Organizations are making hefty investments into technology in efforts to deliver better digital customer and employee engagements.
Like making a new year’s resolution and buying a personal fitness tracker to stay on goal, teams may use their shiny, new technology for a little while. Oftentimes, people lack the focus and discipline to keep their well-intended resolutions. Digital workplace technology can render the same result if not managed effectively.
Company Culture: What’s the ROI?
What makes it possible for some organizations to sustain their commitment, while others fizzle out?
At least part of the answer can be found in Return on Character by Dr. Fred Keil and The Culture Cycle by James Haskett. Organizations with the right cultural foundation tend to inspire more focus and discipline. As a result, more sustained growth and profitability are experienced.
Create a People-Centric Culture
When an organization understands the return on investment that comes from creating a great culture, naturally, the next step is to write value and mission statements.
But, in The Value of Corporate Culture, the authors note creating and publicizing these statements has almost no bottom line impact. Seem a bit contradicting?
How, then, can an organization create a culture that profitably maximizes employee engagement and continuously delivers great customer experiences?
Employee Engagement
Creating a culture that employees want to engage in delivers great customer experiences and, thereby, sustains profits. Writing a profound company mission or vision statement on paper and storing it in a drawer does nothing but take up space. Involve people in the process and engage, engage, engage.
The process of developing an engaging company culture works more like a fitness program than a fitness tracker. The tracker may help keep you accountable, but the tracker won’t change your behavior and transform your life. Establishing and maintaining a strong company culture takes sustained, disciplined effort.
People are at the center of culture, in and outside of the company. The human aspect of a digital workplace is essential to prioritize. When a company values people, employees and customers feel heard and seen. All of the automation in the world cannot compare to personal engagement and meaningful conversation.
Dive deeper: Read our blog post on 5 Technologies for a Culture of Celebration.
Trustworthy Leadership
Great company culture starts with a trustworthy leadership team. Sadly, this is uncommon and can be difficult to establish.
Research cited by BusinessWire notes only 14% of employees think their company leaders are ethical and honest. How important is this trust? Modern Survey suggests, trust is the critical factor in employee engagement–with 8% of disengaged employees trusting their management team while 92% of fully engaged employees trust senior management.
- Employees: How much do you trust senior management?
- Senior Management: How much do your employees trust you?
Create a culture fostering open lines of communication between senior management and teams. Engagement should be a company-wide investment from the top down. Now how will these statistics change the norm? Ask yourself the applicable question above and take actionable steps to lead with integrity.
People-Centric Mission
Once a solid foundation of trust is in place, a clear, people-centric mission can unite a team around a common purpose.
Finding a mission can be tough, but it is far from impossible. In the article, How an Accounting Firm Convinced Its Employees They Could Change the World, Harvard Business Review describes how KPMG created a bigger purpose that delivered greater employee engagement. Have you ever worked for an accounting firm? If they can create an engaging mission, your organization can too!
What’s your higher purpose as a company?
Think about how many hours people spend at their workplace in a year: 40 hours per week x 52 weeks – 2 weeks of vacation. Let’s estimate 2,000 hours (most likely on the low end). People should not feel like they are burning the clock and simply warming a seat. Make sure employees are thinking bigger than their cubical or workspace.
Envision the big picture for your company’s impact in the world and identify how each person and team is a crucial piece of the whole. Relay to employees how they fit into the bigger picture to create a culture of unity around the mission.
Digital Workplace Infographic Download
Download the infographic on the ROI of a People-Centric Culture to see all of the data and references from this blog.
Start ideating on your company’s higher purpose, building trust, and creating a people-centric digital workplace culture today. Let us know how our team here at C5 Insight can help in the process!
