A Healthy and positive work culture have the potential to attract talent that plans on making their workplace a home, rather than work. Thus, employers should ensure they provide their employees with physically healthy company culture as growth and productivity come from an environment where employees feel valued, safe and comfortable.
This is further supported by Deloitte’s survey that found that 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct corporate culture is important to a business's success.
Below are a few tips to assist employers in fostering a safe workplace environment.
constantly assessing employee satisfaction through effective communication.
According to a study by SurveyMonkey, employees look for ongoing feedback from their boss, as well as an environment that is fair, collaborative and encouraging. In saying this, employees should look to improve their communication with their employees through regular checkups.
The study from SurveyMonkey also revealed that employees who talk about their goals and successes with their manager on a six-month basis are three times more likely to feel engaged and motivated in their job, compared to employees that don’t.
Thus, it is highly important to make yourself approachable and available to your employees, empathize with them and make them feel heard, especially when issues arise. When an employee can see that they’re adding value to the company and following up with them with your appreciation and support, contributes strongly to productivity in the workplace which hence, has the potential to retain the best talent.
In our company strategy meeting, the executive discussed how critical it was for our people to have purpose and understand how their role contributes to the goals of Randstad
enabling a good work-life balance and workday flexibility.
Randstad’s 2020 Research (REBR) found that work-life balance remains among the top three most important offerings the global workforce seeks from their ideal employer. This is more important than ever, as following the coronavirus pandemic, a study conducted by the World Economic Forum revealed that 75% of working Australians want to retain flexibility over their schedule.
Thus, companies who demonstrate to prospective candidates their flexible work-life culture and that they support them in developing a good work-life balance will make candidates more committed to joining the team. This is because employees value employers who empower them to manage their own time. As such, it’s important for employers to acknowledge that every employee’s needs are different.
Some employees may be satisfied with the time spent working, while some feel more productive when working extended hours. Thus, as mentioned previously, employees should consider approaching their employees to understand their needs.
Encouraging breaks through break-out rooms, spare desks for quiet times and longer lunch breaks are also good ways to encourage flexibility in the workplace.
be clear on your organisation’s values
Having goals and core values clearly communicated amongst the team will make every employee feel a part of the company. It is crucial to also demonstrate these values through actions regularly so that employees can also evaluate and take pride in their own attitudes to align with the positive core values.
Felicity Empson, HR director of Randstad Australia, shared her thoughts on creating a positive company culture through meaningful moments.
“For many consultants, helping people and companies is the part of the job that gives them purpose and meaning. At the heart of the program were our stakeholders - our clients, candidates and our people that we wanted to ensure experience our values in their interactions with us. We wanted each interaction to go beyond the transaction, we wanted each moment to have real meaning.”
Randstad Australia then launched their program of ‘meaningful moments’, an app platform that enables colleagues to give feedback to each other by rewarding and recognising meaningful moments in the workplace.
Research by Deloitte also found that there is a strong correlation between employees who claim to feel happy and valued at work and those who say their company has a strong culture.
Therefore, having clear company values will ensure that all employees are working towards the same goal and create purpose between one another, improving team cohesion, relationships and commitment.
