Nearly two years of a global pandemic has wrought economic and emotional turmoil on the average employee, but businesses that focus on improving their workplace culture can counter “The Great Resignation” while boosting overall productivity.
“Corporate culture may be the most important aspect of employee satisfaction. A strong corporate culture can be the differentiator in helping a company barely survive to actively thrive, especially in challenging times.” Matthew Rolnick, vice president of sales at Yaymaker, wrote in Forbes.
And these have been some of the most challenging times for managers in memory with an average of four million Americans resigning each month last year in what has been called “The Great Resignation”.
“The last few years have thrown some major curveballs in the general direction of people management. The Great Resignation has people resigning from their jobs in droves,” Carrie Bender, director of people and culture at Strategic Security Solutions, wrote in HR Executive.
Each resignation is costly to a business with a Gallup Workplace survey finding that it costs anywhere from 50 percent to 200 percent of an employee’s annual salary to replace them.
According to a 2019 study from Glassdoor, 77 percent of surveyed job seekers would consider the company’s culture before even applying, and 56 percent said company culture is more important than salary when it comes to job satisfaction.
“Having a compelling mission, culture and values are critical when it comes to attracting and retaining top talent in a competitive job market — it is what differentiates each and every employer,” said Christian Sutherland-Wong, Glassdoor President and COO. “Across the countries we surveyed, it’s clear that job seekers are seeking more meaningful workplace experiences. Job seekers want to be paid fairly but they too want to work for a company whose values align with their own and whose mission they can fully get behind.”
Glassdoor Economic Research also published a report on the leading drivers of employee satisfaction across five countries: U.S., UK, France, Germany, and Canada. According to millions of reviews shared voluntarily and anonymously by employees on Glassdoor, across four of the five countries studied, the culture and values of an organization are the strongest predictors of employee satisfaction, followed by quality senior leadership and career opportunities.
“A common misperception among many employers today is that pay and work-life balance are among the top factors driving employee satisfaction,” said Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor Chief Economist. “We find little support for this notion in Glassdoor data. Instead, employers looking to boost recruiting and retention efforts should prioritize building strong company culture and value systems, amplifying the quality and visibility of their senior leadership teams and offering clear, exciting career opportunities to employees.”
The Harvard Business Review found a strong link between a positive and healthy workplace culture and improved employee engagement and productivity.
“A positive work climate also leads to a positive workplace culture which, again, boosts commitment, engagement, and performance. Happier employees make for not only a more congenial workplace but for improved customer service. As a consequence, a happy and caring culture at work not only improves employee well-being and productivity but also improves client health outcomes and satisfaction,” wrote Emma Seppälä and Kim Cameron.
The authors found six characteristics of a positive workplace culture:
How to create these characteristics at work? The authors suggested that managers:
“Now, more than ever, employers must encourage and enable regular and frequent conversations to set and clarify expectations, provide feedback and ensure the entire employee base is successful,” said Bender.
Peter Corless, executive vice president of enterprise development at HCM software company OnShift, says that not only do companies need to understand what employees value in the workplace but they then need to act on that information.
“It’s imperative that we get creative with retention strategies and cater to the needs and wants of today’s workforce,” wrote Corless in HR Executive.
Corless also suggests businesses can improve their workplace experience by:
Contact Partners today to find out how we can help your business enhance its workplace culture. You know how it important it is. Let us help you now.