Since the pandemic first flipped work life norms on its head two years ago and transformed the way businesses have operated, one topic has emerged that we continue to hear in the media – this is, how do companies keep employees happy when what has worked before probably won’t apply now in the post-pandemic era?
The answer lies in organisational culture.
According to research by Instinct and Reason, nearly three-quarters of Australian employees say a mentally healthy workplace is important when looking for a job in the future.
While there is a plethora of definitions developed, at its core, organisational culture is the set of overarching values, attitudes and expectations that guide and determine the behaviours of company employees as well as the philosophy and beliefs that drive the business strategy and vision. It is not a tangible, visible object, but its manifestation can be seen in how the business has organised itself. In the case of a company with a healthy organisational culture, it means the corporate values and behaviours are consistently lived across the organisation.
Since the pandemic first flipped work life norms on their head two years ago and transformed the way businesses had to operate, one topic has emerged that we continue to hear in the media – how do companies keep employees happy when what worked before probably won’t apply now in the post-pandemic era?
The answer lies in organisational culture.
According to research by Instinct and Reason, nearly three-quarters of Australian employees say a mentally healthy workplace is important when looking for a job in the future.
While there is a plethora of definitions developed, at its core, organisational culture is the set of overarching values, attitudes, and expectations that guide and determine the behaviours of company employees as well as the philosophy and beliefs that drive the business strategy and vision. It is not a tangible, visible object, but its manifestation can be seen in how the business has organised itself. In the case of a company with a healthy organisational culture the corporate values and behaviours are consistently lived across the organisation.
Having a strong and consistent culture plays one of the most important roles in the success of a company as it essentially acts as the invisible engine powering the living organism of the workforce. When there is goal-alignment, all employees are united by a single purpose and vision. This positions the organisation to have a clear line of sight to their customers and their goals, and in turn, they are more likely to be higher-performing and achieve their strategy more efficiently. Additionally, companies with a healthy culture attract better suited and more qualified job candidates, and enjoy higher employee retention rates.
There is no doubt about the benefits that are accompanied with a healthy organisational culture. So how can businesses successfully achieve this?
It isn’t as simple as ordering one as needed – here are four incremental steps to build a healthy organisational culture as a business leader.
1. Understand your own brand
A healthy organisational culture is built bottom-up, meaning you must cover all bases and start from the beginning. Lead by answering the following three questions. What is it that the company wants to achieve? Why do we want to achieve this? How will we achieve this? The best way to help employees truly connect with the promise that your company is making to customers is by understanding and embodying that vision, so when you are collaborating and interacting with various divisions you are effectively reminding employees of the key mission, aligning the organisation together. Senior managers must lead by example and exhibit the brand, as they ultimately set the tone for the rest of the company.
2. Align company culture with values
Undertake a thorough analysis of the internal processes, people, and structures of your organisation and determine whether the core values are reflected in these areas. This can include mission statements, HR policies, company initiatives, and task rotation as examples. The workforce today is changing and your organisation can be a combination of standard employees, contractors, or other third parties. They must be equipped with the right capabilities to deliver the organisation’s goals and put the company’s values into practice every day.
3. Acknowledge your employees’ contributions:
Employees are any organisation’s most important asset. Naturally, you must invest and protect what brings you value. People are more intrinsically motivated and productive if they have positive perceptions of the company. Hence, it’s important to recognise and reward employee contributions, whether that be through commandment of small progress, monetary or non-monetary outcomes. Commending accomplishments informs employees of how their contributions have aided the organisation, helping them feel more attached to the company culture. Moreover, it will reflect optimistically on the company.
4. Include the culture’s values when hiring:
You want to increase and maintain employee retention as the ultimate outcome of a healthy organisational culture, but the search for new talent always remains a strategic continuum. While we’ve focused on fostering favourable, shared values, internally, it’s also important to consider the implications of introducing new people into the company who may have come from different, sometimes incompatible, work cultures or backgrounds. Hence, during the hiring process it’s wise to ensure whether they’d match the culture of your organisation by questioning their motivations. This should be reinforced by teaching the company’s core values during onboarding once they’ve successfully been recruited.
Clearly, good organisational health helps businesses work successfully, and at Taurus we understand this better than anyone. Living and breathing the Taurus zodiac qualities of dependability and practicality, our ‘No Bull’ marketing strategy approach has delivered results to clients for 27 years.
Call us on 02 9415 4528 OR email at [email protected] to get started on transforming your organisation to work healthily and reach your potential.