Too often we sit in client meetings having a company pitch their brilliant culture, highlighting their Friday midnight drinks, Friday game days, Company discounts(retail), and the “We are a family” mentality.
Most companies have cottoned on to the cultural movement, in the incorrect way by using these “Benefits” (which are only benefits if there is compensation or time off involved) – to disguise their extremely toxic work environment.
Dear Company,
Look at your attrition rate; observe how overworked, understimulated, burnt out, or unhappy your employees are.
FYI, your employees don’t want to be your family member. They want to spend time with their own families. So, increase their 15 days off a year to 22-24 days. In return, you will have well-rested staff with a work-life balance that they enjoy.
Build your teams out! It’s not your employee’s job to pick up the slack for your organization’s inability to hire effective teams to bear the workload. If you give one individual the workload of three individuals, you will be draining that employee of motivation, passion, and drive. They will burn out! There are only so many hours in the workweek, and it is not their fault that they don’t have the support or team structure in place. Read that again!
Pay your employees MARKET-related salaries – not what you think market-related salaries should be. Especially, in the tech space, it is a candidate-driven market!
Uproot the toxic environment by putting your foot down when it comes to workplace bullying – you may need to open your eyes to what’s going on in your organization. If you leave it to sit, it will kill any effective teamwork.
If you as a company are struggling with your employees and think you are missing the mark in terms of creating a healthy company culture, be bold enough to ask the difficult questions! It isn’t a matter of ‘following trends’, it is a matter of doing what is best for the organization as a whole!
