Gone are those days when employees would do anything to work with a reputed organization. The 21st century is the eon of millennials – the generation which emphasize more on their priorities than conforming to the stereotypical rules of the society.
Millennials are no more attracted to the fat pay-cheques gift wrapped with perks and incentives being offered by the organizations. They are looking for much more than that. If you ask employees – what is the one thing they look for in a company the most? The answer would be the C-word. You guessed it right – COMPANY CULTURE.
Believe it or not, organizational culture can have a huge impact on employee happiness, performance, and productivity. That’s why it has been one of the buzzwords for quite some time and companies are leaving no stone unturned by promising to offer work-life balance and fantastic company culture to attract the young workforce.
Before we move on, let us first take a moment to define what exactly is company culture and why is it making waves in the workplace scenario?
What is company culture?
Contrary to the popular belief, company culture is not about having a foosball and a table-tennis board and throwing a number of monthly parties by organizations. In fact, it is synonymous with the practices in a company that reflect the core values, ethos, and principles on the basis of which it governs and nurture its team. Don’t be surprised to observe different company cultures for different companies as their core values might differ from one another.
A great company culture is no longer an option, it is a necessity that employees look for along with high-paying salaries and other benefits. There are so many companies that have cracked the code and have left employees singing praises for how cool their office environment is.
Here are nine companies who are doing it right. Take notes from them and do what needs to be done to build a phenomenal company culture in your organization.
1. Twitter
Twitter is one of the largest global tech firms in the world that definitely knows how to keep employees happy. Employees can’t stop raving about the coolest company culture it provides to them. Warm and smiling co-workers, rooftop meetings, open dialogues with the executives, free food, on-site gym are some of the things that employees love the most about Twitter.
Takeaway: Employees tend to have a soft corner for organizations that are built on casual, learning-based, and friendly work environment.
2. Google
Google isn’t new to the business. It is known as one of the first companies that transformed the traditional work culture and converted it to buzzing company culture. It offers facilities like free meals, employee engagement trips, games, parties, gyms, a dog-friendly environment, laundry services and much more to Googlers. What separates Google from other companies is that it doesn’t just build an office, it puts prime focus on building an office with phenomenal organizational culture.
Takeaway: Google has set it straight for Googlers – ‘We’ll take care of you while you take care of your work.’
3. Zappos
Zappos is as famous for its work culture as for its quality of shoes. Its motto is ‘Powered by service’ that means it aims to provide a world-class service to customers. The selection process of hiring a candidate is designed in a way that an individual who resonates the most with the company culture and ethos is given a preference over others.
Takeaway: Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos wants the new hires to have the attitude of service-mindedness. May be that’s why they offer $2000 to quit the job to those who feel that it isn’t the right fit for them in the first week of training.
4. Facebook
Facebook – the name that connected (and still connecting) millions of people online has an organizational culture that connects the employees in the office as well. More than anything, Facebook focuses on building a collaborative environment. Lori Goler, Facebook’s chief people officer said, “We work on building an environment where people can collaborate; they can innovate together. There’s a lot of spontaneity in the way people bump into each other, just a really fun collaborative creative space.”
Takeaway: Besides extra efforts or tactics to boost collaboration, Facebook has built its office premise keeping just that in mind like its mission to connect people.
5. ProofHub
ProofHub, a company that offers world-class project management solutions to the working professionals also takes care of its team members. It has an open working system that makes way for effortless collaboration and enables cross-departmental communication. Apart from this, fun team-building activities every Friday is an effective way for employee engagement and building a family-like work culture.
Takeaway: ProofHub’s founder and CEO Sandeep Kashyap says, “We encourage team members to work both hard and smart. Everyone uses ProofHub to manage work, communicate, collaborate. And, it makes way for transparent work culture.”
Gift your employees a work management tool to manage their work. Switch to ProofHub.
6. Southwest Airlines
You know what differentiates Southwest Airlines from others? The very fact that it puts his employees before anything else. You read that right. At Southwest Airlines, employee happiness comes first than customer satisfaction. Probably that is the reason why they were ranked second on the list of Business Insider’s list of best airlines in the US.
Takeaway: Create a culture where employees feel valued, respected, and appreciated. Nothing is more encouraging for employees where their needs are listened to and acted upon.
7. Nike
Nike is a powerful example of a strong corporate culture where they implement what they preach. ‘Just Do It’ isn’t just their slogan, people at Nike live by it. It encourages employees to push themselves and go all out in their jobs. Nike promotes a healthy lifestyle by providing sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, gyms, onsite physiotherapists, health insurance and much more. With this, they provide enough development training, and classes on merchandising, leadership, and management.
Takeaway: The biggest getaway is to provide enough opportunities for employees to grow and develop – physically and professionally.
8. Adobe
Adobe enjoys the reputation of being one of the most creative companies in the world. Just like its products, Adobe goes out of the way to provide a thriving work culture for Adobians to grow and flourish. No senior gets into micromanaging rather they instill complete trust in their abilities to come up with ideas that are innovative and out of the box. Adobe employees flaunt their happy personal and professional life with ‘Adobe Life’ where they share images with the hashtag #AdobeLife. It was recognized in Fortune Magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ for the 16th time.
Takeaway: The secret to Adobe’s awesome work culture lies in giving employees the freedom and trusting them with their abilities. It supports the idea that being creative at work is fun and that’s the key to an enjoyable corporate culture.
Conclusion
Many organizations and employees are realizing the importance of organizational culture and workplace engagement. The whole purpose of this article is to spread awareness about it and encourage organizations to inculcate a culture of respect and growth than paying lip-service to it.
Remember the best work-culture makes employees feel welcomed, included, and valued in an organization. That’s the kind of an environment where employees like to work in.
We would love to know your thoughts on this article. What do you think a company must do to make its culture more employee friendly? Do leave a comment below.
