achievers’ employee engagement platform.