New year, new decade, new workplace culture? We say yes! And offer 8 reasons why companies should implement the development of their corporate culture as a resolution.
1. turn employees into ambassadors
"Where do you work again? I think I need to take a closer look at your company." This is what it sounds like when satisfied employees talk about their employer in their networks and in their inner circles. But job satisfaction only results from actively working on the workplace culture - for example by appreciating the good performance and commitment of employees. But there are also other ways of actively shaping your own workplace culture.
2. increase sustainability
Fridays for Future with Great Thunberg helped the climate movement to gain more attention, but now it's up to the action. In order to create a sustainable future for coming generations, everyone must help to increase their sustainability. Many organizations are also committed to sustainability - but if sustainability as a corporate value is not lived, this commitment is of no use. And just like other values in the company, sustainability is a value that must be actively lived and anchored in the culture. Our studies also show that for younger employees in particular, the company's contribution to society is an important driver of employee satisfaction.
3. increasing employee motivation
Developing a workplace culture requires both top-down action by management and bottom-up involvement of employees. This not only leads to holistic support and implementation, but also increases employee motivation. Employees feel that their opinions are valued and have been taken into account in the planning process. Motivation also arises from the fact that the employees move forward together.
4. salary becomes a hygiene factor
"30 percent less would also be okay for me" - but I couldn't earn less, because then his boss would earn less and so would his bosses. A banker said this in an article in the Sonntagszeitung of 12.1.2020 about wages in the banking sector. This shows that it is not about high wages when you talk about satisfied employees. Rather, it is about employees who like to come to work because they feel valued and proud of what they do. To achieve this, however, these values must be put into practice - which requires an actively designed workplace culture. Then the bosses and their bosses would also be prepared to earn less - with the same motivation.
5. customer satisfaction
Customer focus is on everyone's lips, companies deal intensively with their target groups and place them at the centre of their activities. Often, however, these customer centricities are designed by managers, but the implementation then lies with the employees – who ultimately have the contact to the customers. And the more the value of "customer centricity" is lived in the workplace culture, the better it is implemented. But that's not all: employees in an outstanding workplace culture understand the meaningfulness of their work and therefore go the extra mile for customers more often than average. Or to quote Richard Branson: Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.
6. innovation management
In a workplace culture in which employees are trusted, personal responsibility also increases - and with it innovative strength. One example: In 2001, Paul Buchheit started a project at Google that "should have something to do with e-mail or personalization". Within a day he programmed what was then called Project Caribou - and is probably better known today as Gmail. But that wouldn't have been possible if Buchheit hadn't had the trust of his leaders. But this is just one example of how workplace culture can be used to promote innovation.
7. equal rights
It's 2020 and yet society is not yet where it should be in terms of equality. Of course, a lot of things are changing and in most industries there is a lot of work being done on equal rights. But there are still areas in the world of work that are heavily dominated by men. Those who value their workplace culture and want to develop it will (should) not be able to avoid the issue of diversity and inclusion. In order to fully develop the potential of all employees, all employees must be treated equally - keyword fairness. Age, origin or gender must not play a role in this.
8. agility
We live in a world that is changing ever more rapidly in socio-cultural, economic, technological and political terms. And keeping up with the speed of these changes is a major challenge for organizations. Getting ready for it often also means being more agile. In other words, dissolving the hierarchical structure and handing over responsibility and decision-making authority to the appropriate employees - and this requires a development of workplace culture. It's like a boat trip: In the past, you were on smooth lakes. Today you are on a white-water ride where every person has to react quickly to survive the rapids - if these people were to wait for orders from a captain, the reaction time would be too long.
