It is quite well known that today’s business environment is changing at an alarming rate and therefore, the importance of culture management in organizations has increased significantly. Firms are appreciating the impact of their employees and therefore the need to improve their experience has grown tremendously. The scenario has changed from a mere attitude which is to offer incentives or commissions to a more sophisticated pattern where employees work in favorable conditions, with reasonable pay, and strong beliefs and agendas of the organization.
By emphasizing the employee experience – including onboarding, skills development, employee recognition, and work-life balance – change can permeate the whole culture of organizations. This blog aims at understanding the implications of employee experience interventions on the existing company culture as well as business performance as a whole.
The Connection Between Positive Company Culture and Employee Experience
As we already know, a great culture goes hand in hand with good employee experience initiatives. It is equally important to define these two concepts and the relationship between them. Culture is how the employees of an organization share its beliefs, actions, and approaches. Employee experience, in contrast, refers to how employees experience these beliefs, actions, and approaches through the course of how long they are in the organization.
For organizations, it is, most often, the employee experience through which the culture is expressed. Culture gets stronger when an employee’s experience is consistent with an employee’s mental picture of a company’s mission and what values it stands for. Employees with positive experiences will tend to be more engaged in work and the goals of the organization.
According to a survey reported by Deloitte, companies that encourage positive company culture are 2.5 times more likely to experience employee engagement and 3 times more productive. This makes it quite clear that there is a need for employee experience programs that promote and help reinforce the positive culture in organizations as aspects of work.
10 Steps to Take For a Positive Company Culture
Building a positive company culture is not a one-time event, rather it is a continuous process with a multi-dimensional approach. Below is a compilation of the necessary initiatives that you can take to build a positive culture in your organization:
Align Core Values with the Employee Experience
The core values of a company refer to the fundamental values that the company believes in. Within the company, when the employee experience matches these core values, the employees get the articulated roadmap of the organization. This encourages the employees to embrace these values in their day-to-day work and creates a cultural environment that is positive and stable.
For example, it is common knowledge that Google places a great deal of importance on innovation and therefore, the reason employees are allotted time to work on self-driven initiatives that align with the organization’s purpose. Zappos focuses on the customers, which allows its employees some freedom to act for the customer’s benefit without having to ask permission from management.
To build a strong culture through fundamental values, companies can:
- Embed core values within employee induction and training programs.
- Make sure that the leaders follow these values consistently.
- Enable employee engagement and introspection of the values and practices daily.
Bring Transparency in Leadership
It goes without saying that leadership is crucial in establishing the culture of an organization. Employees look up to their leaders for help, direction, and explanation. Transparency in leaders promotes trust, openness, and inclusion. The employees develop a better attachment towards the organization, especially on its objectives, the difficulties, and the successes, when they are fully briefed on these.
It is reported that by prioritizing leadership transparency, you gain an employee engagement rate that is 65% higher than the average. Transparent leaders help employees see how their work contributes to the organization and therefore they are appreciated.
You can encourage transparency by:
- Regular town hall meetings to update the employees about what is going on in the company.
- Allowing employees to present proposals or worries directly to management without scheduling appointments.
- Make sure to inform the employees about the changes the organization is planning to introduce as well as the impact of those changes.
Building an Exceptional Onboarding Process
The orientation period in a new job is of prime importance in molding the employee relationship with the organization. A properly constructed and sequenced training plan not only prepares newcomers for their actual jobs but also helps them understand the ethos of the organization, its goals, and what is expected from them.
In a study completed by Glassdoor, it was established that proper instruction of employees from a company will improve retention attendance by 82% and productivity by 70%. These data numbers underline the importance of creating an outstanding onboarding program.
You can improve your onboarding experience by:
- Using platforms like Auzmor Learn as a medium that is engaging and customized to the new joiner.
- Additionally, introduce programs where the new employees are paired with experienced employees so that they do not feel lost in the organization.
- Encourage the new workers in the teams to be friends with or at least get along with the other workers.
Orientation is usually the first point of opportunity to make the new employees feel that they are wanted and will have all the support they need in the course of their lifetime with that organization.
For more information on onboarding processes, you may want to read “The Role of Personalized Onboarding in Shaping a Positive Employee Experience.”
