A Business Case for Culture

Culture is one of those things in an organisation that many people can't quite pin down to the exact actions or behaviours that define it-until the culture is poor or toxic. Then it is clear what went wrong or what was absent from the team and workplace.

Assessing, managing and maintaining culture and engagement can be a challenge. Organisational culture encompasses many elements from values and purpose, recognition and feedback to development, behaviours and leadership. It is an organisation-wide approach. However, it is no longer just a theoretical approach to creating healthier workplaces and more motivated employees. Employee engagement and workplace culture are now human analytics-driven and data supported approaches to driving business results too.

Challenges to workplace culture:

• Multi-generational workplace
• Flexible and alternate working arrangement is increasing rapidly
• Internal structures (silos)
• Employee diversity
• External culture influence
• Resistance to take responsibility for workplace culture

As with implementing any organisation-wide changes and improvements, culture shifts do not come without their challenges. Challenges can be overcome when the desire to create a positive and enabling environment overrides the fear of the unknown and the potential effort involved.

A Case for Culture and Engagement

The primary reasons for talented and hard-working people to remain in their position and loyal to an employer was traditionally a good salary and a secure career path trajectory. This has now changed. People want to feel a sense of purpose and value that transcends a paycheck. A purpose and value not only within their own role, but they want to feel a synergy with the vision and purpose of the organisation and certainly an authentic connection with the people they work with. As cliché as it may sound people are no longer in it for just the money. They need and demand more. Workplace culture and engagement programs are a vehicle to satisfying this evolving objective of the employee's needs and desires.

The proof is in the people

Some Fortune 500 companies have truly understood how to keep their employees (and their customers) engaged.

Accenture, FIS (Fidelity National Information Services), Microsoft, Salesforce and Southwest Airlines were all identified as companies that were finding ways to engage their employees. They, among others, have found ways to embrace collaboration, diversity, equity and many other traits that drive value and purpose for their employees. Including, very importantly, they have created a fun and engaging interactive daily workplace culture. Other companies like Dreamworks have encouraged the company value of creativity to spill over into the physical workspace of employees by offering paid opportunities for employees to decorate their workspaces.

Engagement is part of the business strategy too

Having a continuous culture and engagement strategy is about more than just keeping people motivated and 'happy'. Culture is about appealing to employees to get involved with colleagues and the organisation without reservation. To participate with excitement and unreserved contribution.

Addressing employee engagement has an impact on the business too:

• Higher service levels, productivity and quality (21%)
• Increased customer metrics which translates to increased customer retention and customer leads (10%)
• Increased sales (20%)

Businesses that orient performance management systems around basic human needs for psychological engagement, such as positive workplace relationships, frequent recognition, ongoing performance conversations and opportunities for personal development, get the most out of their employees- Gallup 2018

Employee engagement and culture programs can no longer be looked at as solely a 'soft skills' responsibility for the Learning and Development department or HR. Programs and interventions that are looked at only when things go wrong when many people leave or the profits go down and fixing the human factor is the last resort are late in realising the power of organisational power. Rather, it is a human-centred and people focused business tool that drives performance and leadership in a sustainable way.

Culture drives people in an authentic way-it makes them proud to perform. This is a commodity worth its weight in gold.

The look and feel of the workplace are changing. Flexible work arrangements and the GIG economy are changing the classic day-to-day relationships people have enjoyed. Technology and AI are impacting processes and how people are feeling about job security. Optimising performance, productivity, and customer relationships will always come down to the human factor in the workplace. However, this may be fortuitous, as it is the human factors like-purpose, value and authentic connections that the workforce of today are looking for in an employer. The right culture will win the best employees.

Not sure how healthy the organisational culture is or have a positive culture at all or you want to assess how engaged the employee are? I am here to help. [email protected]