Work-Life Balance And Positive Company Culture? Sign Me Up
Justin Tysdal
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowWe work to live, not the other way around! But in our 21st century world of sending one last email at 7 p.m., it can often be tricky to find a balance between the two. Historically, companies have not emphasized the importance of a healthy work-life balance enough, but luckily this mindset is shifting. As the topic of work-life balance becomes more popular in the workplace, successful companies with happy employees are coming up with new ways to implement a positive company culture.
According to Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace, 53 percent of employees say a role that allows them to have greater work-life balance and better personal well-being is very important to them.
One of the best ways to ensure your employees experience a healthier work-life balance – and ultimately enjoy coming to work each day – is to implement a company-wide cultural initiative. A Columbia University study found that companies with a sound company culture have a turnover rate of 13.9 percent compared to 48.4 percent at companies without a healthy company culture.
At Seven Corners, we take our company culture seriously and plan calculated and scheduled evaluations of our culture so we can make changes in an agile manner. Our goal is to make sure our employees are both working efficiently at the office and satisfied with their careers. To ensure employees are recognized as the living, breathing persons they are – rather than just another corporate cog – we recommend following these four tips for creating a better environment for employee engagement.
Create a welcoming onboarding process
First impressions are everything, right? Instead of throwing new hires into the mix after a few hours of training and saying, “good luck,” companies should take the time to welcome these fresh employees and cultivate relationships with them from the start.
For example, our new hires receive a personalized fruit basket prior to their start date and begin their first day by meeting with a culture ambassador for an overview of the company’s philosophy and core values. Within the first two weeks of employment, new hires are assigned a peer coach who walks them through a customized onboarding plan. They are also given the opportunity to meet face-to-face with our co-founders, which can be a rare perk for companies of any size, especially a large one.
Provide an opportunity for performance reviews and recognition
Feedback is crucial for positive employee engagement. By providing an avenue for discussions related to performance, employees can track their success and monitor their strengths and weaknesses over time.
At Seven Corners, employees and their managers create individual development plans highlighting personalized career goals and training opportunities so that employees can stay on track for their long-term goals. Additionally, employees interested in moving into leadership can apply for a ten-month interactive training class through the company’s Apollo Leadership Development Program.
Give back to community
By recognizing where your employees’ passions lie, companies can encourage employees to be involved in giving back. Connecting outside the office is just as important for team building as performance reviews when trying to build a strong company culture. By volunteering together, employees are able to build stronger relationships and connect with colleagues on a deeper level than their day-to-day work projects.
In addition to frequent donations to our local Make-A-Wish chapter, Seven Corners also provides paid time off for employees to volunteer. Various groups at Seven Corners work together on outreach projects for Gleaners Food Bank, Carmel Parks, and Wheeler Mission.
Define your values
Lastly, instilling company values into the everyday work environment ensures a company is staying accountable for its humanity. No successful business is created in a vortex, so having a system to fall back on for every decision made – whether big or small – makes all the difference.
Seven Corners’ core values include putting customers first, doing the right thing, owning solutions, thinking big, and being precise. By ensuring these values are present every day, we have solid standards to fall back on and a guiding compass for our decisions.
Studies show that happy employees are up to 20 percent more productive than unhappy employees. Improving your company culture will ultimately help to reduce turnover rates and increase employee engagement, leading to a happier work-life balance for everyone., And the cherry on top? Implementing these tips doesn’t cost anything!
Justin Tysdal is chief executive officer of Seven Corners.