Employers often struggle to drive genuine cultural change but new research is offering some evidence-based guidance.
Company culture is among the most important factors influencing employee attraction and retention but organisations often struggle to drive genuine change – could one new study help?
Conducted by O.C. Tanner, the survey collected responses from almost 10,000 employees across 12 nations – disappointingly, it found that many workers are dissatisfied with the current state of their company culture.
Specifically, the study found that 40 per cent of employees think their organisation only cares about profits, 42 per cent believe their accomplishments go unnoticed and 35 per cent do not trust senior leadership at their organisation,
The study also found that 40 per cent of employees agree their job creates a great deal of negative stress in their life and 36 per cent believe their work situation is hurting their ability to be happy in other aspects of their life.
While the research revealed some worrying trends, it also identified six key aspects that employers should focus on in order to drive cultural change and improve attraction and retention levels.
According to the study, the fundamental building blocks for any successful culture are purpose, opportunity, success, appreciation, wellbeing and leadership.
“With so much discussion about culture, one thing is clear: there is a lot of confusion and disagreement over what it is and how to develop a great workplace culture,” said O.C. Tanner president and CEO, Dave Petersen.
The survey also found that companies which perform better across the six-aspect framework are 53 per cent more likely to have highly engaged employees, 27 percent more likely to have increased in revenue last year and 22 per cent less likely to have experienced layoffs in the last year.
“Leaders who pay attention to these talent magnets are going to attract people who want to be part of something great – and culture is where it all comes together,” added Peterson.
