Meaningful Insight shapes Morale, Culture and Productivity of a Company
Corporate leaders have noticed that culture has the potential to help a company thrive in a tough economy and promote long-term profitability. According to an article by Forbes, Deloitte’s survey found 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe that a distinct corporate culture is important for a business’ success. Culture, in general, is a set of values, beliefs, and behaviors or practices that determine how an organization function. These core values are the guiding lights and are agreed and shared among members of a company. Building and maintaining a positive workplace culture is crucial because it attracts talent, manages employee’s engagement, influences happiness, retains workers, ensures better performance and prosperity in the industry. In other words, culture always has a direct impact on employee morale. Morale can be defined as an overall feeling or attitude of an employee towards the workplace. An unsettled and outdated culture which increases business and workplace issues decreases employee morale. When work becomes taxing, morale becomes low and so is the company’s output. Poor culture and low morale can lead to decreased cooperation, low productivity, and increased turnover. Boosting morale and establishing a strong company culture may take time and energy, but in the long run organizations with high employee engagement witness greater customer loyalty, and a greater annual increase in revenue.
Hierarchy with its unnecessary layers and bureaucratic ways often pose as a threat to an employee’s concerns. Micromanaging can be substituted for employees’ autonomy. The employees must be encouraged to think and make their decisions. This will instill confidence in the employees to manage their work effectively and efficiently. Rather than following every step, the executives must focus on how to get the employees’ work done, and find out ways to help them. The best managers and leaders in the world are good listeners and facilitators after all. They make sure that the employees’ voices are heard so that they feel valued and satisfied. Clear communication gives insights into an employee’s needs and problems. Listening to their suggestions, frustrations, and enthusiasms is the key to improve employee morale. Making frequent use of surveys with the help of technology tools like mobile platforms give insights into employee perception of company culture. Certain points have to be kept in mind while a company is conducting a survey. A short and simple survey is always expected to receive a higher response, and if the anonymity can be managed, there is also a chance of winning the employees’ trust to get hold of some of the honest truths from within the industry. Managers are advised to regularly make adjustments by giving constructive feedback and taking actions whenever necessary if they want to uplift employee morale.
The earlier phase of command and control has been replaced by an open-door policy for feedback and suggestions. Implementing modern communication and collaboration tools help to establish transparency in a company. When the management is transparent with its progress, goals, and actions, the employees feel much comfortable and content. TINYPulse’s Sabrina Son explains why transparency makes such a positive impact in building a transparent company culture: “ It’s giving employees unfiltered insight into a company’s operations and future. It’s giving employees a voice. And most of all, it’s trust.”
The executives or the managers of a company are supposed to create a workplace culture that supports and motivates people. Certain changes in policies and procedures will help promote a company’s success in the long run. Good company culture is essential to keep employees motivated. Motivated employees lead to elevated company morale because making someone feel good about their accomplishment makes them more engaged, hardworking and committed towards their duty. This may be in the form of a reward like a promotion, a bonus, or just congratulating and thanking them for their contribution.
It is also important to cultivate a strong culture to build a healthy coworker relationship. The employees must be encouraged to perceive themselves not as an individual, but as a team. This can only be made possible by peer recognition. The executives must share success stories and challenges because while the former will ease differences and help them connect on a ground, the latter will help them feel closer and unified while working towards a common goal. A team works best when the members are compatible, complementary and are able to cooperate. Unsettled agreement or unresolved issues like failing to socialize and connect with their peers only creates tension within the work environment. More stress means more absenteeism, high staff turnover, and low performance and innovation decreased customer service and less progress for the company. In a seminal article for Forbes, Josh Bersin shared some interesting statistics from some recent research: “Companies that scored in the top 20% for building a ‘recognition-rich culture’ actually had 31% lower voluntary turnover rates!” An atmosphere with easy and free-flowing internal communication is ideal for a successful culture formation.
As long as there is a sense of growth and advancement, something they look forward to on a job, the employees feel motivated to remain committed to their work. The realization that the employers are interested in employee upliftment will help the company achieve loyalty. Offering professional development opportunities retain employees and improve performance and attract new talent as well. Meghan M. Biro, the founder of TalentCulture, explains that the more engaged are the people are in work and in life, the more their entrepreneurial impulses will be encouraged and nurtured. When the employees are engaged in activities and learning that feed their passions, they bring that passion to work with them. So paying for courses, classes, and activities may spark curiosity, build confidence, and may as well lead to ideas and innovations that will boost performance and profits.
The Harvard Business Review states that the psychological and physical problems of burned-out employees cost an estimated $125 billion to $190 billion a year in healthcare spending in the United States. Successful business leaders promote a balanced work-life environment. Employers spend most of their valuable time and energy working for the growth of an organization. In this process, the workload may be suffering from sleep deprivation, stress and depression, diabetes, cardiac problems and many more. Simple things like a stable salary, paid sick-leave, a fair incentive policy will help boost employee morale. In fact, employees who think they have a positive work-life balance are more productive and dedicated by 21 percent than those who don’t think so, according to a survey of 50,000 employees worldwide. In the business world, leaders will bring about the most benefits by improving the quality of life for employees.
“A company is like a family,” said Glassdoor’s Head of Employer Brand, Kirsten Davidson because the employees play an important role in deciding the culture of the workplace. Constant disputes, disagreements, negative rumors, bad attitudes, poor communication, diminished work-life balance results in a negative ambiance at the workplace. Employees find it difficult to concentrate in such a culture and look for a change. Although culture is mostly about employees, the Executives are also held accountable for the overall performances of a business. When employee morale is low, and progress is stagnant, it’s high time for employers to plan action so that they can connect with and motivate their teams. Communication, collaboration, feedback exchange, recognition, and social bonds are all requisite features of a company culture that values its people and motivated employees can elevate company morale. Lord Kelvin has rightly stated, “If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.”
Written by,
Subhana Rahman
