Building Your Company Culture? Listen to People. 

A company’s culture influences its brand as much as its customer’s perspective. In fact, as I’ve written about before here, employees can and should wear the mantle of brand influencers on behalf of their employers. So, it’s imperative that company leadership spend just as much time and effort listening to their own team members as they do their customers. 

Employee satisfaction surveys across industries often include comments like, “I love this place, but it’s hard to be a Mom here,” and, “I love my job, but the office schedule isn’t always conducive to my best work.”  

Sometimes, though, employers are reluctant to believe the data that comes from the mouths of their own people. This is true even when the employee says, “I love this place, but I wish _______.” A Fast Company article by Gwen Moran addressed this tendency and included sources like Staples, Gallup, and Prudential. Let’s consider part of it.  

Consider the Benefits

During the pandemic, people have had to blend work and life in new ways, and they want the flexibility to do so. A July survey by Staples found that 40% of workers want flexible hours. Long before the pandemic, KGBTexas has considered flexibility to be important. . It is an integral part of our family-focused culture since our lives consist of so much more than what we experience at work. And flexibility doesn’t always have to be codified in policy manuals. We’re flexible with our policy when the situation calls for it.  

While you’d think that employees would be tired of working from home, that’s not necessarily so. Three in five workers who have been working from home during the pandemic would prefer to continue to work remotely as much as possible, even after public health restrictions are lifted, according to an April Gallup poll. Prudential Insurance’s research found that two of three workers say working remotely will become much more normal after the pandemic. 

KGBTexas had some team members working remotely long before the pandemic hit, and while working remotely isn’t a traditional arrangement for our company, we recognize that some flexibility in this regard works to the long-term benefit of the employee as well as the agency. 

The bottom line? 

Actively engage employees in a conversation about what they want and need not only to do their best work but also to live their best lives. And then listen to what they say is important for the company culture. They’re not whining; they’re telling us how to improve their workplace. 

Oh, one last thing. If retention matters to you, this will also: Prudential says 52% of employees would consider changing jobs to secure the benefits that matter most to them. 

KGBTexas is a full-service marketing agency based in San Antonio and Houston, Texas. Explore more of our advertising, public relations, public affairs and crisis management work here, get a full download on all of our marketing services, or contact us today to set up a consultation. Our award-winning team of creatives and communications experts are ready to take your brand to the next level.