Category: Company Culture

Your company culture affects everything from employee productivity to retention, which means it also affects your profits. It becomes even more challenging when you’re building team culture for a global workforce.

Here are some tips to help you build a culture that works when your team is distributed around the world:

Work through your issues

Too often, managers’ personal issues impact their employees. On a small scale, this might involve a manager creating a bad atmosphere in the office or in a meeting because they had an argument with their spouse.

On a larger scale, this can mean employees don’t feel they can ask questions, take risks, or even get support from their managers.

The solution is for managers to work through their issues so that they’re aware of when they’re doing these things. They know how to compartmentalize and don’t project on to employees just because they’re the nearest target.

Managers are responsible for the atmosphere of a whole team or department. Your senior leaders’ attitudes have an even bigger effect on building team culture throughout your organization.

So it’s imperative that they know how to deal with their own emotions and feelings and learn how to not take them out on others. In fact, companies with the best cultures are 72% more likely to invest in leadership training. That really goes to show the impact it can have.

Not doing so in the short-term will hurt your business results. In the long-term, it will lead to traumatized employees who carry that weight around for the rest of their careers.

Invest in training

Training doesn’t just help level up employees’ skills, it also gets everyone on the same page.

For instance, a communications workshop can help people learn to communicate in the same way, preventing confusion and miscommunications.

Reskill when you implement AI

Say what you want about its furniture, but when Ikea implemented AI, it didn’t lay off 8,500 customer support agents it no longer needed. The company knew those employees had useful internal knowledge.

Instead, IKEA reskilled them and turned them into interior designers. Resulting in more than $1B in new revenue in the first year.

How long it takes to learn internal knowledge, and how much is lost when people leave, often gets overlooked when businesses lay people off in favor of AI. But even AI needs training, and it has to learn about your business from somewhere.

Instead of losing employees who’ve taken time and energy to get to know your business, reskill them so that they can work in a different department. It’s cheaper and faster than hiring people for a new team or department. And it goes a long way towards building team culture and maintaining it for the long-term.

It looks good for your employer brand, too. And it supports employee morale because team members are less worried that their jobs will be outsourced to AI. They know that even if they are, your company will still do its best to retain them.

Meaning they’re also less likely to quiet quit because that loyalty becomes a two-way street.

Create a culture of psychological safety

Now, more than ever, your business needs to be somewhere your employees feel safe to air their opinions and take risks. The only way they can grow in their careers is through being curious and trying new things. That can only be done with supportive managers.

Taking risks means failures will happen, but innovation lies on the other side of it. Your business can only become an industry leader if you’re building a team culture of psychological safety.

Be clear about your company purpose and values

A shared sense of purpose, and shared company values, get everyone rowing in the same direction. They help reduce the risk of conflicts because any decisions can be measured against the same guidelines.

And this does matter. When teams have a shared sense of purpose and values, there’s a 17% performance increase compared to teams that don’t.

If you want to instill your purpose and values, you need to communicate them clearly. Print them out and hang them in your office; remind people before important meetings; give them a page on your website; showcase them in your job descriptions when hiring; include them in your onboarding materials.

The more you mention your values, the more your team will embody them.

If you haven’t decided on your purpose and values yet, or you feel it’s time for a refresh because your business has gone through some changes, include your employees in the process. Ask them what words they associate with your business and look for any patterns. This can be a great approach to building team culture from the bottom up.

Sending an employee survey via Workrowd can help you get the information you need. Get in touch today to book your free demo.

Get your tech stack right

When you invest in the right technology, it can scale with your business.

Some tools work when your business is small — like managing a schedule using Excel for a team of five people. But these systems can break when your team expands.

So don’t just pick what works for your team now. Pick what will work for your future business goals, too. That way your employees won’t have to adjust to using new tools when you do expand. It’s already an embedded part of your culture.

Tools can also help with building team culture by making it easier for employees to communicate with colleagues overseas. Even if they’re in different time zones, using tools like ClickUp or Asana, and making comments on something like Google Docs, means employees can still share feedback and collaborate on projects.

Invest in your employee groups

Having employee groups and supporting them are two different things. Just because they’re a feature of your business, that doesn’t mean that you’re getting the most from them.

For instance, do they each have their own budget for holding trainings or events? Do they have a senior executive to vouch for them? Do they have effective leaders in place who can support members and foster conversations?

