Over the years, our team of consultants at OrgVitality has seen recurring patterns and themes in employee survey data and focus group discussions. Some are readily apparent; others are more nuanced and emerge only through careful analysis. All are useful to anyone working in the field of talent management. In the spirit of cooperation, we are sharing some of the most consistent themes we've seen over decades of survey work, with a new series, "People at Work." In this series, CEO Jeffrey Saltzman aims to organize these observations, although many insights cut across multiple categories.
For the fifth part of this series, we focus on culture:
1. Organizations have the ability to shape culture both within the organization and to an extent in the communities where their staff reside. Employees will adhere to organizational policies regarding behavior and that often can be carried over outside of the organization. Over time those required behaviors will result in attitudinal shifts.
2. As an example, when examining the results from two different organizations in different countries, the employees within the company tend to hold more similar attitudes to other employees within the same company, regardless of the country in which they reside. Organizations tend to underestimate their ability to influence the attitudes (creating or shifting) and resultant behaviors of their staff.
3. When trying to shift a culture, it is best to start by shifting acceptable behaviors. If you start with attitudes, but the old behaviors are in place, attitudes will revert quickly.
4. In general, while people appreciate “perks” such as snacks, drinks, ping pong tables, etc. the money spent on those perks can be better used in terms of impact on employee satisfaction/engagement.
5. There are both formal organizational structures and informal structures that help get the work done. Employees who understand how to get things done are a valuable resource.
6. Employee engagement is not the be all to end all to determine an organization’s success. Many other factors can play a bigger role.
7. Strikes, walkouts and slowdowns often revolve around treatment issues such as respect and dignity. Are pay and benefits important? Certainly, but the sticking point in labor issues often boils down to items that could be characterized as being treated with respect and dignity.