Employee Benefit News
Let’s talk about company culture
October 25, 2010
New research suggests that employers have to broaden their gaze on the concept of company culture, making it an instrumental part of their core business strategy.
Many experts agree company culture drives retention, productivity and morale. But benefits professionals will also tell you it is critical in designing and delivering employee benefits that resonate with workers.
Randstad US, a provider of HR and staffing services, recently released survey findings on the core characteristics of a strong company culture and workers’ perceptions on company culture. The survey makes clear that employers can no longer afford to overlook company culture as a key corporate objective.
For example, 35% of employees report company culture has the greatest impact on morale; while 22% believe it has a major effect on productivity and 23% of younger workers, ages 18 to 34, say it plays the biggest role in building job satisfaction. The online survey, conducted in August 2010, represents a national sample of 1,008 adult aged 18 and older.
Top performers
"Companies that will perform well will nurture the factors that make their employees feel happier and engaged at work, more connected to overall results, and more motivated to make a strong contribution," says Dr. Eileen Habelow, Randstad’s senior vice president of organizational development.
"Going forward, companies can’t ignore culture. Rather, it should be addressed as a critical component of their overall business strategy," she adds.
In addition, focusing on company culture in a post-recession environment is a perfect way to rekindle corporate performance. About 60% of workers believe that the recession and a slow economic recovery have had a negative impact on company culture. They admit that layoffs, reduced benefits and wages and low morale have heightened feelings of disengagement from their employers.
Randstad says companies with strong cultures focus on the following: building employee morale through incentive and training programs; clearly defining values through mission and vision statements; putting strong leaders in place that set the tone and empower others; and encouraging better relationships with both employees and customers.
Key elements
In the survey, employee attitudes (69%) and effective management (64%) ranked as the two top elements critical to company culture. Other key elements of company culture include:
- Strong trust relationships (57%)
- Customer focus (55%)
- High accountability standards (50%)
- Commitment to training and development (47%)
- Compensation and reward programs (45%)
- Support for innovation and new ideas (42%)
- Useful resources, technology and tools (41%)
- Emphasis on recruiting and retaining outstanding employees (40%)
Meanwhile, Randstad also cites four categories of company culture, which come from the book "Corporate Cultures: the Rites and Rituals of Corporate Life" written by Terrence Deal and Allan Kennedy. The categories include:
All hands on deck culture: Everyone works as a team no matter your title or position, the focus here is working together to get projects done;
Process culture: it's all about data, grids and forms, the culture lacks creativity, but focuses heavily on the procedure and bureaucracy;
Work hard/play hard culture: fun and action are the rule here, employees take pride in work and its quality, but don't miss opportunities to enjoy time with co-workers and;
Tough-guy, macho culture: get the job done is the focus here, feedback and constructive criticism reign and you are expected to know what you are doing with little or no direction.
The survey found that 38% of workers list their current work culture as "all hands on deck," while 18% label their company as having a "process" culture, 16% as a "work hard/play hard" culture and 12% a "tough guy, macho" culture. Only 16% of survey participants note that none of the categories describes their company culture.
The survey findings also reveal differences in the classifications by age and by the size of the employer. For example, 47% of workers aged 55 and older classified their company culture as "all hands on deck."
However, 19% of younger workers describe their culture as "work hard/play hard," while those aged 35 to 54 (21%) are more likely to characterize their company as having a “process” culture, according to the survey.
Other key findings from the Randstad’s "Work Watch" survey include:
- Workers including college graduates (76%), employees at companies with more than 100 employees (72%), and those with a household income of $50,000 or more (69%) find company culture more important than other working adults.
- Fewer workers believe company culture has a significant impact on company reputation (13%), employee turnover (7%) or company communication (5%).
- Workers aged 35 and older are more likely than those who are younger to feel that the economic crisis has negatively affected the culture at their company (64% vs. 49%).
- Majorities of workers across demographic groups – with the one exception of younger workers – believe that the economy has had a negative impact on their working environment.
Access Content Source: http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/company-culture-2684566-1.html
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http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.
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