As the workplace continually evolves, the skills needed to be successful are changing as well. Depending on the industry, an employer may be looking for people with particular training, certifications or prior work experience. Candidates must be able to communicate well and think critically in order to solve problems and innovate on behalf of their company.
According to Pew Research Center, Americans view “being able to work with people from many different backgrounds” as one of the most important traits for workers to be successful in today’s economy. An important element of a successful, modern day workplace is to be more inclusive and open-minded.
Image: Pew Research Center
Being able to work with people from many backgrounds is just one of many components of a positive company culture. Making sure your company has an environment where employees feel valued means you are more likely to get the best work from employees, which leads to happy consumers and an increased overall success of the company.
Other portions of a positive workplace culture include:
- Being able to get work done in the most productive manner.
- Feeling as though you are valued and respected.
- Giving and receiving open communication.
- Working toward a common goal.
Work culture is different for every company.
If your employees are lacking productivity and do not have the opportunity to communicate efficiently, you likely need a new or improved intranet or collaboration tool(s). If employees do not feel valued or respected, individual meetings with employees as well as inclusivity or leadership training may be the solution. Often, employees take on management roles with little or no training on how to lead, and they have room for improvement.
But what if you do not know what changes you need to make to uphold or improve your company culture?
An assessment like the Workplace Genome from WorkXO analyzes your company culture and sets the course for improvement.
Companies complete the Workplace Genome assessment for many reasons, but Jamie Notter, Partner at WorkXO Solutions, has noticed that a common thread among those companies are ones involved in a change or transition.
“Maybe it’s a change in leadership, or a major disruption in the market, or needing to adjust to demographic changes in the workforce, like millennials,” Notter said. “But when an organization needs to make a big shift, it is crucial to start by understanding where their culture is, or else they risk trying to make changes that end up getting swallowed by the culture later.”
So… does your company culture need help? What can you do to make the needed changes?
Having a positive and efficient workplace is increasingly important to employees who have opportunities to work at other companies, and a business is only as effective and successful as the people who work for it. Having a culture of inclusivity and productivity is a major component to ensuring employee engagement and retention, and that need is not going away.
When speaking about his predictions for workplace culture in the future, Notter said, “Culture won’t be that thing you deal with when you have time. It will be treated and managed like the true source of competitive advantage that it is.”