Support Continuous Learning and Development
Continuous learning and personal development are one of the important ingredients of positive employee experience. People who work today want more than just payroll, hence the need for such potent development. Organizations that have a regular learning schedule and provide learning opportunities develop a culture of innovation, curiosity, and improvement.
According to a LinkedIn Learning report, 94% of employees would remain with a company for a longer period if it were to invest in their career development. This underpins the significance of both learning and development as well as retention programs to organizational culture.
To encourage learning culture:
- Provide different learning channels using Auzmor Learn to help employees acquire knowledge and skills in areas that they enjoy and are beneficial to the company as well.
- Encourage peer-to-peer learning by creating opportunities to share knowledge, either through formal training sessions or by informal lunch and learns.
- Provide access to external learning opportunities, such as workshops, certifications, etc.
When employees feel that they are growing, the chances to improve the company, the culture, and their professional growth are significantly high.
Recognizing and Rewarding Employee Contributions
The best approach to creating a healthy workplace environment is to reward employees for good work. Employee recognition boosts employees’ self-esteem, which in return, helps them to work more and work efficiently. They become more involved with the organization as long as their input and hard work is acknowledged.
A Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) survey found that 79% of employees reported that recognition programs made them work harder. Employees can be recognized in several ways, from formal recognition awards to simple “thank you” or “kudos” given at meetings.
To create a culture of recognition:
- A formal recognition program can be implemented that celebrates both individual as well as team achievements.
- Encourage managers to share feedback in real-time.
- Use platforms like Auzmor Office to create a virtual collaborative space for the team where everyone can acknowledge and celebrate each other’s accomplishments.
Promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
For any organization to be productive, there is a need to create a supportive company environment where everyone is appreciated and respected. To ensure that every employee is equipped to perform without bias, there have to be active interventions aimed at diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Teams whose internal composition is diverse enhance the range of ideas presented, encouraging creativity and improving business outcomes.
Clients who adopt a diverse and inclusive way of working, as reported by Deloitte, have also an advantage concerning innovation. They are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in that specific company’s field. Inclusiveness also helps to increase employee ownership since what is done in the workplace is appreciated, therefore, motivating employees to help improve it.
To create a diverse and inclusive environment:
- Implement DEI training for each employee to raise awareness and understanding.
- Set up employee resource groups (ERGs) to engage and retain minority employees and help build a community.
- Make sure that the language used in communication is inclusive and that you follow unbiased hiring practices.
By focusing on diversity and inclusion, you will ultimately forge a positive, encouraging, teamwork-centered, and progressive organization.
Supporting Employee Well-being and Mental Health
Both physical and mental well-being are key components of the employee experience. Employees often feel valued when organizations make the effort to foster wellbeing programs which leads to a decrease in burnout rate, increases in engagement, and overall a better atmosphere for work.
According to a Deloitte survey, 91% of employees claimed that mental health strategies are a primary factor when accepting a job offer. Organizations that have wellness programs mental health resources and flexible work schedules are in a better position to attract and retain the best candidates.
To promote employee wellbeing:
- Offer flexible work arrangements so that employees can balance both professional and personal responsibilities.
- Offer mental health days or you can encourage employees to take time off to relax and unwind.
- Provide educational and informational materials on well-being as well as wellness services.
Companies can enhance the well-being of their employees at the workplace and as a result foster a healthy, accountable, and vibrant workplace culture.
Building a Feedback-Driven Culture
For a culture to be regarded as positive, employees have to feel that their opinions are appreciated. It is something normal and integral to experience and develop constructive employee feedback as well as work towards the cultivation of positive changes. When employees are asked to give feedback – and that feedback is acted upon – employees feel a sense of ownership.
Gallup states that people, who consider their feedback as valuable, are 4.6 times more likely to be able and willing to do their best work. When it is important to get people’s thinking done, feedback mechanisms such as regular surveys, one-on-one check-ins, and town hall meetings, help in gathering the thoughts of employees.
To develop a feedback-driven culture:
- Make sure that no one in an authoritative position is present during the evaluation process by utilizing anonymous surveys.
- Encourage leaders and employees to have discussions without barriers.
- Make sure that you implement the changes that employees suggest and let them know what will be different as a consequence.
