Why should anyone care about the culture of their organisation? The reason is simple, culture determines the overall thinking and behavior of the organisation - which builds a certain ‘mood’ at the workplace. And good mood, means good performance - which further goes to enhance the reputational and monetary growth for the company.
Culture is evident from the way employees interact with each other - the kind of conversations they have, and the decisions that they make. Whether they are in sync with the company values and ethics, or whether their mindset is aligned with the company’s beliefs, is something that gets determined by the company’s culture.
Deep-diving into factors that determine the company culture, will tell you where your company stands, will help you identify what needs to change, and will give you a better understanding of whether you need to invest in your company’s culture and develop an internal communications plan to increase awareness.
Here are some signs that say you need to invest towards culture-building.
#1 Habitual Absence from Work
Frequent absenteeism is a sign that people are not very happy at work. Of course, this is over and above any kind of paid/sick leaves or a time-off granted by managers. But when it happens more often, there’s a possibility that employees may be facing harassment or bullying and are staying back to avoid negativity. It may even be due to mental health issues or low morale that makes them feel under-appreciated; or out-of-control situations like illness or bereavement. Organisations must thus empathise and offer support.
#2 Showing up Even When Productivity Levels Are Down
Many times employees come to work sick, injured or even mentally drained. This comes with the fear of being away from work looking like they’re not committed to the job - especially in comparison with others. Presenteeism also happens because employees want to save their paid leaves for family time and the underlying reason is heavy workload, which later piles up or burdens others. If organisations develop policies related to presenteeism and educate their workforce about coming to work when not operating in full strength, employee morale can be boosted.
#3 Mental Health Stemming from Stress
Mental health issues may stem from employees’ personal life issues or stress at work. However, these go unnoticed because it’s considered to be a hush-hush. Although, if employees feel uncomfortable speaking to their managers or even the in-house counsellors, it shows that they are worried about being judged or inviting unfair behaviour. It is thus in the company’s hands to build trustworthiness, encourage open communications and also develop employee well-being policies, with the help of a consistent internal communications plan.
#4 Client or Customer Dissatisfaction
Toxicity driven by gossip or gaslighting, creates team divide at the workplace. While toxic behaviour in itself is harmful for the company’s health, it can cause further problems like unaccountability and reduced work ownership, even during pre-decided tasks. Together, these are signs that point towards client/customer dissatisfaction due to volatility amongst employees and the culture that they follow.
#5 Decreased Participation in Team Events
Another thing that the HR team may need to keep an eye out for is employee participation scores. Team-building workshops, town halls, employee engagement activities are arranged to ensure that performance, productivity, as well as the employee well-being is catered to at regular intervals. But if there's consistently low employee participation then it’s possible that either employees are losing interest or are burdened with work. In either case, the company should get to the roots and find a solution.
What Should Be Done?
If people are away from work more often, or if people are at work even when they shouldn’t be - it all comes at a cost to the company. Not only because of salaries, privileges and company resources, but also because this may lead to business loss from clients backing out due to underproductivity.
Instead, it is smarter to identify this and nip it in the bud the minute you see a warning sign. Identifying these issues at the right time will give an insight into sustaining a positive workplace culture. For example, hiring candidates who are culturally fit, will help keep the overall health of the organisation, happier and hence, productive. Not to forget, with the help of talent hire consulting, retaining the current employees and attracting the best-suited kind of people for your company is a given. This will naturally ensure passionate employees that believe in the company’s vision, and will voluntarily work in a way that’s beneficial to the company.
It is not only important to work on the work culture, but also, to build a strategic internal communications plan which will ensure that everyone is on board and aligned to the bigger picture.