Opinion: How to Build Company Culture, Engagement

Leaders that focus primarily on managing boxes on charts rather than managing the employee’s workplace experience, struggle with culture and engagement. Period.

Reports of low employee engagement in the workplace are so common we may be numb to it. However, it may be worse than you think. Gallup’s 2014 survey of workers found nearly 90 percent of employees are disengaged globally. It’s only slightly better in North America. That’s far too many people putting in their time and effort for work they don’t find fulfilling and for an employer they’d rather leave. 

Low employee engagement and culture problems present an opportunity for enlightened leaders to gain a competitive advantage. 

Here are five strategies for building company culture:

1. Give employees more than a paycheck to provide meaning. In his new book, “Why We Work,” author Barry Schwartz tells how janitors, fast-food workers and retail clerks can be some of the most fulfilled, motivated workers – that is if the manager reinforces meaning and purpose. If they don’t, employees will view work as drudgery and underperform to their capabilities. Paychecks don’t provide long-term meaning and fulfillment; people look to their leaders for that.

Care about employees. People want leaders who care about and respect them. The adage, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care,” is relevant today. One way to show you care is to schedule one-on-ones with employees for brief, enjoyable dialogue. Connecting with people shows your caring side.

2. Provide open mindedness, not just an open door. An open-door policy means nothing if there’s a closed mind on the other side of the desk. Employees want open mindedness and openness from leaders. An IBM study of CEOs in 2012 found a new shift in corporate culture is occurring: “one that will embrace a new spirit of openness, transparency and employee engagement.”

3. Engage employees. The best leaders have stopped micromanaging and top-down styles that stifle results. Gallup studies point to the fact that managers account for 70 percent of variance in employee engagement. While the employee is ultimately responsible for their own engagement, managers remain the primary influence.

4. Recognize employee achievements. People want to feel appreciated for their contribution to the organization’s mission and goals because it provides meaning and a sense of worth. According to a recent Harvard Business Review article citing workplace research from an Interact/Harris poll, the top complaint about management was “not recognizing employee achievements.” A culture of positive feedback increases employee motivation and engagement.

5. Have living, breathing values. Values are the centerpiece of a strong culture. They must be clear, consistent and reinforced. What leaders emphasize and exemplify, employees will eventually follow.

In 1986, I spent 45 minutes one-on-one with Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A. Most significant among my takeaways was that business should mean a lot more to leaders than dollars and cents. It should be about their values and the impact they want to have on the lives of people working for them and the customers they serve. 

Businesses struggle not because leaders don’t know the business, but because they don’t know how to get their people energetically engaged to do their best work. 

Mark Holmes is a consultant and professional speaker helping companies improve leadership, sales and service. He’s given over 2,000 seminars and keynotes and written three books. Holmes can be reached at mark@markholmesgroup.com.