Drive by Friday

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Drive by Friday –

Let’s put petrol in the tank and take a look at our Workplace Culture and Employee Perks

If you want to attract and retain great employees, especially when hiring is competitive, culture needs to be high on your radar.

Research provided by Seek shows 73% of Australians find workplace culture important; 61% of people say they would turn down a job if they learned a company had a poor culture and 83% say they have left a job or would leave due to poor culture. As a Recruiter there are no real surprises here.

Let’s take a drive and see what aspects of culture employees most care about and how you can work to build a positive culture in the workplace. Here’s two key areas of culture that most resonate with employees.

A SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT AND TEAM LEADERSHIP

Supportive colleagues and leadership comes out on top of the research as the most valued aspect of a positive workplace culture and poor leadership is the top reason why people would leave a job.

People like to feel valued, connected, seen and appreciated. The workplace is where we seek positive relationships with our peers, leaders and key stakeholders. Fostering these relationships with our colleagues and team members is something all of us can contribute and commit to doing in the workplace. We can all build healthy and robust workplace relationships regardless of our seniority or role.

If you or your workplace are guilty of not doing this – let’s change it immediately. People will show up if they feel heard, respected, encouraged and supported. You will get back as much as you give!

FLEXIBILITY

An increased number of workers are looking at ways to maintain a healthy work-life balance. (and we are not relating this purely to hybrid working conditions). This is more about the general working hours and being able to offer some level of flexibility that will provide good outcomes for workers but will also improve their productivity level and output.

It’s not how many hours you put in, it’s about the effort you make in those hours and the motivation levels you can maintain. Being overworked and not having any flexibility in your hours can do more harm than good.

Through offering work flexibility (maybe staggered start/finish times) workers will build trust with you rather than feel ‘watched’ or ‘micro-managed’. It’s worth some thought – offering flexible hours sends a positive message.

AND HERE’S A QUICK DRIVE-BY AT EMPLOYEE BENEFITS & PERKS…
Many employees agree that knowing an organisation offers employee benefits or perks in addition to salary, makes them more attracted to a role and therefore more likely to apply when positions become available.

Among the perks, employees look for include:

flexible work arrangements; health and wellness benefits; professional development opportunities; work-life balance initiatives; financial incentives; desirable office amenities; recognition and rewards; community and social engagement; technology and tools; perks for commuting.

It’s important for employers to regularly assess the needs and preferences of their workforce and tailor these as situations evolve and change in the future.