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| Photo via: EnterpriseStudy |
The workplace can be a complex environment with many factors that influences organisations’ corporate climate. An organisational climate is built on various elements that employees deem as important. Essentially, a climate is first established by the founders who brings a certain set of values and principles to the organisation. The climate is then further enhanced with policies and procedures, leadership, and very importantly, communication. How these aspects resonate with employees will either positively or negatively contribute to their motivation and job satisfaction.
Employees are the ambassadors of a company’s reputation.
They are the stakeholder group that will carry the company’s reputation with
pride, therefore, it is important to keep the company’s internal climate in
check. Chris Bischoff, senior stakeholder liaison at reputation research
agency, Reputation Matters, touches on three simple and effective ways that a
company can encourage a healthy and productive organisational climate.
1. Communicate and motivate
Whether its salary bumps or retrenchments, communication
always needs to be authentic and clearly motivated.
“With the Millennial generation making up a large proportion
of a workforce, it is important to always motivate the reason behind any
decision. Millennials, also known as ‘Generation Y’, need to know the ‘why’ in
anything that is communicated. Ensure that all top level decisions are clearly
and authentically motivated,” guides Bischoff.
This brings us onto the next important workplace aspect that
influences an organisational climate namely, generations.
2. Understand your generations
The average workforce nowadays consists of three
generations, namely Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials; each of which
have different communication preferences. We are also starting to see a fourth
generation entering the workplace; Generation Z. Generally speaking,
Millennials being a tech savvy bunch don’t mind a WhatsApp message, while Baby
Boomers prefer face to face engagement. While email remains the most frequently
used format and channel of communication, creating a connection with employees
that will lead to a ‘family’ like environment may require you to tap into the
preferred communication channel of each generation. Working on an integrated
internal communication strategy is key. “It is incredibly important for
organisations to know the needs and preferences of their workforce. Especially
with a diverse workforce, reliable and valid data is crucial,” says Bischoff.
This bring us onto the third way to improve an
organisational climate, namely research.
3. Do the research, get the insight
“Organisational climate research is one of the most valuable
exercises that a company can do to ensure that any internal risks are addressed
before it starts impacting a company’s reputation,” says Bischoff. “We have
developed our organisational climate survey (OCS) model to help companies
understand what exactly influences their employees’ motivation and behaviour;
what their operational needs and communication preferences are; and how they
perceive their roles in relation to the organisation’s vision and roadmap.”
“Organisational climate is not just about your internal
culture, it’s about understanding the workplace dynamics,” concludes Bischoff.
“Having devoted employees that understand the vision is fundamental to the long
term sustainability and reputation of the company.”
To find out more about Reputation Matter’s OCS, visit their
website at www.reputationmatters.co.ca
or email research@reputationmatters.co.za.
Follow the conversation on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/yourreputationmatters/
and on Twitter https://twitter.com/reputationiskey.
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Released by Reputation Matters
Media contact:
Chris Bischoff
Mobile Number: 081 435 2917
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