Satisfied employees are more engaged, productive, and motivated to drive success for your business. What many companies fail to realize is the impact that corporate culture has on overall employee satisfaction.
A company culture can mean many things depending on the scope of your business. Ultimately, it is the work environment, attitudes, and behaviors you strive for in your company and among employees. It can also encompass leadership styles, goals, and the ethics your company values.
Maintaining consistency in your core company values helps employees feel valued and stable in the workplace. According to a study looking at the relationship between an organization’s culture and employee job satisfaction, there is a correlation.
“The best prospect is to create satisfactory working conditions for all employees in every institution, so that they are highly motivated to perform well and be committed to their job,” the study cited.
Many companies have a published corporate culture. In a study of 689 large companies by the MIT Sloan Management Review, 562, or 82%, had defined company culture/values.
However, what is the benefit of having a corporate culture if a company doesn’t practice the values they define? There are several things you can do to ensure you are reinforcing the company culture, your business values, and increasing employee satisfaction.
Clarity is Key
If it doesn’t already, your business should have a published company culture that employees can access. This way, there is no confusion about expectations among employees. Some of the most common values in the MIT Sloan study were:
- Integrity
- Collaboration
- Customer
- Respect
So, if collaboration is a key value at your company, is this modeled for your employees? Does the team have regular meetings to check-in? Do employees feel like upper management hears their voices? Looking at your company culture and making sure the workplace environment is consistent can make a big difference in employee satisfaction.
Bridge the Gap
Leaders set the tone of a company, and management should always model the culture. If managers aren’t modeling the values, why would employees be on board? Employees will see if a company holds management accountable for their actions and it will motivate them to follow the culture in their work.
Besides practicing the values every day, management should be accessible to the employees at every level of the organization. Regular meetings and check-ins can help bridge the gap that lower-level employees sometimes feel, and give managers a chance to evaluate how the employees are understanding and acting on the company’s values.
Re-evaluate
While it is important to be consistent, it is also okay to re-evaluate your company’s values. Signs it might be time to reassess are decreased productivity, lower sales, or multiple employees quitting. Doing regular surveys, even if they are anonymous, can also help you monitor employee satisfaction and how the corporate culture is being modeled.
The impact company culture and consistency have on employee satisfaction is clear. So, maintaining a connection between the culture and your employees can also help your business.
Sources:
MIT Sloan Business Review. When It Comes to Culture, Does Your Company Walk the Talk? Accessed June 20, 2022.
International Review of Management and Marketing. Organizational Culture and Job Satisfaction: A Review. Accessed June 20, 2022.