Positive Culture – The Key to Employee Recruitment/Retention and the Bottom-line

Even in the best of times, businesses struggle with supply chains, administration, financial management, and keeping up to date with technology. But recently, one challenge has emerged as both an existential threat and a key indicator of any organization’s overall health—how to hold onto that most valuable of commodities? Staff.

It’s no secret that the post-pandemic business world has seen a flurry of resignations. Some have even labelled this phenomenon the Great Resignation. So why are people leaving? Often the decision to leave marks a desire for a general career change, a better salary, more flexibility. Other times, the decision is less about going towards something new and more about escaping a current unfavourable work environment. It’s hard to know for sure why so many more employees are leaving now compared to pre-pandemic rates, but in amongst matters of pay, benefits, hours, work/life balance, for many, the impetus to stay or go boils down to workplace culture.

Workplace culture is a set of shared values, beliefs, and attitudes, all communicated with clarity of purpose from management and company leadership. Whether intentionally or otherwise, every company has their own unique workplace culture, and whether this is a positive or toxic one is often determined by how a company’s leadership interacts with their employees.

Companies that don’t foster positive workplace cultures often create high stress environments, and stress is the number one attributed cause in costly workplace accidents. Workplace stress is one of the leading causes of doctor visits and can even contribute to cardiovascular diseases. This leads not only to employee absences due to stress leave but also absences from sick leave, as mental stress transforms into physical disorders and impairments.

What we know is that people are far more likely to leave a toxic workplace where they feel undervalued and disrespected compared to a positive work environment where they feel valued and respected. Not surprisingly, toxic work cultures often have high turnover and increasing difficulty attracting new employees.

Studies on the effects of positive work cultures, however, show that a workforce with strong morale and shared values, not only keeps their workers, but also benefits from increased productivity and efficiency. 

Several businesses have successfully integrated these practices, one such being Costco, which makes a point of valuing employees as individuals and paying attention to their needs. The company is frequently ranked at the top of lists of great employers, such as Forbes’ “Best Large Employers” list, which is based on how willing an employee is to recommend their employer to friends and family. These types of lists are not only useful as a way to attract and retain employees but also offer tangible benefits; companies that rank high on these types of lists often outperformed others on the S&P 500 by up to 84 percent in some years.

Even the size of a workplace has no precise bearing on whether a workplace culture is positive or negative. Stereotypes of the soulless corporation viewing its employees as cogs in a machine and treating them as such may exist for some big companies, but if a smaller business does not value their employees or make an effort to create environments where employees are valued and listened to, they are losing out on a strategic edge they are especially equipped to enjoy. The same workplace culture issues discussed above apply just as readily to small businesses. 

Ultimately, the question becomes not so much if these practices have a positive effect, but how to implement them. And this is what Respect Group’s “Respect in the Workplace” online certification strives to help organizations achieve— a healthy workplace culture where people choose to stay.

Part of creating and maintaining a positive workplace culture is making sure everyone in an organization learns how to recognize and deal with harmful interaction which includes: bullying, abuse, harassment, or discrimination, or what we refer to collectively as BAHD behaviours. Respect in the Workplace provides strategies for confronting these behaviors, encouraging everyone to “look in the mirror”, and empowering bystanders to step-up and step-in. Anonymous pre and post surveys from thousands of employees across hundreds of companies using Respect in the Workplace, confirm that when it comes to “crossing the line” on BAHD behaviours, many did not know where the line was drawn. Organizations with positive and progressive work cultures also recognize the importance of RESPECT as the foundation to advancing their corporate commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Culture starts at the top and without sincere leadership to create and maintain positive morale, psychologically safe and welcoming environments cannot exist. Simply stated, good people are not motivated to stay and corporate profitability is at risk.

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References

Eli Rosenberg. “4.3 million Americans left their jobs in December as omicron variant disrupted everything.” The Washington Post February 1, 2022.

Emma Seppälä and Kim Cameron. “Proof that Positive Work Cultures Are More Productive.” Harvard Business Review.

Gabriella Olya. “Why Costco’s Employee Culture May See It Through the Labor Shortages.” Yahoo. July 26, 2021.

Sarah Treleaven. “Why Even Small Businesses Need to Focus on Workplace Culture.” Macleans. March 25, 2019.