What about a tool that makes building team culture easier and empowers employees to manage and participate in groups? Using Workrowd, you can organize your employee groups, programs, and events and encourage your team to take part. Get in touch today to find out more.

Conclusion 

Building team culture matters whether your business is office-based, hybrid, or remote.

When it comes to building team culture for a global workforce, the key is to welcome your employees in a supportive atmosphere. Treat them with understanding and compassion, and lead by example. 

If your managers are open and honest, your employees will be, too. If your managers act like it’s everyone for themselves, your employees will do the same thing.

Employee connections can make or break collaboration in your organization.

It’s happened to all of us: we want to finish a project, but we feel like we’re being bottlenecked by our coworkers. (If you haven’t experienced this, you might be the one causing the bottleneck, sorry.)

Then our manager criticizes us for not taking initiative or taking too long to do something when it isn’t our fault.

But by telling a manager that someone else is causing a bottleneck, we then feel like we’re in the wrong. It turns into he-said-she-said. We question our ability to do our job. It’s completely unfair.

And there’s a really simple solution: employee connections.

When employees are connected, they’ll be less inclined to create bottlenecks. They’ll care enough about their colleagues to actually help them.

Why employee connections matter

Almost half of US employees don’t feel their employer cares about developing employee connections.

If their employers really don’t care, they’re missing out. In fact, 84% of employees say the top reason they want to return to the office is socializing. So if you don’t foster the kind of environment where employees get to do that, you’re dropping the ball.

As mentioned in the intro, employee connections help prevent bottlenecks. Employees don’t ghost their colleagues when they get a message asking them to do something, they do the thing.

Sure, if they’re busy there might be a delay. But they’ll still do it because they value that person and don’t just see them as someone else wanting something from them. So, over time, they’ll accomplish more.

Empowering employees to do more can help with morale. And how much your business earns.

But it’s not just about morale and earnings. Employee connections also create a more welcoming environment for everyone. One where people actually want to spend their time.

How to foster employee connections

Welcome everyone at the start of meetings

One of the simplest ways to foster employee connections is by using the first five minutes of a meeting to greet everyone like a human.

Don’t just get right into it. Ask people how they are, how their weekend was, what they had for lunch, even.

These seemingly small conversations humanize people to their colleagues. They give them opportunities to bond and get to know one another in low-stakes conversation.

Remember they’re people, not AI agents

An AI agent running out of credits is like a person running out of energy. It happens to everyone, even those who seem to have a motor powering them.

Treating your employees like humans who need time to relax, to switch off, to think and to process, and accepting that we all have natural energy flows, shows compassion as a leader and a business. It fosters a more supportive environment and means that if something does happen, your employees will feel like they can come to you, rather than being afraid to bring it up.

Employee connections can provide a crucial safeguard against burnout.

In-person meetups

In-person meetups, whether that’s for an all-hands, a week’s getaway, or just an evening of socializing, help your employees get to know each other beyond a screen.

Talking to someone on a video call can feel impersonal. Building employee connections in person means someone’s more than just a floating head on a screen.

Events

Whether it’s a well-known speaker organized in-house, or an external industry event, events are another way for your employees to get away from their desks and get to know one another.

Bonus points if they’re external events. These give your employees the chance to speak to other experts from your industry, which can inspire new ideas. Plus, providing time to debrief with colleagues afterwards is a great way to build new employee connections.

Support each other’s goals

We all have things we want to achieve. It may be learning a new language, running a marathon, or publishing a book. 34% of employees see supporting each other’s interests as an effective way to build employee connections.

Celebrate birthdays

Whether it’s decorating someone’s desk, buying them a cake, or going out for lunch, celebrating someone’s birthday shows you appreciate that they’re working on a day that should be for them. They’ve survived another year of whatever life has thrown them, and that’s something to celebrate.

Milestones like birthdays and anniversaries offer important opportunities to both build and reinforce employee connections.

Get to know someone beyond work

Fewer than half of employees feel their managers try to get to know them beyond work.

You don’t need someone’s life story, but knowing what they’re interested in — like their favorite sports team, their favorite food, or even their pet’s name — helps build a better employee/manager dynamic.

The same is true for colleagues, too.

All it takes is asking someone about their day, or starting a new thread in the chat that’s not about work to build deeper employee connections.

