Positive Work Culture Drives High Team Performance and Employee Retention
A positive workplace culture drives productivity and performance, attracts top talent and increases employee retention. But what does positive culture entail?
While the answer may seem to be in the name, there are some quantifiable things that go into the makeup of a positive culture. Specifically, a high level of communication and collaboration, significant development and growth opportunities for employees, and meaningful purpose. Read this to dig into what constitutes a positive culture and how to foster it.
How Positive Culture Drives High Performance
A high-performing team is made up of a lot of moving parts, but a positive work culture is one of the essential building blocks.
"High-performing teams, for instance, are more likely to have increasing HR headcounts and budgets and are more likely to feel supported by their C-suite."
State of People Strategy, Lattice, 2024
Companies with a steadily increasing headcount and revenue growth see higher team performance. Plus, 62% of high-performing teams have a C-suite that values a positive work culture, while only 44% of low-performing teams do. When C-level executives are supportive of a positive culture, collaboration tends to be higher too.
At the overall business level, workplaces with good cultures have more profits and outperform the stock market. Great Place to Work states that “Companies that make the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list outperform the market by a factor of 3.68.”
How Positive Culture Drives Employee Engagement
High employee engagement drives productivity, reduces attrition risk, and attracts new hires. 75% of high-performing teams report high employee engagement.
However, moving the needle from average to high requires a lot of work; part of which is fostering a positive work culture. The Harvard Business Review encourages managers to do this by fostering social connections, leading with empathy, helping their teams where they need it, and encouraging employees to talk to them about issues.
High employee engagement also involves constant reinforcement of job security and safety. In challenging economic times, this is a straightforward way to boost engagement. Employees will be far more satisfied and productive if they know their job is not on the line.
According to Great Place to Work, communication, collaboration, safety, and growth are all part of a strong culture, which heightens employee engagement.
Strategies for Measuring Culture Sentiment
If you’re wondering how to determine if you have a positive work culture or not, there are a few ways to measure how employees feel about your business.
1. Employee Surveys
Regular anonymized surveys can give you a sense of how your team feels and get feedback on what can be done to make your workplace more positive.
2. Organizational Assessment Systems
Organizational assessment systems are more formal solutions than surveys and are often used by HR. They are generally online tools or websites that use data to assess the current state of an organization’s culture.
3. Hiring and Turnover Data
Data such as how many employees have been hired and how many have left seem basic, but should factor into calculations of company culture. Feedback from exit interviews and new hires should factor significantly into culture measurement as well.
4. External Websites
Sites like Glassdoor can tell you how current and past employees feel about your company. It’s important to check them regularly since potential hires do.
5. Productivity Data
The more positive a work culture is, the more productive employees are, according to the Harvard Business Review. Our solution, Prodoscore, measures productivity and other critical data about how work is being done in your business. The data surfaced provides insight into how engaged or disengaged employees are, which is directly related to how satisfied they are in their roles. Best of all, it does this without invasive monitoring techniques, favoring a collaborative approach where the employees have access to the data and can rely on it for self-coaching.
Work culture has shifted from a cutthroat, high-stress boiler room environment to a place where positivity reigns - not just because it is a kinder way to manage, but because it has consistently been shown to improve business outcomes.
