According to Workhuman, 88% of employees and 94% of executives think that a distinct corporate culture is important to the success of a business. From this statistic alone, we can understand just how important it is to create a positive and safe workplace culture. Whether you manage an engineering company, an IT company, a manufacturing business, or something else, a staffing agency can help you find employees that meet your qualifications. What does your company need to do in order to draw in candidates for the long haul? Improving culture is a good place to start.
Culture in the Workplace
Any staffing agency will tell you that workplace culture is one of the most important aspects of a job that a candidate looks for in today’s workforce. Toxic workplaces are a thing of the past, and they cause more turnover now than ever. In fact, according to Business News Daily, 65% of younger Gen Z employees are more likely to switch jobs, with many staying less than a year. This turnover is because these workers don’t deem their workplaces a “professional fit that aligns with their desires – and they’ll take a pay cut if a job is worthwhile.” With this in mind, here are a few reasons why culture is so crucial:
- Attract and retain employees
- Improve employee engagement
- Decrease employee turnover
- Enhance productivity
- Onboard effectively
- Design a healthy, communicative work environment
- Define your company and its core values
- Encourages internal promotions
- Create a team environment
- Enhance employee well-being
Improving Culture
To improve the culture in a workplace, it’s important to gauge what is going right and what is going wrong. Here are a few ways a staffing agency would suggest you do this:
- Send out company-wide surveys that can be filled out anonymously. Ask your employees what they think about the company’s culture. Inquire about improvements that could be made, giving employees plenty of time and space to complete the surveys honestly and fully.
- Conduct consistent performance reviews. Be sure managers aren’t the only ones holding these reviews. It’s important for employees to be able to give their managers feedback and areas of improvement as well. In this way, performance reviews can be a learning opportunity for everyone at a company.
- Put employees in small-group meetings to discuss the workplace and areas in which it can improve. Give employees the opportunity to first meet with each other and then present their ideas to managers.
The Use of Book Clubs
When you think of a book club, you may picture a group of friends discussing a mystery novel over snacks, but this isn’t the only way a book club can take place! There are thousands of books about the workplace and how managers and employees alike can cultivate a work environment that benefits everyone. Here are some tips for starting one:
- Send out a book club interest survey. Don’t force participation.
- Use a generator to randomly put employees into groups of three or four.
- Provide a list of workplace-related books to the groups. Give them an opportunity to choose a book from the list as a group.
- Order the books for the employees.
- Inform the book clubs that they’ll get one hour each week to meet, choosing a time and place during the workweek they can all agree on.
- Allow the book clubs to decide on how much they’ll read each week and how they want to hold each meeting. Some groups may create a Google Document to take notes altogether, and others may just discuss the book as-is with their own personal notes.
- When the book clubs are complete, groups can be offered the opportunity to share with the rest of the company what they’ve learned.
- Groups can swap books and continue a new set of book clubs after a break if they so choose.
Since companies with an ethnically diverse workforce outcompete other companies in terms of earnings in their industry by 35%, which any staffing agency will assure you is best, offering books about workplace diversity is an excellent idea. Other book topics to consider (besides workplace culture itself) include workplace communication, workplace management, workplace honesty, workplace organization, and more. Workplace books about your company’s particular industry are fantastic as well. If book club members are having a tough time coming up with a book to discuss, then provide a list of examples.
Benefits of Book Clubs in the Workplace
Workplace book clubs provide employees with the opportunity to discuss issues they see in their work environment in a safe space. As a group, members can determine areas in which they think their company can improve its culture, communication, management style, and more. Members can also discuss things they think their company is doing right. Remind book club members that shutting down ideas isn’t a good idea during meetings. Instead, encourage members to welcome all ideas, as this makes everyone feel heard.
Another benefit of book clubs in the workplace includes the cultivation of strong employee relationships. Colleagues who haven’t worked together in the past can come together and learn more about one another and how they can take part in improving their company culture together. Plus, book clubs tie employees to a shared purpose. Depending on the book they read, a book club may come up with a great initiative to start at their company, thus improving culture and encouraging employees to come together and work together. When a staffing agency helps you onboard new employees, it’s a good idea for new hires to get involved, too, so they can get to know their peers. Book clubs also provide autonomy, as groups get to decide when to meet and how they’ll run their own meetings. Providing such flexibility is an excellent way to demonstrate to employees that management cares about their culture and how to improve it.
As you can see, culture in the workplace is more important than ever, and all recruiting and staffing agencies know this! Administering book clubs is an excellent way to get employees involved in the process of improving culture. Whether you manage an office, an IT company, an engineering company, a manufacturing business, or something else, any industry can benefit from improving workplace culture and ensuring employees feel cared for. When you’re to find new candidates for the company you manage, using headhunters to staff is a fantastic idea, so count on a top staffing agency to assist. Kane Partners is one the best staffing agencies you can hire, so contact our team today to get started.
