Developing Corporate Behavior 2nd edition

Welcome to the second edition of the NEW Business Essential Skills Newsletter. The information delivered is perfect for Human Resources Directors, Employee Development Trainers, and Vice President of Sales.

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Developing Corporate Behavior series will educate our readers with the following information:

Understand the benefits of corporate behavior

Know what type of behaviors you want to implement in your company

Know how to implement corporate behaviors

Learn how to maintain corporate behaviors

There are many alternate names for corporate behavior, company culture, and organizational behavior, but all mean collective actions and values.

Corporate behavior has many benefits, and those benefits are contingent upon your company's values. Some advantages could be reduced costs for supplies, employee engagement, motivation, or reduced absenteeism. Let's explore some of the areas you can use to define your company values.

Employee Safety

Employee safety is a massive issue in businesses and always has been. Thanks to firms making safety a priority and organizations like OSHA, many on-the-job accidents and deaths have been reduced significantly. According to OSHA, in 1972, there were 10.9 employee injuries or illnesses per 100 employees. More recently, those numbers have decreased by approximately 7%. Even with that uplifting statistic, OSHA still states there is an average of 12 employee fatalities daily. What kind of safety values should you consider?

Fall Prevention – Keeping areas clutter-free and taking care of spills quickly to reduce the number of falls.

Chemical Safety- Proper use of chemicals used in the company can range from acids used in machinery to office cleaning solutions.

Electrical Injuries- Taking away electronics with frayed wires, using appropriate procedures when wiring electronics, and keeping adequately maintained equipment.

Illness Prevention- Having employees not at work when they have a possibly contagious illness, using disinfectants, and offering flu shots.

Workplace Violence Prevention- Having a zero-tolerance policy on violence and harassment.

These are just a few values to consider when developing your corporate behavior. You can cater the values to the needs of your company.

Conservation of Materials

It costs much money to run a company. Huge expenditure is supplies and materials for employee use. Supplies are a necessary expense, but many supplies are wasted, broken, or stolen by employees.

Having a corporate behavior that values conserving those supplies could save thousands of dollars. This doesn't mean that you should make it hard for employees to obtain the materials to perform their jobs. Still, it does mean that you should be monitoring usage and deciding if that usage is excessive or not for that particular department.

How many employees do you have in your company? According to HR.com, on average, each employee wastes over 1400 sheets of paper per year. That adds up to $84 per employee.

Engagement is a state in which an employee is a content, committed, and involved in their job.

To have an engaged employee, they must meet three criteria; emotional attachment, understanding, and motivation.

"Emotional attachment" refers to having an emotional connection to one's company, position, and the work they do. "Understanding" refers to understanding the company's goals and values and how they contribute to achieving those goals. The last criteria, "motivation," relates to employees' willingness to invest effort in bettering their performance.

According to a study by the Hay Group, a company can make 2.5x more revenue with engaged employees. Also, the Corporate Leadership Council found that 87% of engaged employees are less likely to leave their positions. An engaged employee works harder and cares about the company they work for. They waste fewer materials and generally have better customer service. Those same employees are usually motivated to develop new skills and further their careers in the company.

Improved Employee Performance

A happy worker makes a happy company. Having a corporate behavior that promotes safety, recognition, and engagement (to name a few) creates happy employees. When an employee is a content in their position, their productivity rises. Here are some ways your employees' performance can improve:

Better customer service

Rise in productivity

The more positive work atmosphere

Fewer wasted resources and supplies

Less absenteeism

Better teamwork

Better communication with co-workers

Case Study

Debra has been working as a custodian for the past two years. She started somewhat excited about her job; she has always liked cleaning and organizing things. In the past year, she has hated going to work. She is absent from work at least once a month, if not more. When she does come in, she does the bare minimum and usually has a poor attitude. She feels stressed out and a little hopeless when she is there. Debra notices the change in herself but doesn't understand what has caused the change in her demeanor. She also notices that many of her co-workers have the same demeanor, and since she has started, she has seen a lot of employee turnover.

Many of the employees feel like their company doesn't care about them. There is much demand for large amounts of work quickly and little appreciation for those who go above and beyond the standard. She feels like she needs to find some other job soon.

Adrienne Barker, MAS, offers the following:

Custom and Personalized Programs for Business Essential Skills, Soft Skills Training, and Practical Solutions for your department. We complement your current training.

We teach etiquette and protocol for all practical situations, providing your team with knowledge and practice.

Contact Adrienne at [email protected]. Call Adrienne at 386.631.4577

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