Employees desire for work environment that produces top results – Business Daily
Creating a likeable workplace that wows employees ought to be a top priority for organisations. One way to achieve this is by creating and enhancing better workplace culture as well as workplace climate.
Workplace culture can simply be defined as how things are done and is mainly rooted in the values, business model and strategy.
Workplace climate, on the other hand, is how it feels for employees to work within an organisation. Workplace climate is highly rooted in the perception of the employees, and it’s highly influenced by the leadership.
While workplace culture is difficult to change because culture takes time to change and develop, it is easier to change the workplace climate by enhancing daily interactions with employees through aspects such as creating clarity of purpose, adopting suitable leadership styles, communicating company values, adopting flexible working schedules, customising performance management, rewarding strengths, skills and excellence, creating an environment for growth, collaboration and enhancing open and honest communication just to mention a few.
In their assessment of a workplace, employees may ask themselves: Am I excited to be working here? Do I get chances to use my strengths and work on my weaknesses? Do I get to do something I love at my workplace? I’m I rewarded and recognised for my contributions?
To answer these questions in attracting and retaining best talent, organisations need to redesign the workplaces and align them with employee interests and skills.
This is a key precursor to enhanced employee motivation and satisfaction, which ultimately leads to increased bottom-line profits, reduced employee turnover and improved organisational performance.
Today’s employees are looking for more personalised, satisfying, and creative professional experiences where they can express themselves, use strengths and chart own career paths.
By having personalised career paths and performance evaluations, employees can have meaningful careers that meet their personal goals and at the same time fulfil organisational goals and objectives.
As such, organisations need to identify each employee’s strengths and skillset and align them with their needs to ensure that employees do work that is relevant and adds value to both the employee and the organisation.
This will lead to employee satisfaction, increased productivity and providing meaningful work or opportunities.
Undoubtedly, employees want to be treated as human beings and not just as workers. Employees want to be understood, heard, seen, and treated with empathy. Employees need to feel as part of the decision-making process, where their views and feedback matter.
They want to know that their contribution matters and that organisations are keen on addressing issues of concern.
This will not only build trust and mutual respect between employees and organisation, but it will also create a culture that fosters candid discussions on how to address workplace challenges and foster healthy relationships.
Organisations that achieve this feat will undoubtedly build a loyal workforce that is fully engaged, satisfied and productive. Moreover, this will enhance its reputation in the job market giving it a competitive edge in attracting and retaining the best talent.
It’s unquestionably clear that today’s employees have raised the bar in their pursuit of meaningful, purpose-led, socially conscious careers that allow them to have an impact in driving a future of positive social change.
Talented young professionals are looking closely at every potential employer’s ‘brand’ in the job market that aligns with their expectations, values, and aspirations.
Employees want a culture of continuous improvement where staff can fail fast, learn, and evolve, bringing greater value to their roles and to the organisation.
Investment in employee learning and development is crucial to attracting and retaining staff and forging a culture of continuous learning.
Ultimately, while the customer/client experience is vital, so is the employee experience.
The question then becomes, how well is your organisation designing likeable workplaces to attract, motivate and retain the right talent for your current and future workforce?
Ms Maina is a senior adviser in consulting with KPMG Advisory Services Limited. The views and opinions are personal. ([email protected] )