A culture where feedback is welcome and encouraged develops trust, openness, and collaboration among employees.
Offering Flexibility in Work Arrangements
People’s concept of work has changed over the years, and today, employees demand more freedom in work conditions such as the location of work and the work-life balance. Providing employees with flexible working conditions — in terms of telecommuting, working hours, or hybrid work models — is likely to enhance the employee experience and the organizational culture.
According to a survey conducted by PwC, 83% of the employers said that the transition to the remote work setting has been successful and 55% of the employees want to work from home fully or partially. Flexible work schedules contribute to a healthy work-life balance and create a high level of trust and personalization.
To foster flexibility:
- Allow employees to work remotely or adopt a hybrid work model.
- Assess your employees based on the results they deliver and not on the hours they spend in the office.
- Promote work-life balance policies by, for example, offering time off for personal and family needs.
Employers who provide and promote a flexible working culture show that the company respects the employees’ personal lives and trusts their employees to do their work effectively.
Building Strong Interpersonal Connections
It can be said that a strong company culture is not simply dependent on internal processes or the quality of the company’s leaders. Rather it is more dependent on the relationships that the employees make with each other. Being social beings, human beings relate better when there are favorable working conditions. Interpersonal relations help employees to relate with their coworkers at a personal level, and promote satisfaction.
According to Gallup, employees who have a “best friend” at work are 7 times more engaged in their jobs and have greater productivity levels. If a firm wishes to implement an encouraging work atmosphere, where the employees are not connected only with their job functions but also with other people, it can be achieved through encouraging social behaviors.
To promote strong interpersonal relationships, companies can:
- Hold frequent team bonding activities, for instance, informal friendly cup-of-coffee meetings, a retreat, or a workshop. Whether in physical or online setups, these activities help employees bond out of work-related responsibilities.
- Hosting after-work parties, working-from-home happy hours, or lunches celebrating certain milestones helps employees to socialize outside the formal work environment.
How to Measure the Impact of Employee Experience Initiatives on Company Culture?
After employee experience programs are adopted, their impact on the cultural dynamics of an organization should be monitored. Employee engagement and satisfaction, employee retention measurements for adequate working strategies assessment, and formation of strategies for incremental measures. Measures of employee engagement take into account the popularity, aptitude, and satisfaction of staff to perform work in the organization so that assessment is done to ascertain how effectively the measures have been applied and assess if further measures are needed. The more frequently the companies evaluate and readjust their strategies on the employee experience, the higher the chances that a positive company culture is maintained for extended periods.
As studied by Gallup, companies that are in the top quartile of employee engagement generate 21% more in profits than their competitors, along with 41% less absenteeism. Statistics such as these illustrate the positive improvements in the operation as a result also of strong employee experience and company culture.
To measure the impact of employee experience initiatives:
- Conduct regular employee engagement surveys: Employees can provide information on how satisfied they are, the points of frustration, and the appropriate systems put in place.
- Track retention and turnovers: High turnover means that the initiatives aren’t meeting employees’ needs, whereas high retention speaks well of the culture within the organization.
- Measure levels of productivity and performance: Better levels of employee performance are related to better engagement levels which in turn are related to better learning and recognition of programs.
With Auzmor’s suite of tools, companies can evaluate employee data, find the level of employee engagement, and come up with pragmatic plans to make their organizational culture better.
Conclusion
Management and employee involvement over time is necessary to realize the benefits of employee experience programs on company culture. Emphasis on core values and leadership transparency, learning, recognition, diversity, and mental health or even good relationships create conditions where employees are valued and have the urge to deliver their best.
Good employee experience leads to enhanced engagement and productivity as well as building a robust and thriving culture that can endure the storms of external challenges and changing modes of work. Tools like Auzmor Learn and Auzmor Office are instrumental in implementing such initiatives as they provide learning, development, and collaboration opportunities to students and staff.
With employee experience integrating at an increasing pace, the companies that embrace employee experience will not only be here but will flourish. For the two to coexist, companies must make an effort regarding innovation, support, and inclusion. Make Auzmor’s advanced employee experience platform your partner as you take the first step in fostering a healthy company culture. Don’t wait, book your free demo now!
