Workplace culture is important

Workplace culture is critical to an organization’s long-term success. A great culture is a common denominator among the most successful companies. According to SHRM, “Successful organizations have a culture based on a strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs that are supported by strategy and structure.” When an organization has a great culture, employees:

• Know how top management wants them to respond to any situation,
• Believe that the expected response is the proper one, and
• Know that they will be rewarded for demonstrating the organization’s values.

It’s also important to add that a great culture enhances trust and cooperation, which leads to fewer disagreements and more efficient decision-making.

Since culture is a somewhat vague yet ubiquitous term, it is important to distinguish that culture is neither strong nor weak, but it can be good or bad. There are many benefits to having the right kind of culture.

A great culture affects recruitment, retention, and engagement

An organization’s culture differentiates you from the competition. Milennials care about culture just as much as salary. And what Milennials are looking for matters because they will constitute 75% of the workforce by 2025, which is only 5 years away.

In addition, Milennials don’t primarily judge a company’s success based on its financial performance but by how the company treats its people. They want to work for an organization that has meaning and allows them to balance their work and personal life.

Employees won’t continue to work for a company that they don’t connect with and feel supported by, despite other possible advantages.

A great culture positively affects productivity

A positive, effective workplace culture affects employee productivity by increasing attendance and performance. Employees take ownership of their work and the organization. They go the extra mile when needed, which is an important competitive advantage.

A great culture inspires loyalty and dedication to the organization, and reduces employee turnover. Employee turnover is very costly and lowers morale for the employees who remain. When your employees are more loyal to your company, you can build a strong, long-lasting team that will contribute to your business growth.

In addition, business partners and potential business partners care about your culture too. They want to know that you stand for something and live out your mission.

In other words, organizational culture sets the context for everything an enterprise does.

Relationship between culture and benefits

What is the relationship between workplace culture and employee benefits? Ideally, the workplace culture would inform and guide the benefits that are offered. In turn, employee benefits reinforce and support workplace culture. It is important to align benefits strategy to company culture and long-term goals.

Benefits are important because the vast majority (92%) of employees indicated that benefits are important to their overall job satisfaction. In addition, strategic benefits have a significant impact. Organizations that use benefits as a strategic tool for recruiting and retaining talent reported better overall company performance and above-average effectiveness in recruitment and retention compared with organizations that did not:

• Company performance: 58% vs. 34%
• Effectiveness in recruitment: 19% vs. 8%
• Effectiveness in retention: 28% vs. 11%

Employee benefits can support or undermine an organization’s culture – an organization’s shared beliefs and values. Benefits that are aligned with the organization’s culture then embody, communicate, support, perpetuate, and reinforce the desired culture to employees. Benefits shape employee perceptions, behaviors, and understanding.

Conflicting messages regarding organizational culture may create distrust and cynicism. Experts say that cultural inconsistencies may also cause workers to grow discouraged, to believe that management is disingenuous, to doubt statements from higher-ups, and to be less inclined to give their best effort. If the benefit plan does not support the intent of the cultural strategy, it can create conflict in terms of employee perception. Employees will be thinking, “Hey! You tell us you care, but you’re only paying 50% of the health plan costs and I can get a better plan on my own… do you really mean what you say?”

These types of inconsistencies can be dangerous and takes years to rebuild trust.

How do you decide what benefits to offer?

“Giving people more stuff won’t make them happier, but perks that support the company’s values, mission, and purpose will.” –Wayne Sleight, COO of 97th Floor

The benefits your organization decides to offer depends on your organization’s values and goals. In a similar vein, your choice of benefits depends on what kind of talent you’re trying to attract. “When considering which benefits to offer, companies need to consider their talent needs and tailor benefits to the wants and needs of the people they need most,” advised Jodi Ordioni, founder of Brandemix.

Very simply, ask them. Employees are of different ages and have different life circumstances. As a result, employees want flexible, customized benefits. 70% of employees believe that benefits customized to their needs would increase their loyalties to their companies.

Listen to what your employees want. Rather than making assumptions, send out a poll or survey to learn what benefits your employees value.

Aligning cultural values and the benefits that support them

There are some quick and easy ways for your company to immediately provide benefits that are meaningful to a rapidly changing workforce. While most employers are thinking about some type of insurance product, there are a lot of wonderful programs that are not insurance-based which can help align your benefits with your cultural values.

When thinking about the terms “benefit” or “reward,” it’s easy to think about insurance. But insurance actually benefits and rewards those who come upon some misfortune. You get sick, so you get to use the health plan. You need a crown, so you get to use your dental plan. But what about those who are healthy? How are the healthy rewarded by such benefits? Rethinking about how we define “benefit” and “reward” can help a company better align its benefits with its culture. Some programs to consider would be found in programs and tools that support:

• Well-being
• Productivity
• Mental health
• Work-life balance
• Policies that support flexibility
• Financial support for student loans
• Financial counseling
• Family support
• Opportunities for giving and volunteer programs

Companies small and large can no longer ignore the value of culture. Nor can they ignore the relationship between culture and the benefits that are offered. Getting a strategic plan in place about your culture and designing a comprehensive benefit plan that supports that culture is going to be a process not reserved for just Fortune 500 companies, but a key requirement to be an employer of choice in an ultra-competitive landscape.

Alan Wang
Alan Wang is the President of UBF and serves as the lead consultant. He has delivered the UBF solution set throughout the world and is highly regarded for his areas of expertise. You can follow him on Twitter @UBFconsulting.