In today’s business world, we are accustomed to measuring the success of our organization based on factors such as growth, conversion rates, and how our overall results compare to those of our competitors. What many companies and leaders fail to realize, however, is that cultivating strong company values and promoting a healthy and thriving work environment contribute as much to their bottom line as securing and converting leads.
Your employees will ultimately help you get to where you want to be, so encouraging them to commit to your cause and remain loyal to your organization plays a huge role in motivating them to go above and beyond to get you the results you want. In fact, a study by Gallup found that teams with high engagement demonstrate a 21% increase in profitability (1). Plus, keeping your employees satisfied often leads to unintended benefits such as high employee retention, which will save you money in the long run.
An uninspiring workplace, in turn, can negatively impact your reputation in the community, lead to poor employee performance, and decrease your bottom line. Furthermore, if your prospective customers get word of your poor company culture, this can cause concern about your employee retention rates and your ability to deliver a great product or service in the future.
Still not convinced that developing strong values and a positive work environment can have a huge impact on your overall success? These tips will encourage employee engagement and satisfaction — and get you the type of results you crave.
Survey Employees to Learn What Matters to Them
An easy way to figure out what your employees value and how they perceive your brand is by simply asking them. Send out an initial survey form asking your employees to identify 3-5 values that are important to them in their current role. Using these responses, pick out the top 20 keywords/themes and send out a second survey to further narrow down your list.
After you’ve gathered employee responses from your second survey, have your leadership team or an appointed committee meet to analyze and interpret these results. From this list, pick 4-5 keywords or themes that will represent your company values and develop a strategy of how you will implement them into your work moving forward.
Ask Your Employees for Feedback
Transforming your workplace and cultivating strong company values isn’t something that will happen overnight. Occasionally, you might wonder if your efforts are having any impact at all. The reality is that some of the strategies you implement to promote this change will work better than others, and it’s up to you to figure out where it’s best to invest your time and effort.
A quick and easy way to determine what is resonating with your employees is by asking them to give you feedback through an NPS survey. At Act-On, we use AskNicely to survey both employees and customers about how we’re doing and how we can improve. Asking our employees to rate and provide feedback shows them that we care about meeting them where they’re at, and the insights they provide give us a better idea of how we can do that.
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Identify How Each Department Contributes to Your Mission and Vision
Naming a few values that you feel apply to the work of your organization is not enough to promote a healthy and thriving work environment. If you truly want to gain buy-in for your new values, you have to encourage your employees to play a part in helping you realize those goals.
To do this, we suggest encouraging each of your teams to set apart some time to discuss how they see your company values reflected in their work, as well as what changes they think they can make to further promote them. From time to time, ask them to evaluate how they’re doing in terms of applying those concepts to their work and identify any areas for improvement. This practice will encourage your employees to feel connected to your company values and make them accountable for doing their part in promoting them across the organization.
Keep the Momentum Going with a Strong Internal Communications Strategy
One of the biggest contributors to dissatisfied, disconnected employees is that they feel as if they’re working in the silos. If you want to ensure your employees are happy and engaged, practicing good communication and keeping them in the know is crucial.
An easy way to do that is by implementing a monthly newsletter featuring company news and topics channeling organizational values that are of interest to your employees. If you use Act-On’s marketing automation, you can take your efforts a step further to track engagement and perform A/B testing to see what kind of content is resonating best with your employees — and then optimize your efforts accordingly.
The practical tips above will help remind your employees what you company culture is all about, why they should be proud to be part of your organization, and improve overall engagement. Let us know if you plan to implement any of these practices at your organization or if you have any activities that have served you well in the past.