“There is a clear disparity between the way companies view culture and the way they treat it.”
That’s a quote pulled from a recent Booz & Co. study on just how well company culture is perceived, managed and addressed. The findings are great. The theories, too.
Here are just a few of the standout statistics:
96% of employees think a culture change is necessary in their organization.
84% of respondents deem their organization’s culture to be a critical part of the company’s success.
51% of respondents feel a major overhaul is necessary.
60% said a good-standing company culture is more vital than the company’s own strategy or business model.
The survey goes on to say that companies face a dilemma when trying to institute culture change. Employees mention “change fatigue” (being desensitized from so many company overhauls) as a reason for some cultural transformation not working as well as it should. Others argue that a cultural transformation will fail if it’s heavily contrary to the company’s core beliefs… hinting that a change was probably not necessary in the first place.
But that doesn’t mean companies should resist the urge to change the culture. Some changes – like additional employee perks/benefits or the ability to telecommute every once in a while – can have a positive impact on employee happiness/performance levels. The only way you’ll know is by asking employees for feedback on what they’re most happy with and what they’re most upset with.
Not only will you be able to create a blueprint for what changes to make, but you may also uncover other important issues. For example:
45% of respondents felt management wasn’t doing their part to maintain the company culture.
57% of respondents are skeptical of future culture changes because previous attempts were failures.
These two stats may very well point to a sense of employee disengagement. Think about it: For those employees/managers who are skeptical of culture change because of past missteps, what are their feelings toward other company issues? What about the 45% of employees who feel management doesn’t do a good enough job of monitoring/handling their culture – are they mixed on their manager’s performance elsewhere?
Those are questions you must ask yourself about your business. Are you thinking about changing the culture for next year, while also thinking deeper on whether other themes of employee disengagement hang out in the wind, too?
As a company, it’s important to discuss points like culture change and other outside factors that can weigh heavily on how efficient your workforce can be for the here and now.
Support your employees with a performance improvement plan that’s quick to learn, easier to implement and targets the right issues. Try ej4’s knowledge sharing platform, Thinkzoom, today.
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