Employee groups

One of the best ways to build employee connections is by creating and growing employee groups.

As each group has a different focus, there’s something for everyone. And every member has common ground that they can use to connect with each other. So then that removes some of the awkwardness that comes from joining new jobs or communities.

Of course, it isn’t always easy to manage employee groups. That’s where Workrowd comes in. You can keep all your employee initiatives in one place. Everything is easy to use and organize, meaning your team can find what they need, when they need it.

Want to find out more? Get in touch to book your free Workrowd demo.

Conclusion 

Fostering employee connections just might be your competitors’ most-underestimated growth strategy.

It doesn’t have to be big or complicated, either. In fact, it’s about the opposite: going back to the human, non-tech side.

Simple things like finding out what your employees are interested in shows you’re aware that they have a life outside of work and don’t expect everything to revolve around their job. It’s a powerful way to get your employees to work together more effectively and be more productive in their roles.

The widespread return to office push isn’t going that well. And while office culture is far from the only reason, it’s still a major part of the equation.

Traveling into an office just isn’t appealing anymore. Why would it be when rent is at an all-time high, and wages aren’t going up at the same rate? Most full-time workers can’t even entertain the idea of a mortgage these days.

If you want employees to come into your office and actually be engaged, you have to do more than make it mandatory.

Forcing employees who once worked remotely back on-site is asking for mass resignations. At the same time, only offering office-based working limits your talent pool.

So how do you make your office culture worth the commute? No, it isn’t a ping pong table.

Understand the ripple effect

When your business has a strong culture, it quadruples your revenue and leads to higher retention. 88% of employees also say that company culture is key when job hunting.

If your managers hate their jobs—or their employees—everyone will be able to tell. And no one will want to be there.

They’re called leaders for a reason. They set the tone for the rest of your business. It’s as simple—and as complex—as that.

Toxic cultures like this are responsible for 45% of resignations and an increase in employee burnout. And 42% of employees think executive leaders don’ t contribute to a positive company culture. So you need to teach your managers how to control their emotions, and how to lead. Otherwise no one is going to want to be there.

I’ve sat in an office before with an unwelcoming manager, too afraid to ask for help or even say anything because of their sour expression. Said manager wasn’t mad at me—something had happened at home. But their response created an unhealthy atmosphere in the office that kept everyone else away and made nobody want to be there.

This is obviously less of a problem when employees work remotely and don’t see negative colleagues all day in person. But if you want a healthy office culture, you have to remember how team members’ attitudes can affect each other.

Train your managers

To avoid the example above, you need to train your managers. The majority never receive any formal training. Without training, they have no idea how to best support their employees, let alone develop the emotional awareness to stop their own feelings from impacting your office culture.

Coaching, mentoring, and even employee groups can teach your managers how to work with your employees instead of against them.

You could even use employee groups to manage your mentoring and coaching initiatives, helping employees connect with the right people to help them grow in their careers.

Use in-person meetings for good, not evil

In-person meetings can be great for coming up with new ideas and helping everyone get heard if done right.

But sometimes, they aren’t the solution they sound like. Instead, meetings become a way for the loudest voices in the room to be heard, not an effective way to solve problems or progress on new projects.

Meeting fatigue is real and can seriously hurt your office culture. You therefore need to strike the balance between using them to create energy and them being an excuse to look busy.

Respect people’s space

Offices can be noisy and overwhelming. Giving employees a quiet space to reflect, concentrate, or just get some alone time can go a long way to supporting employees who are neurodiverse, have an overactive nervous system, dislike bright lights, or who are going through a tough time and need to clear their heads.

Quiet rooms are also useful for deep focus, something that it’s not always easy to do when surrounded by colleagues talking; the clacking of keys; the sound of people breathing; overhearing other people’s music; the cold office fan; the buzz of the A/C…offices can be so overwhelming. The more you do to mitigate that, the more you’re going to get from your employees. And the more you’re going to improve your office culture.

Forget the ping pong table

Ping pong tables sound fun. But they’re so 2010. They’re now a transparent way of saying that you expect employees to focus on work and nothing else.

It’s really not healthy for someone to spend all day, every day, in the same building. Walking meetings, time in nature, and even having a meeting in a coffee shop all have benefits for your employees and their wellbeing. So why not encourage them?

