Creating and maintaining a positive company culture is vital in the race to attract and retain valuable talent and employees. With US unemployment at an all-time high and working practices changing, the company culture of many businesses is evolving.
In the current environment, company culture has never been so important. A survey conducted Nulab, found 83% of employees agree company culture is important when choosing where to work.
New Survey – Company Culture Very Important to Prospective Hires
Nulab, specialists in the development of project management tools, interviewed 1,031 employees in the US. The research was carried out to gauge better understanding on how company culture can impact morale, productivity and retention.
The respondents were split between those who work entirely in the office, entirely remote workers and those who split their work between the office and home.
More than a third of respondents think company culture is even more important when they are working remotely. The three most important positive effects of company culture are flexible working hours (51%), flexible time off (32%) and communication from leadership (31%), the study found.
Company Culture in the Remote Working Age
The Covid-19 pandemic has changed working patterns and practices out of sight. As of April 2020, 66% of employees were working from home in the US due to the health crisis.
Remote working creates new challenges and demands from both employees and employers. As Nulab’s research shows, a positive company culture has a significant impact on morale, productivity, and staff retention.
The research found that regardless of whether employees work remotely, in-office, or split between both, most workers value similar benefits. Flexible time, communication from leadership, remote work options, and staff recognition programs are among the most valued benefits of today’s workers.
As the authors of Nulab’s study note:
“More than half of all people surveyed said that flexible work hours are important, regardless of their work arrangement. Flexible time off, communication from leadership, the option to work remotely, and programs that recognize employees for their hard work were also rated as having positive impacts.”
Importance of Leadership
Around 72% of the survey’s respondents agree that leadership is the single most important aspect of creating good company culture. This figure remained fairly static between in-office, remote and split-time workers.
Workplace Productivity and Company Culture
With the rise of remote working, the productivity implications of working from home has been widely discussed and debated in recent months. Nulab’s study found that more when it comes to productivity, company culture is vital, with 90.2% of employees saying the culture of a company has a direct correlation with workplace productivity.
Can Company Culture be Changed?
The respondents were asked their thoughts on whether company culture can be changed once it is set. 25% of office workers believe company culture cannot be changed. 20% of both in-office and remote workers think it can’t be changed. 16% of remote workers are of the opinion that once it has been set, company culture cannot be altered.
When it comes to changing company culture, 44% of in-office workers believe it can be changed organically without much effort. The highest number of workers (51.8%) who believe employees should be reprimanded when they act out of alignment with company culture were those who split their working time between the office and home.
Importance of Material Perks
Over 58% of in-office workers believe that material perks are adequate for developing company culture. 47.7% of remote workers uphold similar beliefs.
Nulab’s research confirms the importance of company culture, whether it is in a bricks-and-mortar office or a virtual office space.
As workplaces become increasingly digitalized, it is more important than ever that businesses stay on top of employees’ attitudes related to company culture. This way, businesses are more likely to keep their employees happy and retain their best talent.
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This article, “83% of Employees Rate Company Culture Very Important” was first published on Small Business Trends