A Guest Post by Josh Fechter
Whether you want to boost employee retention or improve employee engagement, your company culture is a key factor. People do not want to remain at a company if they don’t fit in with the company’s culture.
If the company culture is too negative or stressful, employees will naturally want to leave. By improving your company culture, you can boost recruitment, retention rates, and engagement levels.
Determine Your Company’s Values
Each company is different, so you shouldn’t try to have the same culture as a different business does. For example, See’s Candy is known for its traditional culture. This culture extends to the uniforms and benefits that employees get.
The same culture would not work for a high-tech business that thrives on wellness programs and options like remote working.
Before you can figure out the techniques and programs that work for your company culture, you have to know what your culture is. Take some time to narrow down your organization’s mission and values. These factors will help you figure out the exact kind of culture you want to have.
Show Gratitude
If you want to make your employees engaged and encourage higher retention rates, gratitude is important. When people feel appreciated, they feel like their work actually matters and want to put in even more effort.
In addition to boosting motivation, gratitude improves morale and engagement levels. When people feel unappreciated, they feel like there is no point in working harder because no one will even notice their efforts.
Prioritize Wellness
One way to show your appreciation is to create programs dedicated to employee wellness. A robust program can also increase your employee retention because happy employees are less likely to look for a new employer.
A wellness program helps you show how much you care for your workers. You can offer gym memberships, cooking classes, on-site gym equipment, free snacks, and employee retreats as a part of your wellness program.
Provide Meaning and Purpose
If you want to learn how to engage employees, start by connecting their day-to-day tasks to your organization’s overall purpose. Often, employees get so involved in their day-to-day routine that they completely forget how their job relates to the bigger picture.
By showing the meaning and purpose of their job, you can encourage your employees to work harder. A sense of meaning can also motivate employees and give them a reason for putting in extra effort and personally investing themselves in company development.
Foster a Team Mentality
Another way to improve your company culture is by encouraging a team mentality. The right team building ideas can help workers connect with each other, share ideas and develop a sense of team spirit. If you have an employee retreat each year, the retreat would be a good time to do team activities.
You can also encourage different project groups and teams to compete against each other on certain assignments. Other options like holding potlucks and hosting an employee softball league can encourage a team-like atmosphere at your workplace.
At company retreats or potlucks, you can also use team activities to help everyone bond. This can be things such as water balloons or egg toss competitions. You can also try activities like human knots, scavenger hunts, and tug-of-war.
Listen
One of the most important things employers can do is listen to their team members. Employees actually experience day-to-day activities in the organization, so they often have a better idea about what the actual company culture is.
When managers listen to their employees, they can quickly learn about what needs to be changed. They can also get new ideas about employee programs. If some of your employees are feeling unappreciated, listening to your workers will help you figure this out before it becomes a problem.
Communicate Well
The only way you can discover a problem is if someone tells you that it exists. Effective business communication helps you work on projects and train employees.
When your workplace suffers from poor communication, employees feel ignored and unappreciated. By opening up a dialogue with your employees, you can improve your employee engagement and overall workplace culture.
Be Authentic and Transparent
If you are a straight-laced manufacturer, there is no point in pretending to be a fun, goofy tech company. Likewise, an eco-friendly retailer should encourage programs like ride-sharing and biking on campus.
The goal of your wellness programs and culture should match your company. Be as authentic and transparent as possible with your employees. In addition to building trust and credibility, being authentic will also solidify your corporation’s values.
When you push for a company culture that is contrary to your values and mission, it seems false and inauthentic. You instantly lose credibility in the minds of your employees, customers and other stakeholders.
Your company culture is part of your entire mission and way of doing business, so it has to represent what your company actually cares about.
Building a Better Company Culture
Your company culture is what inspires your workers to stay late, dream big, and put in extra hours on the weekends. When you have a strong culture, your employees are more engaged in their work.
They are also more likely to remain at your company. With a few changes, you can build a company culture that really represents who you are as an organization and offer a place your employees can be proud to be a part of.