Use your location to your advantage. Don’t worry about having an in-office ping pong table or other attractions.

Instead, encourage your employees to go out to places on their lunch breaks, after work, or even for meetings. This can reinforce employee relationships and give them a change of scenery that could offer them a fresh perspective.

Sometimes building a great office culture is about making sure employees get a taste of the world outside the office.

Use greenery

Plants improve our wellbeing. Even looking at plants on a screen can have beneficial effects. So those office plants you thought were pointless are actually useful. Not only do they add personality to a space, but they also create a sense of calm across your office culture.

If you’re not particularly green fingered, hire someone to care for your plants, pay an employee a little extra to do it, or get fake ones. Most of the time, nobody will be able to tell the difference anyway. And looking at a fake plant is better than looking at a dead one.

Have a networking breakfast

Offering employees a chance to get to know each other over coffee and a bagel is a low-effort way for them to connect. Food is a great ice breaker, too.

Integrating the occasional breakfast into your office culture also gives your team members the chance to wake up before they start the day without taking time away from their evenings with loved ones, or winding down.

Set up an office-based employee group

Having an employee group for employees based in your office gives them a chance to ask for recommendations of places to eat, get to know new colleagues who’ll be working there, and share updates like what’s happening in the building.

These small conversations help improve in-person relationships between your employees, creating a more welcoming office culture.

Try Workrowd

Using Workrowd, you can set up groups like this and make them easy for employees to find and navigate.

Everything they need to know stays in one place, making them more likely to use the tool and get more out of it. Want to find out more? Book your free demo.

Conclusion 

Office culture relies on more than just so-called perks. It’s about the people who spend time in your office and how they interact with each other. That starts with your managers and how they treat their employees. Creating opportunities for connection beyond work-related conversations gives them the chance to see their colleagues as friends and build a positive and supportive office culture.

If you’re looking for tips on how to write a company mission statement that actually makes a difference for your organization, you’ve come to the right place.

A company mission statement informs how you run your business. It sets you apart from your competitors and helps customers choose you over them. It keeps you and your employees focused so that you can more easily decide what you’re going to work on next. Or, if you should change course.

Over 90% of businesses with well-defined mission statements surpass industry averages in growth and profits. This shows the impact this North Star can have. So, let’s explore how to write a company mission statement that drives results.

What is a company mission statement?

A company mission statement is a series of points, a sentence, or a paragraph that explains what drives your company and why it exists.

It’s a way to ground everything you do, and for customers to hold you accountable. So there’s a lot to consider when it comes to how to write a company mission statement.

Why do company mission statements matter?

Business growth

When thinking about how to write a company mission statement, remember that it plays a key role in your ability to grow as a business.

As mentioned in the introduction, over 90% of companies with well-defined mission statements achieve growth and profits above industry averages.

This is likely because, when discussing new projects, teams can use the mission statement as a compass. Does the new idea/project keep you heading in the direction of business objectives? Or is it a distraction that will take you off course?

If it’s a distraction, they can pause for now or discard the effort for good. 

Hiring 

When hiring, your company mission statement will affect the types of people who want to work with you.

For instance, a company that puts the environment at its core will be very different from a company that lobbies for the fossil fuel industry.

Including your mission statement in your job postings can help attract and repel the right people. That way, you can improve your quality of hire. How you want your business to come across is key when approaching how to write a company mission statement.

Employee motivation

63% of employees feel motivated when companies have strong mission statements. Compare that to half for companies that don’t have them.

And it makes sense. When we know why we’re doing something, and we’re on board with that why, it’s a lot more motivating. When we feel like we’re doing something for the sake of it, things can get boring, repetitive, and frustrating fast.

It’s important to consider what drives your employees to help frame how to write a company mission statement.

Employee retention

Mission statements also have an impact on retention. Among Millennials, retention increases by 5.3x when they feel connected to the company mission.

However, this is less significant for non-millennials, demonstrating a generational difference.

That being said, Millennials are still the largest group in the workforce. They’re also quickly becoming the next generation of leaders and decision makers. So appealing to them when it comes to how to write a company mission statement is essential.

Employee engagement

Unfortunately, only 28% of employees feel connected to their company’s purpose. This is despite the fact that 84% of Millennials prioritize it.

So, by getting them on board with your mission, you can increase engagement and motivation. And as ripple effects, productivity and profits, too.

