HOW DO I CHANGE THE CULTURE IN MY BUSINESS?

HOW DO I CHANGE THE CULTURE IN MY BUSINESS?

A strong organisational culture helps a business work like a well-oiled machine, where every employee acts in line with the company’s values. Engaging employees in companies with a good work culture is much easier because they all know what needs to be done, why and how, and they work together to achieve it.

When the organisational culture isn’t as strong, the alignment to company values isn’t quite so clear. This means that more effort needs to be placed in controlling employees, monitoring their behaviour and keeping them working as efficiently as possible. The advantages of a good company culture are obvious. It means that less monitoring is required by managers and team leaders, and that the work of the employees is of a higher value to the company.

A company with a clear culture will be able to easily induct new employees into the company’s set of beliefs and encourage ways of working that are in line with the company’s goals and vision as a whole.

Employees within a company with a good culture are also more engaged, motivated to succeed and display more organisational loyalty, which can take the form of being less likely to leave the company and being more likely to become an advocate of the organisation.       

More often than not, I see job advertisements talking about experience required for the position. You need to train any new employee regardless, as every organisation have their own unique processes. So organisations will find it far more beneficial to hire employees who buy into the strong values set up in the organisation.

An increase in group cohesiveness is one of the most powerful by-products of a good organisational culture. Employees know where they stand within their teams and they trust everyone else to do a good job. They also feel valued and that their contribution is important to the success of the business.

With a greater focus on collaboration and teamwork, you also create opportunities for informal learning to occur. In any work environment, only 10% of what your employees learn comes from the formal training content – the rest they pick up on the job and by interacting with their colleagues. And of course, the more training your employees receive, the better they become at doing their jobs and the more successful the organisation will be.

This all combines to create a good team working environment and a community of engaged employees, where everyone can contribute for the good of the whole. Clearly a good organisational culture is something to aspire to. Not only does it breed a good working environment, but it improves engagement between employees, teams, departments and the organisation as a whole.

We advocate 9 simple steps for improving your organisational culture and the statistics included speak for themselves:

1) Listen to your employees:
Provide your employees with an environment to let their opinion be heard.

• 75% of employees would stay longer at an organisation that listens to and addresses their concerns
• 65% of employees who don’t feel they can approach their manager with any type of question are actively disengaged
  
  

2) Communication is key:
Effectively communicate your organisation’s mission, vision and values. The sense of having a shared goal, shifts your employee’s mindset from cog in a machine to a key part of the team!

• Only 1 in 150 employees who say their organisation does not have a set of values are fully engaged
• Employees who say their organisational values are “known and understood” are 51 times more likely to be fully engaged than an employee who responds that their organization does not have values that are known and understood
• 25% of Millennials say their top career goal is to “Make a positive impact on my organisation”
  
  

3) Collaborate don’t isolate:
Encourage collaboration between employees to reinforce the idea that you are a team.

• 86% of employees and executives cite lack of collaboration or ineffective communication for workplace failures
  
  

4) Be transparent:
Transparency with your employees is a key way of building trust, leading to improved organisational culture. A weekly email or a post on a social feed about what’s happening at a management level is a sure-fire way to inspire your team.

• 50% of employees say bosses sharing information and data has a significantly positive impact on productivity and motivation
  
  

5) Follow the leader:
Organisational culture needs to be nurtured and this begins at the very top of the ladder! Managers need to become leaders and visibly demonstrate that they buy into the organisation's core beliefs.

• 89% of workers with leadership support are more likely to recommend the company as a good place to work
• 35% of Millennials say strong leadership defines a good work culture
  
  

6) Provide regular feedback:
Employees need regular feedback if they are to align their performance with your organisational culture. A once a year meeting just isn’t good enough! You should praise the behaviour that matches your values and develop areas that need improvement. Keep on top of things with regular reporting and you’ll soon be working in tandem

• 68% of employees who receive accurate and consistent feedback feel fulfilled in their jobs
  
  

7) Epic meaning:
Provide your learners with immersive training content and you’ll soon have an army of superheroes on your hands all pulling in the same direction!

• Highly engaged employees are more than three times as likely to do something good for the company that is not expected of them
  
  

8) Reward your employees:
Reward your employees for actions that best represent the organisational culture that you seek.  A recognition-rich culture will also reduce turnover, giving your organisational culture longevity.

• Companies that score in the top 20% for building a ‘recognition-rich culture’ have a 31% lower voluntary turnover rate.
  
  

9) Lay down a challenge:
Provide challenge and opportunity for development. This has the effect of letting your employee know you are invested in them and in turn they will be loyal to your organisational culture.

• 76% of millennials think professional development opportunities are one of the most important elements of company culture
• Employees who get the opportunity to continually develop are twice as likely to say they will spend their career with their company
  
  

These tips should point you in the right direction when it comes to improving the culture of your organisation, but they can be neatly summarised in 3 little words: engage your employees! “How on Earth do I do that?” we hear you cry.

Well, naturally, we’ve already thought of that – all you need to do is to build an Engagement Engine! The great news is that it’s not as difficult as you might think. Thriving organisational culture is just a click away.

Maybe you need some assistance in achieving one, or several of these steps towards creating a positive culture in your organisation. That’s where Strategic Management NZ comes in.

We have spent years working with organisations and teams, assisting in creating a culture of success and your business could be next.

We can help you grow or consolidate and look into the future for what could be achieved and assist you in developing your own journey of success. The best part is that we are employee centred and we will get everyone in your organisation heading in the same direction.

Book in for a complimentary consult with us.

Free up your time to see what you do best, book today by contacting us here.