How Improving Your Company Culture Increases Productivity 

When your employees are happy, life is better for everyone, including your customers. And did you know that happy employees are up to 20% more productive than unhappy employees? While there are many ways to create happier employees, the foundation lies in your improving your company culture. 

Happy employees are a product of company culture. Company culture does not have one clear definition. But at the root, it is how a company cultivates growth while giving each employee a voice and encouraging healthy attitudes, behaviors, and work ethics. Our new employees at interviewstream often bring up our positive company culture in their reviews – so we thought we’d let you know tips and tricks to have the best company culture for your employees (and for your productivity).

The Marriage Between Company Culture And Productivity

Long gone are the days that an employee will stick around for years with a company that does not align with their values. The job market is fierce and employees have an endless list of options. Today, a cultural fit is one of the most important boxes to tick for job seekers. 

When an employee is happy with their work environment, they are more likely to invest their interest and energy, resulting in increased performance and productivity – and increasing their quality of hire. When they have a solid work-life balance, they contribute more, leading to increased retention and engagement. The best company cultures also attract high-caliber employees, leading to a 33% increase in revenue. 

This marriage between company culture and employee happiness is proven to have a large effect – it is the reason companies are putting more effort and energy into defining and creating a strong culture.

Evaluate Your Current Company Culture

Many companies are so focused on action and outcomes that they overlook who is doing the work. As you begin to evaluate your culture to look for areas of improvement and how to apply policies that empower employees, keep in mind that it is essential to give your employees the opportunity to contribute to how the culture is defined. Including them in defining the company culture is part of the culture itself. 

As with any analysis, you need to measure success. The top three categories to take a look at are:

• Sentiment data will tell you how employees feel about their role and the company. It will help you get a feel for the overall employee experience. Encourage feedback through weekly or monthly 1:1 meetings.
• Behavioral data tells you how your employees work day-to-day. You can take a look at the qualities they possess and determine if they are living out your values. Take a look at our blog on hiring metrics to measure to see if they’re over or under-performing.
• Relationship data will give you insight into how your employees are interacting with their colleagues and teams. Connection and communication are essential to a successful culture.

Data collection is easy using interviews and surveys. Using interviewstream on demand videos to conduct data collection interviews is an innovative way to connect with your employees and give them a comfortable space to give you honest feedback. Keeping them involved and feeling heard is the first step in fostering the company culture you are striving to create. 

Improve Company Culture By Implementing Fresh Initiatives

Once you have collected your data, you can move forward with revamping your company culture. The workplace has changed quite a bit over the past several years, with a mix of hybrid, in-office, and work-from-home employees, so here are just a few outside-of-the-box company culture trends (other than the standard flexibility, salary, etc.) to use as a starting point.

Trend #1: Send 1-ups. A little recognition can go a long way. Encourage sending employees little thank you notes for doing something good. You can even shout them out on Teams or Slack. The person with the most notes at the end of every month wins a prize. 

Trend #2: Create a mentoring program. A mentoring program will not only get your senior team members engaged but also provide your newer team members with the support they need for growth. It will highlight your company’s emphasis on collaboration and professional development. 

Trend #3: Put your culture in video format. Create a fun employee culture video. Keep it real – snag some smartphone video footage and be authentic. This will give people a taste of what life is really like at your company. 

Trend #4: Feel Good Fridays. Each Friday, all team members share 3 things that went well, 1 thing they learned, and 3 things they are looking forward to next week. People reflect on the positives while getting excited about the week ahead. 

Trend #5 Walk and talks. The physical environment can have a heavy effect on people. Instead of office one-on-ones, get outside and go for a walk. It will relax your employees and help them open up. 

The possibilities are endless when it comes to creating the culture you envision. Putting your time and energy into molding a strong company culture that stands out will help you retain excellent employees AND attract the best-of-the-best candidates.

Strong Company Culture Is A Win-Win

Research shows that company culture affects engagement, productivity, and retention. Having highly engaged employees can lead to a 202% increase in performance while having actively disengaged employees leads to high turnover. 

Talk to an interviewstream expert today to learn more about how we can assist you in creating an interviewing process that reflects your strong company culture. 

About The Author

Caroline Chessia is the Marketing Operations Specialist at interviewstream. She loves color-coordinated graphs, hiking in the mountains, and every dog she meets—especially the Golden Retrievers.