What makes a great workplace culture, and how do you measure yours?
Sometimes it takes a large number of people to confirm something that’s really quite logical… camaraderie and a feeling of community amongst colleagues are central to what makes a great place to work.
That’s the main finding of the recent ‘Company as Community’ report from Great Place to Work, based on more than a half a million employees responses across 47 countries.
Defining workplace greatness
Other top drivers of what they call ‘workplace greatness’ include a ‘team’ or ‘family’ feeling, high levels of co-operation and the sense that employees are treated as ‘full members’ regardless of their position. They also found that employee perceptions that their workplace is ‘fun’ is one of the strongest drivers of an overall great workplace culture.
But it wasn’t just the ‘feel good’ characteristics of fun and family that ranked highly, the workplace ‘basics’ were found amongst the top 15 drivers. These included proper resources and equipment for the job, a physically safe environment, and the ability to take time off when necessary.
In my language these are also the characteristics of great employee engagement - especially when you add the importance that was put on the competence of management and the effectiveness of good leaders.
It’s not rocket science
None of the above would seem like rocket science - surely most organisations can get enough of this right to create that engaged culture of ‘workplace greatness’? But, if it were that easy, we wouldn’t see research suggesting that 87% of organisations cite culture and engagement as one of their top challenges, and 50% call the problem “very important.” Deloitte 2015.
So another question would have to be… if so many employees can identify what a great place to work looks like, why can’t more employers deliver? I think that’s because there is often a mismatch in what they think they are providing - and what actually happens.
This mismatch can happen on many levels from line managers that don’t really support their people, opportunities that don’t actually materialise and IT that doesn’t do the job. Sometimes even the most well meaning of gestures can backfire.
Fun? Or just ticking the box?
Take one of my favourite sights, particularly found in a creative business - the company pool table. Surely this shouts out ‘we have fun here’. Well, maybe.
The workplace is fun only if, for example, people have the time and space to take a break at work, leaders are accessible, inspiring, they communicate and they care, therefore people are generally positive about where they work. So, when they play pool - it’s really just part of why it’s good to be there.
Note to business owners - if you put in a pool table but the culture stinks - no one will want to play! It’s not what it looks like, it’s how it really feels.
So, how do you create your own workplace greatness?
The Great Place to Work research concentrated on 25 of the world’s largest multinationals. They are places that you would expect to offer a positive work environment - and while their findings confirm the importance of many of the drivers of engagement, they are not about your business.
If you would like to measure the levels of engagement in your business, the en:Rich engagement feedback audit has been designed to do just that. It’ll help you look into your organisational culture and get a valuable view of your current levels of engagement and motivation. What’s more, you’ll identify the steps the business could be taking to keep staff motivated and build greater team spirit.
Please contact me http://www.enrich-hr.co.uk/get-in-touch for further information. You might even find out what they think of your pool table…
You can find out more about the Great Place to Work research here.
Author: Richard Roberts
Posted on: Wednesday 10th August 2016