If people join because of the number of ice cream flavors you have, yoga classes or personal … [+]
Some employers have recently cut their employee benefits and there is a lot of frustration and resentment as a result.
If people come to your organization because of the number of ice cream flavors you have, yoga classes, or personal staplers, don’t be surprised if they leave when you cut it. The priorities are wrong and the signal sent by the employer in particular is wrong.
Building a company culture based only on perks rather than real value and meaning will leave a weak or unstable organization that cannot count on its employees and achieve its goals.
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Core values are crucial to building a great organization
When we started Waze, I said to my partners, Ehud Shabtay and Amir Shinar, “Let’s make Waze the best place to work we’ve ever had.”
They liked the idea and we decided what it would look like. What was important to us was that: (1) we support employees and drivers, (2) vote the founders as one person, and (3) we shoot quickly if someone doesn’t fit our culture.
Waze ended up being a great place to work with very low turnover. Only a few people left over the years and we stayed true to our DNA.
When trying to build a great organization, like you want your business to be, it’s crucial to focus on what matters most. In this case it will have the right people, culture and mission. Then the people on board who join for the right reasons.
People join for multiple reasons – however, they would leave because of their immediate manager and the team they work with. Many employees spend a lot of time at work. They want to feel meaningful and valued for the work they do, both in terms of pay and recognition.
When they join, they have all that well in mind, but once they’re on the job, the day-to-day experience becomes reality, and if those most important things – meaning and appreciation – aren’t met, they leave.
Building an organization is easy. Building a great one is hard
A great organization is a company that is exceptional, impressive and inspiring. It will be admired for its achievements, reputation, culture and values. A company that consistently delivers high-quality products or services, attracts and retains top talent (who stays even in difficult times), and has a positive impact on its customers, employees and stakeholders.
To build one you need to define your values - the DNA of the company – and that should be a list of very few values that you adhere to and most importantly get all management to follow at all levels. That’s an important part of the path to awesomeness, and in a great organization, loyalty is much higher, turnover is lower, and the chance of survival in tough times is much better.
If your values are the number of ice cream flavors served in the company kitchen, the thickness of the yoga mattress, or if soda is free or in a quart, then the problem isn’t the employees getting frustrated when you change it – the problem is that the set of values is wrong – and no, this is not the way to demonstrate the value of “employees come first”.
If this was your goal to begin with, talk to your employees regularly, listen to what’s on their mind and address the real issues. This will make you stronger in difficult times, and yes, there will be in your business journey too.
The toolkit for a great organization
Tough times make strong people. Strong people create easy time – easy time creates soft people – soft people create hard time…
Times are tough right now and the companies that will survive, especially startups, will eventually become much stronger and better.
Part of being stronger is simple: going back to basics. For the employer it will always be the same:
- Vision – what are we trying to achieve and WHY. The why is even more important.
- Focus – what are we doing, for whom and why – what is the value we create for our customers or users?
- Leadership – leadership is measured by attrition, demonstrated through role modeling and good communication.
- Values – back to basics – define priorities, a sustainable corporate culture and show consistency around it.
- Business acumen – start with the value you create. If you create value, the rest will follow.
Experience shows that for companies that have proven this over the years, difficult times will be less difficult than for others. Going back to basics means staying exactly the same as before.
Companies that have shifted their priorities in the good times have a much harder time adapting.
Janice has been with businesskinda for 5 years, writing copy for client websites, blog posts, EDMs and other mediums to engage readers and encourage action. By collaborating with clients, our SEO manager and the wider businesskinda team, Janice seeks to understand an audience before creating memorable, persuasive copy.