How Company Culture Aids Employee Retention

“Culture is simply a shared way of doing something with a passion.” -Brian Chesky

The world saw a record number of employees voluntarily quit their jobs in the past year, so much so that it led to the term ‘The Great Resignation’ being coined. A significant number of contributing factors that led to as many as 81% of workers wanting to leave their workplace can be traced back to cultural issues within organizations including workplace toxicity or lack of appreciation. 

The significance of company culture: 

To understand the significance of culture in retaining talent, let’s look at some global statistics:

• 79% of people who quit their job listed lack of appreciation as the reason
• 61% of workers are concerned that their career advancement and earning potential are in jeopardy due to their lack of relationship with their manager
• 84% of Gen-Z’s, 74% of Millennials, and 47% of Baby Boomers report burnout systemic and endemic to the workplace
• Culture can contribute as much as a 33% increase in revenue through attracting and retaining high-caliber talent

These are some strong numbers!

Culture has two major components: alignment and connectedness.

Alignment refers to the employees being acutely aware of what the culture of their organization is and believing that it is right for the firm. A lot of companies tend to focus heavily on this part. Numerous resources are deployed to advertise the great culture that they offer.

Connectedness is an equally important aspect of work culture, where workers who are made aware of the company’s culture identify with it and care about it. Having the best culture at your workplace cannot translate into anything if your workforce does not care about it. 

The question now is, what can businesses do to align their workforce to their culture as well as make them feel connected so the talent that drives the business’ success is retained and kept happy? 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach that can be taken to address this need but below are a few ways that can be taken into consideration and improved upon:

• Build universal employer traits – There are some traits that employees all around the world tend to seek from their employers. According to a study conducted by SEEK, some of these traits are ‘collaboration’, ‘supportiveness’, and ‘respect’. These traits can be implemented as a solid first step towards culture-building.
• Make work more social – With concepts of remote working and hybrid setups gaining massive popularity in the post-pandemic world, a significant amount of talent is working either completely from home or have a hybrid work model. 64% of Indian employees report feeling more productive this way. It’s important to come up with ideas to reduce the disconnect that can stem from not seeing or talking to your colleagues, as it can increase employees’ motivation to return to the office by 85%.
• Offer increased flexibility – While we are on the topic of remote and hybrid working, it is important to address the importance of providing flexibility. While it is true that being around colleagues can help make them feel like part of the team, a Gartner survey has shown that in-office mandates can drive employee connectedness down sharply. 53% of employees with more flexibility reported a high degree of connectedness and they tend to perform at a higher level than ones without by over 37%, as well as also being more likely to stay with the organization.
• Proactively reduce the toxicity – Various factors such as conflicting job demands, inordinately heavy workloads, and unclear responsibilities alongside sleep-deprivation can lead to a workplace becoming toxic. At least 1 in 10 workers feel they work in a toxic workplace. Paying more attention to social norms, increased accountability, and reassessing work design are a few good starting points to detox the workplace.

To conclude, nurturing the culture of your company can enable its purpose and strategy, and can scale its performance extraordinarily. Like most good things, it will take time and consistent efforts to align your employees to the company’s values and help them identify with them, leading them to stay with the organization for longer and be more engaged in their work.

If you liked this article and would like to talk more on the subject or are looking to hire an HR professional for your own business in the fields of Banking, Financial Services, or Insurance, I can be reached via LinkedIn or at my email pku@elliottscotthr.com