Target audience 

Your company mission statement works as a magnet to the right types of customers.

For example, clothing brand Patagonia’s mission focuses around the environment. This encompasses everything from the fabrics it uses to repairing garments someone bought in the 1990s (or replacing them for free!). It creates investment pieces that last users for decades.

A fast fashion brand, on the other hand, focuses on cheap fabric, cheap labor, and cheap costs for its customers.

Rather than sustainability and longevity, their focus is on following fashion trends. This means clothes may not last as long, but their target audience is unlikely to mind if they’re most cost or trend-focused.

When it comes to how to write a company mission statement, you need to keep your target customer in mind as well.

What to consider around how to write a company mission statement

Analysis of mission statements from Fortune 500 companies found that:

• 51% mention customers
• 25% include service/services
• 43.8% mention products and services
• 19.2% emphasize global presence

That’s not to say you have to include any of these in yours. But it’s always worth knowing what your competitors focus on as your mission statement can be a differentiator (such as in the Patagonia example above).

It just goes to show that there’s a wide range of elements to take into account when it comes to how to write a company mission statement.

How to write a company mission statement 

Always do your competitor research first. This will help you find what differentiates you.

Then, write down a list of core values or interests. Get as many as you can, then cross out the ones that overlap heavily with your competitors.

The ones you’re left with show what differentiates you and can help you to stand out. You can then stick to articulating it as 3-5 points, or turn them into a complete sentence.

Keeping it short makes it more memorable. It doesn’t have to be a catchy slogan, but if it is, all the better.

If it isn’t, you can use it to inform your marketing slogan(s).

For example, an accounting software that wants to make tax returns simpler can use words like simple or easy in their mission statement and marketing copy. They can then view all future campaigns through the lens of whether it communicates the tool’s ease of use.

When thinking about how to write a company mission statement, remember that it should help you stand out.

Conclusion 

Your company mission statement makes it clear to customers, employees, and shareholders what drives your business. It helps you attract the right types of customers and employees and repel those who are the wrong fit. This can improve everything from your employee experience to your customer satisfaction. 

Now that you know how to write a company mission statement, it’s time to put in the work. Want to organize your employee initiatives to get everyone behind your mission?

Workrowd can help. You can store all your employee initiatives in one, easy-to-follow place. Everyone can personalize their own dashboards to find what they need regardless of how long they’ve worked at your organization or what they do. This way, it’s easier to get everyone rallied behind your mission statement. Get in touch today to book your free demo.

It’s that time of year when people are getting together to celebrate the holidays. But what fun activities for employees could you organize to bring some holiday cheer to your team?

Here are some suggestions that are low-effort and low-cost. Even if you’re organizing things last minute or on a budget, we’ve got something that will work for you.

Why should you organize fun activities for employees?

While you should never make employee activities mandatory—or make anyone feel like they’re mandatory—offering fun activities for employees shows your team you see them as more than just a number in your accounting software.

They’re humans who choose to spend their time with you, working for you, and you appreciate their presence. Planning fun activities for employees is a small way to say “thank you”.

These types of initiatives can also work as team-building activities. They create a sense of camaraderie that helps build better communication and collaboration. Which ensures that projects run more smoothly when different teams have to work together.

Getting to know each other outside of work prevents the competitiveness that can come from teams wanting different things, too. If they like each other, they’re far more likely to want to compromise than if they see the other teams within a project as the enemy.

Fun activities for employees working remotely this holiday season

Console gaming tournament

We’ve all played MarioKart at some point, right? Whether you play in-person or online, a game tournament gives your employees the opportunity to spend time with their colleagues outside of the pressure of work and hone their gaming skills.

Games are also great for building skills like communication and coordination.

Movie night

You can’t go wrong with a movie night. It’s a classic. Especially if you’re watching something nostalgic like The Mummy (1999, obviously) or The Mummy Returns, The Breakfast Club, Practical Magic, etc.

Watching nostalgic films can boost people’s moods, as can discussing them. Making a nostalgic movie night the perfect way for your employees to bond. It’s an easy and effective addition to any list of fun activities for employees.

Book club

Just like movie nights, book clubs are great ways for people to bond.

If your employees are busy, instead of forcing them to read a set book, you could ask them to bring along something they’ve enjoyed and share what they enjoyed about it. Or even what they disliked!

