Why are people leaving their jobs during the Great Resignation? Compensation matters, but it isn’t the number-one reason. The most significant factor in losing workers is toxic work culture. The culture you create also impacts whether you can attract new talent.
How do you create a positive culture that retains employees? Sadly, many companies mistake culture for perks. They offer “pizza parties” or other tokens while failing to make the foundational changes that truly create a culture that appeals to workers.
Start with these seven tips if you’re ready to create a workplace culture that leads to happy, engaged, productive employees.
- Develop Great Managers
There is absolutely nothing you can do to create an attractive culture if people don’t trust or have faith in their managers. It’s imperative that you hire or promote the right people into management positions, give them the resources they need to succeed, and offer them development opportunities.
Here are some things effective managers do:
- “Coach” their employees
- Prioritize team member success
- Communicate clearly
- Develop a team strategy
- Avoid micromanaging
- Hold themselves equally accountable
- Stay results-oriented
- Know their team members
- Have technical proficiency
The best managers will have innate personality characteristics such as empathy. Other traits will need to develop into managers with training and feedback.
- Make Diversity Happen
Yes, diversity is a factor in company culture. It determines whether people in your organization feel welcomed and included.
Diversity also brings varied and valuable perspectives to the table. It’s an important consideration for intelligent, creative, and empathetic workers.
What does “make diversity happen” mean? It isn’t enough to simply create a policy to hire and promote with diversity in mind. Employees want to see that in action. They want to see diversity when they look at their coworkers and managers.
Building a diverse team isn’t a passive initiative. Instead, companies must take time to analyze their current workforce at every level, identify where diversity is lacking, and actively make changes. In addition to improving your company culture, you can create a diverse team in your recruiting efforts.
- Partner with Employees on Professional Development
Your work culture should value providing employees with opportunities to grow and reach their professional goals. When workers have opportunities to increase their expertise, they perform better and experience more job satisfaction.
If employees have the chance to pursue professional advancement in your organization, they are also less likely to quit to pursue other opportunities.
To help with this, company leaders should:
- Meet one on one with workers to help them set professional development goals
- Give employees time and resources to pursue training and education
- Provide training and education reimbursement
- Offer work opportunities for development such as cross-training
Professional development reduces the kind of worker attrition that can impact morale and leave existing staff overworked.
In some cases, employees may not make sure of the path they wish to take or are simply unaware of their options. These workers can benefit significantly from being matched with mentors who will provide them with insights and guidance.
When it comes to professional development, the value of mentorship programs can’t be overstated.
- Prioritize Well-Being
The last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic have brought inflation, rising healthcare costs, housing difficulties, depressed wages, and political unrest. Even as we recover from the pandemic, people struggle with childcare, eldercare, and transportation. It would be an understatement to say the workforce is collectively stressed out.
Businesses must understand this and respond to it to create a positive work culture. This means moving away from outdated notions that work should be the top priority, that the best workers are the ones who are always available, and that overwork is a virtue. Additionally, workplace benefits should include mental health services.
- Be Transparent
Perfection may be an unrealistic expectation, but honesty isn’t. When honesty and forthright communication are the norms, they contribute to a better work environment. Company leadership should be proactive in communicating with workers about policies, strategic movies, and how changes will impact them.
In addition to outgoing communication strategies, leaders should also seek honest feedback from team members. Transparency and regular feedback ensure that issues are dealt with appropriately and that everyone in the organization feels heard.
- Provide Meaningful Recognition
Team members must be recognized for their contributions and achievement. This recognition should be specific, meaningful, and appropriate. Recognition leads to a culture of appreciation that reduces turnover and motivates workers to achieve more.
Praise and recognition should align with the accomplishment being celebrated. It can include verbal acknowledgment, time off work, gift cards, public praise, or other perks. Managers should take time to get to know their team members to select awards that are meaningful to them.
- Make Policies that Make Sense
When company leadership makes policies that appear to be arbitrary, authoritarian, or self-serving, workers become frustrated. They lose motivation and faith in management. This frustration is even more significant when workers feel cheated out of flexibility and autonomy.
Managers must remember that workers are much less likely to accept being micromanaged after a year of working remotely and having significant control of their own schedules.
Companies can significantly improve company culture if they work to create fair and equitable policies. Additionally, policies should be clearly communicated, make sense, and be as least restrictive as possible. Workers also respond better to policies when given a chance to provide input.
