Coping with the current business climate takes imagination, innovation and frankly no fear of change. These days, we need to think way outside the box. When teams don’t have the benefit of being physically together in an office, where mentorship, training and camaraderie would traditionally happen more naturally, it falls on company leaders to establish a more evolved company culture and create meaningful connections between co-workers. This includes teaching employees how to advocate for themselves and taking the opportunity to speak up with ideas and input. This workplace reality is new to everyone, and it will take all of us to create a positive environment.
Regular check-Ins
Does it feel scary when a boss or superior calls and asks for a meeting? It’s easy to think something’s wrong, but today, that’s not what these check-ins are about. It should be made clear that even if there’s no specific work question or directive, it’s important to touch base often and connect to see how we’re all doing. Also, employees can feel uncomfortable reaching out with questions or problems, specifically when working remotely, so regular scheduled check-ins are the forum needed for open dialogue. It’s a small commitment that leads to a big payoff. Try 10 minutes once a week.
Culture change is not a top-down solution
At Arrow Benefits Group, leaders check in with each other on a biweekly basis to answer general questions, make sure our work teams are doing okay, and offer support where needed.
We revamped our “culture committee” expanding the team from two members to a full board of 10. We’ve included higher levels of leaders on the committee to strengthen how we honor and mentor employees, especially remote workers. We take the responsibility to care for employees and their success extremely seriously—which is why we have a high acquisition and retention rate—and consistently look for ways to improve our company infrastructure.
Assign mentors
Enlisting your tenured professionals as mentors will have a huge impact. The goal is to raise everyone up to a higher level with support and guidance. Mentoring sessions allow time to ask and answer bigger questions, review processes and share ideas. They lead to more advancement opportunities and establish longer-term support systems.
Here’s a powerful idea from a local business we work with that puts each employee in the driver’s seat. The company offers a mentorship program, and each employee gets to choose one of the three company owners to be a mentor. They meet regularly in an open exchange and speak candidly about what’s on their mind. I love this—by letting employees choose, they feel more connected to the process, and leadership has a bigger buy-in because they were chosen. It also puts onus on employees to keep the relationship productive.
Ask for feedback
Knowledge is power, and surveys are profoundly valuable. By soliciting input from those directly affected by your company’s benefits and policies, you’ll learn what’s working, what’s not and why.
The process leads to participants feeling more invested and appreciated. Plus, making some changes based on your findings or just creating awareness by reporting the survey results has value and can improve team morale. Some employers are hesitant to ask for input because they don’t want to raise unrealistic expectations or disappoint employees if, for example, they cannot implement all the changes suggested. Yet, if it’s explained as a discovery process to uncover needs first and then explore how changes can be made, there will be no misunderstandings.
When conducting internal surveys for clients, we always ask employees these questions: What do you value most from your employer? What could be improved in your work culture? Do you think your time off policy is comparable to other employers? Most of the time, no matter the industry, their top concern is flexibility, scheduling or otherwise. This is a challenging issue for many, especially right now, but not making the effort to accommodate can lead to major burnout.
Asking for feedback, empowers employees about their own work life. This is vital. Encouraging these types of conversations at all levels of your company—instead of just at the top—can bring about real change and improved success.
Value team suggestions
One of our favorite ideas came from our newest team member. She suggested sending employees coffee shop gift cards to facilitate coworkers having a quick meet up to feel connected and less isolated. A lot of our employees have never met in person (due to more than two years of COVID), so now we’re encouraging them to connect face-to-face or even Zooming with a coffee on us. A similar simple-but-effective suggestion could be waiting to solve one of your company challenges.
As the work world continues to adapt to its post-pandemic reality, leaders must rethink everything, especially their relationships with team members. By increasing outreach and encouraging participation, your team members will feel vested in your company’s success.
