Kent Ingle is president of Southeastern University, author of several leadership books and host of the Framework Leadership podcast.
Your organization’s culture is what makes your company unique in the marketplace. It encompasses the values and mission that guide your organization’s operations, as well as the beliefs and principles that determine how it interacts with the world around it. These beliefs help create the workplace environment that your team experiences on a daily basis, and their actions help disseminate the organizational culture to customers.
The process of creating and conveying your organization’s culture is a continuous cycle that’s essential to your company’s success and your teams’ overall satisfaction and engagement with their work. But sadly, only two out of 10 employees strongly agree that they feel connected to their workplace culture, according to Gallup.
On the other hand, employees who feel connected to their organization’s culture are four times more likely to be engaged at work. They are also “62% less likely to feel burned out” and 47% less likely to be looking for other job opportunities.
It’s essential that our teams feel a part of our company’s culture. But how can we help? Here are three strategies to help your employees feel connected to your organization’s culture.
Understand your ‘whys.’
If you want your employees to feel engaged with your workplace culture, they need to understand why their work is important and how it contributes to the company’s mission. And that starts with you.
Your team will only be able to engage with your organization’s values as much as you do. If you aren’t familiar with them yourself or don’t understand how they impact your work, how will your team? Start by acquainting yourself with your organization’s mission, values, principles and core beliefs. Understand why they matter to your company and how they help it achieve its purpose in the marketplace.
Then examine how those ideas direct your efforts and your team’s work. Once you understand why you and your team’s efforts are important to your organization’s mission, you’ll be able to start putting your company’s values into action—and encourage your team to do the same.
Hold to your organization’s values.
Sadly, fewer than one in three employees believe their leaders are committed to their company values, according to Gallup’s research. As a leader, your actions determine how your employees perceive your organization’s culture and set the tone for their workplace environment. Your leadership will speak more about your company’s culture than any written mission or value statement ever will.
For example, if your organization strives to create a culture of transparency in how they do business and communicate with shareholders, but you don’t have open conversations with your employees about important changes or invite their honest feedback, your team will feel disconnected from the mission and feel your leadership is disingenuous. It’s crucial that you practice what you preach, especially when it comes to your organization’s values. Be careful that you’re embodying the principles that your company values, especially if you want your team members to do the same. By doing so, you’ll set a strong example for your team to follow and strengthen your organization’s culture as you live out your values together.
Review your team’s impact.
It’s important for your team to understand how they are contributing to your organization’s mission. One of the best ways to do that is by reviewing your team’s accomplishments in the context of your organizational culture. First, meet with your team and discuss how their efforts have practically helped your company carry out its purpose and mission.
Then discuss your team’s behaviors. How have they demonstrated your organization’s values in their work? For example, if your organization strives to create a positive culture, look at how your team has supported and encouraged one another throughout the year. Explain how their actions have helped create your organization’s culture and made the company what it is today. By doing so, you’ll help your team feel connected and show them how their efforts have made a difference.
Conclusion
Helping your team connect with your organization’s culture doesn’t happen overnight. It takes intentional, repeated effort to learn your company’s values and implement them as a part of your daily operations. But by doing so, you’ll enable your team to connect with your mission and take it further than you ever thought possible.
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