Does your organisational culture help your team to succeed or cause them headaches?
In today’s competitive landscape, most organisations are looking for ways to gain a competitive edge. While many focus on things like product innovation or market expansion, one area that can be overlooked is the company’s culture and operations.
The culture and operations of a company can be major blockages that prevent it from achieving its full potential. Whether it’s a challenging, even toxic work environment, outdated processes, or inefficient operations, these factors can lead to a host of problems, including talent attrition, an inability to hire, operational drag, and flight risk.
This article takes a closer look at how these issues can arise and what companies can do to address them.
Find out your cultural effectiveness score before you get started here.
Talent Attrition
One of the most significant problems that can arise from a poor company culture is talent attrition. When employees don’t feel valued or respected, they are more likely to look for opportunities elsewhere. McKinsey coined the term ‘war on talent’ way back in 1997 and it’s still raging. Poor organisational culture can lead to high attrition rates, which can be costly for a company in terms of lost productivity, training costs, and recruitment expenses – not to mention reputational damage. A strong EVP and good reputation is like gold dust when hiring in 2023.
To avoid this problem, companies should focus on creating a positive work culture where employees feel valued and supported – whether they are physically in the office or not. This can involve things like providing opportunities for professional development and growth, opportunities to engage as a team away from a work setting, fostering a culture of open communication and collaboration, being transparent and investing in systems and tools that will make your team more efficient and effective.
Inability to Hire
Another common problem that can arise from a poor company culture is an inability to hire. When word gets out that a company has a toxic work environment or high turnover rates, it can be challenging to attract qualified candidates – even outside of a skills shortage. This can be particularly problematic in competitive industries where top talent is in high demand.
Improving their employer brand can help alleviate this issue. Steps to take could involve highlighting positive reviews from current and former employees, showcasing and demonstrating the company’s values and mission, and being transparent about the company’s culture and work environment.
Operational Drag
Poor company operations can also be a significant blockage to success. When processes are outdated or inefficient, it can lead to operational drag, which can slow down productivity and increase costs – not to mention team frustrations.
To address this issue, companies need to focus on streamlining their operations and processes. This can involve things like investing in new technology and tools to automate repetitive tasks, simplifying workflows, and eliminating unnecessary steps in the process. You could try following your own processes to understand how clunky they could be. At Human we stand in our own queue periodically to experience what our clients experience to get a sense of how we can improve or adapt.
Flight Risk
Finally, a poor company culture can often lead to flight risk. When employees feel unhappy or unsupported, they are more likely to leave the company, which can create instability and disrupt operations. This can be particularly problematic in industries where specialised knowledge and expertise are critical to success.
To address this issue, companies need to focus on creating a culture of retention. This can involve things like offering competitive salaries and benefits, providing opportunities for professional development and growth, and fostering a positive work environment where employees feel valued and supported.
A powerful organisational culture can alleviate many issues. Understanding your organisational cultural effectiveness score can also help you identify where the blockages are and how big they might be across your Culture, Operations and People.
The Human Cultural Effectiveness scorecard helps you quickly understand your overall score and your score for each business area. It goes further by offering you tips on how you can improve based on which area scores lowest.
By focusing on creating a positive work environment, streamlining operations, and investing in employee development and retention, you can overcome your blockages and achieve long-term success.
Find out your Cultural Effectiveness Score by clicking here.