Culture, Engagement, Morale…Oh my!

Culture and Engagement

Culture, engagement, Morale…Oh my! What is the meaning of culture and engagement and why is it relevant? All organizations have very different ideas about culture and engagement. None are perfect and not every person fits perfectly into every organization. That said, do what works best for your organization but do the right thing. Build an organization that is desirable. Build an organization in which employees don’t want to leave. 

Your company culture impacts your company engagement which in turn impacts employee morale. By providing an impactful employee experience, you will in turn improve culture, engagement and morale. 

Oh, if only there were one simple recipe. Lucky for you, there is. Do the right thing. Do right by your employees.  In the HR world, we do our best to impact the most people in the most positive way.  We all know that we can never please 100% of our teams 100% of the time. Do your best to engage the most people in the most meaningful way. Start slowly and build. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day. 

 What does it mean to start small?  Provide the very basics for an egaged work place. 

• Provide a safe workplace
• Provide the tools needed to successfully complete the job
• Select the right people
• Select strong leaders
• Set expectations
• Give back

Make it safe

A safe workplace is more than meeting OSHA requirements. Safety at work includes free from any form of harassment. Safety at work includes the ability for employees to feel safe raising concerns to their leaders about anything, without fear of backlash. 

Provide tools

The tools needed to successfully complete the job includes more than a reliable computer or an accurate tape measure. It includes thorough training. It includes the ability to ask questions and the ability to continue to learn and grow. Opportunity. 

Select the right people

Selecting the right people for your organization is critical and investing time in the interviewing and hiring process is important to employee morale. You know the saying: One bad apple…

Select the right leaders

Selecting strong leaders may be the most critical component. Weak leadership will lead to employee distrust which will ultimately impact how employees feel about the organization. If you are not carefully selecting and traing your leaders, that’s on you. Do you want to work towards improving engagement, culture and morale for a lousy leader? I will pass. 

Set Expectations

Let your employees know what they should be doing and when it should be completed. They must understand what is expected and again, they must feel safe in asking questions or speaking up about their concerns. 

Give back

If you are fortunate enough to have a successful business, by all means, find a way to give back to your community. Talk to your teams. Empower your teams. Get your employees involved. No one ever feels badly about giving back. 

Please keep in mind that this list is just the beginning. It is important to build your foundation before you can build on the basics. After all, do you want to work in a place that is not safe? How will that effect your engagement? Start with the basics.

Times are tough. Retention is tougher. Finding ways to improve your organization’s culture, engagement and morale does not have to be complicated. Start small. As you gain momentum, build and allow the good to continue to grow. Get your teams involved. They have great ideas. Ask for help.