Whether you’re re-evaluating your perks or designing them
from scratch, consider these three general rules to ensure they best
reflect your company’s culture.
FOSTER AN EMOTIONAL CONNECTION
Despite the proliferation of social media, people desire authentic
connections, and the workplace presents a great opportunity to fos-ter
them. The advent of 24-hour news and social media channels
has resulted in politics and entertainment being intertwined clos-er
than ever before. Rather than dismiss global issues as external
factors, workplaces can offer employees an open forum to bring rel-evant
issues up for discussion. Giving employees the opportunity to
speak their minds can have a positive effect internally. If you’re will-ing
to engage in conversations that matter for employees, they will
feel a deeper connection to – and pride in – their workplace.
MAKE EMPLOYEE AND COMMUNITY WELLBEING
A PRIORITY
Instead of competing for employees’ time and attention, a work-place
can and should support their efforts to live a full and balanced
lifestyle. Evaluate the initiatives you have in place that support op-portunities
for social meet-ups, community volunteering and overall
fitness and healthy living. Create networks of teams at the grassroots
level that help drive your community, social and fitness initiatives –
supported by senior leadership. In this way, employees are able to
invest time into the causes and activities that really matter to them,
possibly even achieving things they never thought possible.
INSTILL CONFIDENCE AND TRUST
Empowered employees perform at their peaks. They feel con-fident
and trusted to take risks and think creatively. Outdated
rules and policies that are needlessly enforced can leave em-ployees
feeling unmotivated and over-managed. Review
policies on a regular basis to ensure they are relevant and
aligned with your business objectives, including developing a
great place to work.
In the financial sector, it’s common practice to dress in formal
business attire. Last year, Credential Financial questioned the
correlation between dressing formally and business success – es-pecially
for the numerous staff in back office roles. The company
ultimately decided to move to a flexible dress code to embrace in-dividuality,
encouraging employees to choose clothes appropriate
for their days’ agenda. For some, that remains a suit and tie, while
for others it’s a shirt and jeans. There are still some guidelines, but
employees are empowered to make good decisions and the new
dress code reinforces that. The feedback has been overwhelming-ly
positive, as team members feel comfortable to be their authentic
selves at work.
A values-based approach to creating workplace benefits can add
depth to the employee experience and reinforce your organization-al
culture. When you think about what perks you want to offer
your employees, focus on how these benefits will demonstrate
trust, foster connections and encourage overall wellbeing. n
Matt Brown is senior vice president, Human Resources, People and
Culture at Credential Financial.
workplace culture
OUTDATED RULES AND
POLICIES THAT ARE
NEEDLESSLY ENFORCED
CAN LEAVE EMPLOYEES
FEELING UNMOTIVATED
AND OVER-MANAGED.
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34 ❚ SEPTEMBER 2017 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL