Kathryn Moody and Riia O’Donnell* say a new study shows employees believe an organisation’s culture directly influences their job performance.
Credit: Fizkes
The majority of workers believe an organisation’s culture has a direct impact on its success, according to a new study by Eagle Hill Consulting.
Culture particularly influences job performance, as 77 per cent agree a strong culture allows them to do their best work; 76 per cent see the impact in productivity and efficiency; and another 74 per cent draw a correlation between culture and their ability to serve their customer base.
Culture also has a large impact on employees’ commitment to achieve an organisation’s goals, the ability to be innovative and creative and to their commitment to ethical behaviours, the study revealed.
But only about a quarter of respondents said their organisation has a strong culture based on core values; a similar amount said they trust their leadership at the executive level.
On the upside, the data also shows that most employees are happy at work, feel connected to their colleagues and are comfortable being their authentic selves in the workplace.
With so much discussion about employee perks present today, employers may forget that culture’s real intent is to create an environment that enables employees to do their best work.
A strong culture can help an organisation thrive in a tough environment.
Strong, trusted leadership is required for a strong culture — but control may not be an aspect of good leadership.
To really see success, leaders need to hand over culture control to employees.
Values can be decided at a high-level, but employees on the front lines often know best how to execute.
Employers also can create cultures of recognition for employees and set agendas that further a mission, instilling a sense of pride that translates beyond the workplace.
HR pros play a key role and can make positive messaging, rewards for furthering cultural goals and a “walk the talk” attitude central to how personnel issues are approached.
Technology can reinforce the culture, too, experts say.
“Technology offers an opportunity to make sure that the organisation’s intentions for the kind of culture it wants are communicated with regularity,” Jordan Birnbaum, VP and Chief Behavioural Economist at ADP, previously told HR Dive.
“If an organisation establishes that collaboration is important, how do you support it?”
“What tools facilitate it?”
* Kathryn Moody is Senior Editor of HR Dive. She tweets at @KatMMoody and Riia O’Donnell is a HR professional with over 15 years’ experience and a contributor to HR Dive.
This article first appeared at www.hrdive.com.
