Having a sense of belonging and being part of a community are crucial for employees in today’s work environment. After two years of the pandemic, employees crave for meaningful connections, said Global Culture Report 2023 by human resource consulting services firm O.C. Tanner. Citing McKinsey & Associates, it pointed out that the top two reasons people leave their jobs are “not feeling valued” and “not feeling a sense of belong at work.”
According to most employees, the biggest incentive to be in office is interaction with its fellow colleagues. The report, which surveyed over 36,000 employees, leaders, HR practitioners, and business executives from 20 countries around the world, outlined some of the key ways for organisations to create strong workplace communities.
Integrate recognition as part of work culture
Recognition is a crucial part of workplace community, as per three-fourths of employees surveyed by O.C. Tanner. While it recommended that recognition should be an everyday part of the culture, it must come not only from leaders but from peers as well. According to the report, the odds of having a strong community increases five-fold when recognition is integrated as a daily culture. And when it is part of the organizational culture, the odds increase nearly four times and the strength of that community increases 19%.
Encourage modern leadership skills
To build a strong community, leaders need to be trained and encouraged to use modern leadership skills like “building relationships through understanding, championing and advocating team members.” It is essential to help them “communicate purpose, actively guide growth and development, and truly know the individuals on their teams.” Such initiatives could significantly increase the chances of creating a strong workplace community, it said.
Listen and respond to employee feedback
Actively listening to feedback from employees and addressing them can make a tremendous increase in chances of building a strong workplace community, as per the report. It suggests gathering employee feedback through annual surveys, pulse surveys, focus groups, email, social media tools, and other communication channels. Letting employees know they are being heard by responding to their concerns and ideas and having a regular cycle of feedback, listening, and action will strengthen employee trust and community, said the O.C. Tanner report.
