Andrew Heikkila
@AndyO_TheHammer
Latest posts by Andrew Heikkila (see all)
- 5 Productivity Tips for Employees Working Remotely From Home - April 7, 2017
- How Leaders Can Begin Developing a More Positive Workplace Culture - March 10, 2017
- 5 Digital Solutions Every Modern Business Requires - January 27, 2017
- The Future of Business Hinges on Soft Skills - November 10, 2016
- Successful People Who Worked Through Failures - February 14, 2016
The beginning of 2017 saw Uber embroiled in scandal, first losing 200,000 customers in a single weekend after #DeleteUber fiasco, and later, more infamously, after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced against top execs. The controversy has been building since, but if itâs done one thing, itâs put the spotlight on workplace culture the world over.
It should be apparent: if we spend the majority of our day somewhere, we naturally want the environment to be a positive one. If weâre giving our time to an organization, we naturally expect to be treated with the same respect as everybody else who gives their time as well. Simple, right?
Obviously not. This begs the question: if the workplace culture is this toxic at one of the worldâs most valuable startups, should any of our workplaces stand above scrutiny? If you are a male reading this right now, can you say with 100 percent certainty that the women in your office are comfortable or feel if theyâre in a positive space? This transcends gender issues as well–males, females, and LGBTQA, people of all races and ages are susceptible to negative workplace culture. Is your office doing everything it can to curb it?
Satisfaction On the Decline
Business author Cole Mayer, in his article âWorkplace Culture: Will You Fit?â mentions that 67 percent of Millennials in one 2016 survey listed ârespectful treatment of all employeesâ as their primary reason for job satisfaction. 55 percent listed âtrust between employees and managementâ as their primary factor, while 49 listed an immediate supervisorâs respect for an idea.
While Mayer draws on the SHRM Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement survey to set these figures up, he follows up in 1-2 punch style by citing a report by The Conference Board showing that employee satisfaction is on the decline. While Mayer certainly isnât drawing the correlation via causation that our workplaces have become less respectful in terms of treatment of employees, the aforementioned statistics from the SHRM survey at least provide a glimpse into how we can make employees happier at work.
The Importance of Workplace Culture
MIT lecturer Jim Dougherty wrote in the Harvard Business Review: âCulture, in my mind, is the single most important attribute to successful companies. Â Inevitably, when things donât go well for a company, the culture is what has a lot to say about whether or not you make it.â
This is corroborated by another piece on HBR that offers proof that positive work cultures are more productive, but if we want a more objective warrant from a different source, we donât have to look far. Forbes highlights a study from Dukeâs Fuqua School of Business that surveyed more than 1,400 North American CEOs and CFOs over 13 months. They found that more than 90 percent of respondents thought that culture was important at their firms, and 92 percent believed improving their firmâs corporate culture would improve their companyâs value. More half agreed that corporate culture influences productivity, creativity, profitability, and growth.
Most telling, only 15 percent of respondents said that corporate culture was where it needed to be at their firm.
Fortunately, there is a sense of self-reflection and a commonly agreed upon solution that rises from this survey: 70 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, âLeadership needs to spend more time to develop the culture.â
Itâs Not All Doom and Gloom
Leaders have potent ability when it comes to exacting changes in workplace culture. Employees have that ability too. In truth, it takes a team to make sure workplace culture is a positive aspect of the company instead of a detrimental one. While there is no definitive list on how to create the perfect culture, here are a few pointers that wonât hurt:
- Take ownership of the problem. Kathy Bourque writes that while we tend to shy away from conflict and confrontation in favor of tolerating a situation, difficult conversations can actually benefit company culture. âWhat we tolerate we accept,â she writes. âThink about that for a minute. Life goes along its happy way with you tolerating this. You think âWell, thatâs really not so badâŚI can live with that.â Pretty soon your âthatâs really not so badâ tolerations have built up like a pile of dirty laundry from a family of 12 who have 10 kids under the age of 10.â Actively discouraging negativity isnât easy, but with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that negativity costs businesses $3 billion a year due to harmful effects, itâs easy to see why itâs necessary.
- Adopt the PERMA model. Ros Cardinalâs post on creating better workplace culture appeals to the PERMA model: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment/Achievement. While execution of the PERMA model is anything but simple, the core ideas behind how it works are. Check out Cardinalâs post here for more info.
- Perk up. This is a nice double entendre that refers to an initiative to smile more often, and to offer workplace perks like coffee, time off, flex time, or even student loan perks for your recent graduates, the latter of which has been growing in popularity recently. Business News Daily offers a list of cool perks that keep employees happy, but donât limit yourself to these perks alone–be creative and tailor your offerings to your employee baseâs needs.
- The little things go a long way. Another piece by Kathy Bourque via People Development Magazine emphasizes creating a receptive workplace culture to cultivate positivity by doing the little things. Show interest. Praise employees in public. Say thank you. All of these little things might not seem like much at the time, but when they add up they can have massive impact.
Lastly, take a look in the mirror. Are you the problem? If your leadership is toxic, your workplace culture is bound to be as well.
Fortunately by approaching the situation critically, acting immediately, and embodying the culture youâd like to see around you, youâll already begin seeing brighter faces around you in the office. Itâs like Ghandi said:
âBe the change you wish to see in the workplace.â
Or something like that.
