For many companies, HR aspirations will see workforces looking to emulate the cultures of big-name companies such as Netflix, Google or Facebook – but according to one expert, this is the wrong approach.
Instead, organisations should be tailoring their cultures to suit their own business and its objectives – imitation is not the answer.
Alan Heyward, executive manager at
Accumulate, said that while there is “no silver bullet to driving culture”, there are some common building blocks that award-winning cultures have:
- Leadership buy-in for any engagement-focused initiatives
- Clear expectations around strategy, execution of that strategy, and how you’ll behave as an organisation
- The fundamentals, starting with clear direction and expectations from the company
Have you employed the right people as managers?
According to Accumulate, there are several ways in which managers directly affect the engagement levels of a workforce.
They claim that while managers account for a 70% variance in employee engagement scores, only one in ten people have the traits needed to help a team achieve in a way that significantly improves a company’s performance.
In fact, research has shown that the most influential factor on engagement is the personal relationship between a manager and their direct reports.
Accumulate also claimed that although 44% of managers are unhappy with their employees’ performance, workers can be up to 60% more productive with better leadership.
Just 10% of managers engage their teams, retain top performers, and sustain a culture of high productivity.
Managers who successfully did all three displayed the following traits and skills:
- Taking an interest
- Building relationships
- Inspiring their employees
- Positive attitudes
- Genuine character
- Supportive behaviour
- Rewarding a job well done
- Results-focused
Related stories:
Can you spot an engaging leader in the crowd?
Imitation won’t drive engagement
How to slash employee disengagement
