There is a lot of discussion around workplace culture and its importance in attracting and retaining good talent, in driving productivity, and in creating a sense of belonging. The reason for this growing interest is that the new workforce generation is demanding it. Climbing the corporate ladder, sacrificing on life’s experiences in exchange for added hours at work may have been valued behaviors for Gen Xers or Boomers, but Millennials are different (according to the 2016 Millennial Survey by Deloitte). They looking for places to work where they can identify with the values of the company and how these values are brought to life every day.
For many of the “new generation of companies” building-in a strong and healthy workplace culture is part of the foundations of the company. This is partly because the founders are Millennials themselves and want it, and partly because it is a key ingredient of successful future-focused modern-day companies. However, for many legacy companies that have risen to notoriety during the last half of the 20th Century, it is more difficult to build a healthy workplace culture. The reason is that they have progressively fallen victim to the cultural dynamics of greed, competition, and cut-throat employment practices that were set in motion during the 80s and accelerated with the various market crashes that have taken place since that time.
Can established older companies, and newer toxic organizations, change their workplace culture? Absolutely.
Fortune Magazine wrote an article celebrating the efforts of 3 companies in changing their workplace culture for the better. W.L Gore, SAP, and Workday. Their efforts have resulted in making them one of the Top 100 Companies to Work For. While each company is focusing on areas that are right for them, there are some commonalities among all three.
First, the companies that are initiating a healthy workplace culture change need to have their pulse on employee sentiment. This can be done in many ways but it has to yield honest and regular input. To accomplish this task W.L Gore, a company that was founded in 1958, put in place an in-house team called the Innovation Center of Expertise to identify and champion employee ideas. It is a group that has a clear mandate – employees know this, like it, and support it. Therefore, employees are at the heart of workplace culture change decision-making and are notably active in championing it.
Second, companies wanting healthy workplace cultures need to change the dialogue on performance from judgement to encouragement. Workday, a software company, realized that employee feedback processes where not productive. Quite the opposite was true, they were somewhat dreaded and actually encouraged some unkind and unproductive behaviors throughout the year – difficulties in collaboration to focus on one’s own goals, undermining others to promote one’s own accomplishments, and so forth. Therefore, they changed employee performance naming from “performance management” (which suggested penalizing low performers) to “performance enhancement (which focuses on boosting employee efforts). To do so they initiated a weekly employee survey program to see how team members were getting on and helping them adjust or course-correct if things were not moving towards their collectively-defined targets. Consequently, employees feel that the company truly wants to help them achieve their full potential.
Third, companies need to change their hiring practices to accurately and diligently further their purpose and values. SAP realized that they had a serious problem with diversity. They took action by not just raising awareness of the challenge throughout the organization, but also by changing their hiring practices to ensure greater fairness. A company that has beautifully aligned their company purpose and hiring philosophy is Airbnb. They ensure that different interviewers cover different aspects of the company’s culture to ensure that they type of person that they bring in perfectly complements their values. The result is that a true “tribe” is build which fuels a healthy workplace culture.
Finally, companies that have healthy workplace cultures demonstrate their efforts to champion the job security of their employees. Security is the most important attribute for job seekers, right before having a strong purpose (source: “Work, In Progress” – 2018 Frank Mertens). This is understandable, given the current employment landscape that enjoys regular reorgs, layoffs, etc. depending on how the company is performing. Some companies are attempting to change their workplace culture by breaking this paradigm. AT&T, a legacy telco giant, decided in 2016 that they needed to go through a massive reorganization if they were to remain competitive for the years ahead. The implication would be that 100,000 employees would be affected. However, the company did not decide to lay them off (which would have been common practice beforehand). Instead, they committed to retraining and retaining all of those affected. It was a bold move resulting in notable improvements in favorability ratings towards the company. Above all, companies that show that they really do have the best interest of their employees at heart, will generate loyalty, stability, and ultimately can build a healthy workplace culture.
The examples shown above at established companies is a testament to the real possibility to that workplace culture can be changed, even within decades-old companies with engrained mindsets and ways-of-working. Above all, the demands of the future working generation will force companies to take action.
This dynamic is good. Since an enormous amount of our waking time is spent at work, it would be far more enjoyable, and a lot healthier, if we go to a workplace where the culture mirrors the values that we hold dear. After all, more happiness at work means greater happiness in life.