Fifty years ago, company culture looked a lot different. Employees expected to retire from the job they took out of college and employers offered ample pay for a lifetime of work. Today, employees and employers aren't married for life. In fact, employees use strategic job changes to advance their career and employers want to attract those star employees by developing a positive company culture. If you notice these five things happening in your workplace, you may have a subpar company culture and may be missing out on star hires and better productivity because of it.
There's a Line to Clock Out at 5
Few employees enjoy working overtime, but engaged employees recognize that there are some days when extra hours are needed to achieve company goals. If employees are throwing their hands up at quitting time and heading toward the door, you probably have unengaged employees and a poor company culture. Great company cultures have employees who are actively engaged and excited about their job. They don't mind putting in some extra hours because they know their work is valued and they enjoy their work environment. If you notice a line every day at five, it may be time to reassess the health of your company culture.
Your Improvement Process Dwells on Fault
Quality improvement has become a staple in every industry. Tracking errors and preventing them from recurring is a great way to improve processes and encourage employee input to improve company productivity. While quality improvement may be part of your company, if that process focuses on fault rather than process improvement, you may be contributing to a negative company culture. Take a look at your quality improvement process to find out how errors are investigated. If you find more witch hunting than problem solving, start there to improve company culture.
Employees Aren't Connected
Small start-ups have an advantage when it comes to company culture. When every employee knows each other, it fosters a better working environment and helps productivity because when Megan in production has a finance question, she knows that Bill is the guy to ask. When businesses expand, compartmentalization of departments and work groups makes employees feel more like a cog in the machine and less like a pivotal part of the process. If you have a company where employees don't know the people outside their department, you probably have a disconnected corporate culture.
You Hire Resumes
Qualifications are important, but they aren't all-important. A person with a great resume can fail in the wrong working environment while a person with an average resume can excel and spur their team onto greatness. It's all dependent on working relationships. If your HR process is entirely dependent on qualifications over company fit, you probably aren't creating a positive company culture. Employers need to not only focus on finding the person with the right experience but also the right fit for their department.
You Resort to Bribes
There's a difference between bribes and rewards. Some businesses think they are offering rewards, but actually offering bribes. Companies with a strong corporate culture offer rewards because they enhance employee experience. Employees are already achieving beyond what the company expects and the employer wants to reward that behavior. Companies with poor corporate cultures offer bribes for employees to do the job they were hired to perform. This last ditch effort acknowledges that the employee isn't engaged enough to perform without incentive. Ask yourself whether you're rewarding good work or attempting to bribe employees to do good work. 