Have you noticed a change in your employee’s behavior? Has there been a shift in your company culture? Does it seem that productivity is down, and no matter what you do, employees want more and more? You are not alone.
According to Gallup, 51% of currently employed workers across the countries surveyed said they are watching for or actively seeking a new job. Further, their survey uncovered that 85% of responses related to three categories: engagement or culture, pay, and well-being. We can always talk about pay, but for this article, let’s focus on employee engagement and well-being.
We don’t need a study to tell us that employee engagement is dropping, it’s evident in our own businesses. Employees want more but work less, productivity is down, and they leave their jobs faster than ever before.
But why? This is an important question to ask yourself. As leaders in our organizations, we must look hard at this question. Do we have a strong understanding of what is happening around us? More importantly, is this happening because of us?
Let’s reflect on the current state. There have been so many changes in the past four years—work from home, hybrid, back to work, not coming back to work, employees leaving, etc. Because employers and employees are not aligning, we still don’t have a solid answer to what our current workplace should be; therefore, company culture is changing, and there is no clear communication between employers and employees, which in turn leads to employees being confused about what their direct impact to the organization is. It’s like a downward spiral, leaving me with more questions than answers.
How can we communicate our goals if we don’t know what they are?
As employers, we need to communicate direction and outcomes to be successful. Employees who are engaged at work want to understand the meaning of their work, its direct impact, and the outcome.
How can we build a foundation for company culture if we don’t define our workday standards?
We need to focus on renewing our company culture. Without focus and hard, honest conversations about what our company culture really is, we can no longer define it. We are not doing a great job of bringing our employees together. It was easy when everyone knew the parameters – Monday through Friday, 8 to 4. But now, the new normal demands flexibility and options with so many variances in a work week.
Why is it so hard to decide?
We can’t be all things to all people. Simply put, we need to make decisions, stand by them, be clear about who we are, and seek talent who wants to be part of our team. Absolutely, we must be inclusive, provide a healthy and safe workplace, and have a company culture of transparency and respect. However, we cannot transform our business to accommodate employees who do not want to work for what we offer, which is what we are trying to do. But really, it is negatively affecting our company culture and employee engagement. It is time to get rid of the noise and get back to basics.