I’ve found this low-pressure version of a book club means people are more likely to show up. They can come feeling relaxed as it doesn’t matter if they haven’t read the book of the month. It often leads to attendees finding new books to read and enjoy, too. Perhaps even ones they never would’ve considered before.

As far as fun activities for employees go, this one offers the added brain boost of encouraging team members to read rather than scrolling online.

Trivia night

Trivia nights are a fun way to encourage collaboration between different teams and departments. Especially if the quizmaster chooses the teams rather than employees defaulting to their usual groups (which, let’s face it, everyone will!).

Gingerbread house competition

The holidays are the perfect time to build gingerbread. And eat it, obviously.

A gingerbread house competition enables your employees to show their creative (and competitive!) sides.

You could even bring your social media audience into it, asking them to vote for their favorites. It’s one of the fun activities for employees that’s a simple way to show off your company culture and build your employer brand.

Next year you could do pumpkins, too!

Stranger Things watch-along

If enough of your employees are into Stranger Things, why not organize for them to watch it virtually together? Or meet up to discuss it and share theories when they’ve watched each part?

It’s one of the last shows that everyone has seen—or at least knows about. This makes it perfect for water cooler chat. And for planning fun activities for employees around.

Fun activities for employees to do in-person this holiday season

Poetry slam

A poetry slam is a fun way for people to discover new ways to express themselves, improve their communication, and maybe even boost their public speaking confidence.

There’s a type of poetry and poetry reading for everyone. Whether you want something intense and emotional or chill and thought-provoking, there’s a way to cater fun activities for employees to it.

Bowling, pool, darts, etc.

Games like these are simple yet effective.

I always say I dislike bowling but then enjoy going once I’m there (despite almost always losing).

So long as everyone keeps it light-hearted and doesn’t take it too seriously, it’s one of the fun activities for employees that can help people get to know colleagues outside of the office. 

Desk decorations

The holidays are the perfect time to decorate desks, so why not invite employees to do just that? You could even give a prize to the desk(s) voted the best!

Or invent your own categories, so everyone gets a prize! What looks good is subjective, after all.

Prizes don’t have to be anything big. Just some treats or a small gift card to make their holidays a little sweeter.

Live performance trip

It’s impossible to please everyone when organizing an outing to see a performance. If you have an office near a venue though, you could try organizing some fun activities for employees around their events. Whether it’s a comedy show, concert, or other type of performance, it’s a great way to help team members connect around a shared experience. 

It gives those with similar tastes something to talk about other than work. That can help with cooperation, collaboration, and communication across teams. It’s also great for giving everyone a screen break!

Arcade night

Who doesn’t love a good, old-fashioned arcade? I tried playing Pacman myself once and have to say it was pretty terrible. But playing those kinds of games with other people is a fun, retro way to bond.

Plenty of places still have old-school arcades you can play on, too. And with the return of Stranger Things, who knows? They might make a big comeback. (I can dream. So that I can improve my Pacman game).

Conclusion 

Fun activities for employees don’t just have to be for the holiday season, but including them at this time of year, when it’s cold and dreary for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, brightens the mood and gives team members something to look forward to.

If organizing fun activities for employees sounds like a lot, though, we get it. Workrowd can help. With a central hub for all your events and programs, automated reminders and follow-up surveys, and even analytics, everyone can make the most of the holidays, and your full employee experience throughout the year.

Get in touch to find out more about how Workrowd could support your employee initiatives this holiday season and beyond.

While it may feel like a new issue, generational differences in the workplace have been challenging employers for decades.

“[Insert generation here] are so lazy!”

I’ve heard it said about Millennials, Gen Z, and now Gen Alpha. Previous generations always seem to have negative opinions about younger coworkers, but they’re so rarely true.

Sure, Gen Z wants different things from work than Baby Boomers do. But Boomers could afford to buy a house and support a family on a single salary. Gen Z can barely even afford to rent a place on two salaries, let alone raise a child, too.

With more generations in the workforce than ever before, and people working for longer, businesses need to find ways to manage generational differences in the workplace.

According to data from Statista, 37.5% of those 55 and over are still working. At the same time, 50.9% of 18–24-year-olds are also in the workforce. They have different goals and approaches to work and organizations need to find ways to keep both generations happy. All while supporting everyone in between as well.

