The 5 Signs of a Thriving Workplace Culture

Most people would agree that the culture of your organization is critically important to its success. As Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”

Consider these examples for a minute. Zappos has a culture famous for delivering WOW levels of customer service. Southwest Airlines is known for being fun and rewarding employees who draw outside the lines.  Apple has a culture famous for rewarding people who develop innovative and distinctively designed products.  Fortune 100 CEO’s are also acknowledging the importance of culture.  Ginny Rometty, the CEO at IBM, says that culture is emerging to be the No. 1 corporate asset.

Culture as a whole is important, but recent research has shed light on what specific aspects of workplace culture are most important to an organization’s success. Not all attributes of culture are equal in creating an environment where employees love coming to work. Research out of the Einaudi Institute and Northwestern University recently analyzed data from the Great Places to Work Institute ®. The survey measures how the values are perceived by employees by looking at two questions:

• Management’s actions match its words
• Management is honest and ethical in its business practices

The researchers also looked for cultural attributes listed on the websites of Standard and Poor’s 500 companies. They found the most commonly stated values to be innovation, integrity, respect and teamwork. However, the researchers found little evidence that the cultural values stated on the websites directly correlated with performance. They also found no correlation between the stated cultural values and organizational profitability.

Their research did find, however, that the cultural value of integrity, as perceived by employees, was found to add value to an organization. These findings are backed up by our own research, which found that integrity, trust and the relationship between management and employees were also of utmost importance. I like to call these aspects combined the Loyalty Connection.

So, what do the equally successful, but notably different, workplace cultures of organizations such as Berkshire Hathaway, Zappos, and Apple have in common?

Their leaders are committed to nurturing the Loyalty Connection in 5 ways:

Open and Honest Communication

Organizations with strong workplace cultures cultivate trust by promoting communication that is honest, direct, timely, decisive and respectful. Goals and expectations are clear, and surprises are few. The leaders in the organization are emphatic listeners who can receive feedback, learn from it, and put the feedback into action. These leaders are trusted because they shoot straight.

What Employees Think Matters

The most successful organizations realize the tremendous ability and potential of their employees, and their leaders actively seek out the employees’ thoughts and opinions on how to improve the organization. They expect employees to think critically and make decisions that improve the company. They truly believe that great ideas come from the people doing the work, and they are in the habit of seeking employees’ input prior to making changes that impact their work.

Follow Through With Commitments

One of the quickest ways to build trust is for a leader to follow through on what he or she say they will do. The most engaged and successful workplace cultures have leaders who consistently follow through on their commitments.

Accessibility to Leaders

It’s difficult to build trust and respect if leaders are not accessible to their employees. Being accessible doesn’t have to mean being physically visible. A leader can be accessible through a number of today’s mediums: email, voicemail, video, etc.

Trust and Respect

The measurement of trust and respect increases when employees see the above keys of the Loyalty Connection implemented. Employees recognize when leaders are committed to building trust with their employees, and, in turn, trust senior leaders’ decisions regarding the company. Demonstrating trust and respect is easy when a leader truly values the opinions of their employees, genuinely cares about their success, and is committed to creating an environment of workplace excellence.

Every company has a workplace culture unique to them. In some offices, it is perfectly acceptable to go to work dressed in a T-shirt with your dog in tow. In others, not so much. Dress codes, snack machines, and slides aside, a commitment to integrity, trust and the relationship between management and employees is what truly defines a workplace culture of excellence.

What attributes of a strong workplace culture would you consider most important? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Loyalty Connection is just one of the components of workplace excellence that we explored in our latest white paper. You can download a free copy of Beyond Engagement: 8 Proven Strategies to Workplace Excellence by clicking here.