There are many strengths that can come from a multi-generational workforce. You can only unlock them though if you build a culture where everyone can work together in harmony. This means acknowledging that generational differences in the workplace exist, and taking steps to mitigate them.

Share stories

Stories stick. They’re how we bond, learn, and grow as humans.

Bridging generational differences in the workplace gets easier when we understand where other people are coming from.

Stories show colleagues what life was like for someone growing up, navigating their first role, studying at university, facing discrimination, juggling work and becoming a parent for the first time, struggling with a chronic illness, etc.

They’re the most powerful tool we have, and they help to humanize the people we work with, too.

So, where and when you can, encourage your employees to share stories. Company or team-wide meetings are good for this.

Leaders can set an example by sharing their own journeys. In doing so, they encourage an open atmosphere where employees also feel comfortable sharing their challenges. They don’t have to worry because they know they’ll be welcomed into the fold, even if they aren’t perfect.

Lead by example

Tying in with the point above, leaders within your organization need to be open to listening to opinions and experiences from every background without judgment.

Assuming someone’s opinion is right because they’re older or more senior opens the door for discrimination. It’s easy for great ideas to get dismissed this way. In turn, it can exacerbate generational differences in the workplace.

You never know where your next great idea or innovation will come from. The more you welcome everyone to share their thoughts—even if they’re from a different team—the more likely you are to stay ahead of the competition.

Offer mentoring (and reverse mentoring)

Mentoring enables employees to experience different perspectives. It teaches younger generations how to navigate the workplace. It can also fill in the soft skills gaps created during the isolation of Covid.

Reverse mentoring, meanwhile, where a younger employee mentors an older one, can help soften generational differences in the workplace. Through reverse mentoring, older generations can learn about new technologies and how the working world has changed since they started. This can help them become more empathetic colleagues and stronger leaders.

Organize employee groups

Your employee groups are important tools to connect employees from different generations. They can put aside generational differences in the workplace and learn about what they have in common, such as location, race/culture, religion, gender, etc.

Using Workrowd, you can make your employee groups easier to organize, and a key part of your employee engagement strategy. Get in touch to book your free demo and find out more.

Foster collaboration between teams/ departments

Encouraging employees to collaborate between teams or departments on projects reduces silos and increases productivity.

For example, sales and marketing often work separately, but when they collaborate it leads to better business outcomes.

After all, marketing feeds the engine. Sales drives it. You can’t have one without the other.

The more you encourage teams to work together, the more employees get used to working with people from different backgrounds. They become more effective communicators and better colleagues, regardless of generational differences in the workplace.

Provide communication workshops

If you really want to tackle generational differences in the workplace, providing communication workshops can be key. They show you’re serious about your employees communicating in a healthy way.

It’s easy to slip into bad habits when you haven’t been reminded of what bad habits look like. Communication trends and word meanings change. So staying aware of these things is a key part of bridging generational differences in the workplace.

There are plenty of words my grandmother’s generation (the Silent Generation) used that have lost their original meaning and now mean something else entirely.

Older generations may not understand modern slang or internet speak. Younger generations may not understand older slang, either.

As technology becomes an even bigger part of our personal and professional lives, helping older generations stay current future-proofs their careers and can even boost their ability to stay connected after they’ve left your organization.

Send surveys

This one is more about you and your organization, but being bold and asking your employees how they feel about generational differences in the workplace can help you get a read on what it’s really like for employees every day.

Too often, leadership lives in an ivory tower where they think everything is fine. This leads to problems getting worse, being brushed under the rug, and people leaving as profits decline.

If you’re serious about getting the most from your employees, you need to know what they think. And you need to actively try to change the things that aren’t working.

Using Workrowd, you can automate your feedback surveys. This helps you gauge how employees feel about things across your employee experience, on a regular basis. It can help you quickly see what’s working and where there’s room for improvement.

Conclusion 

Bridging generational differences in the workplace increases employee engagement and leads to more productive teams. It ensures that everyone can collaborate and communicate across generational divides.

If you’d like help navigating generational differences in the workplace, Workrowd has the tools you need. We make it easy to set up and organize employee initiatives that deepen relationships between team members. With tools to market, manage, and measure your events, programs, and groups, everything is always just a click away. Get in touch today to find out more.

Quite often, employees work in silos. They stick to their teams and the people they need to work with on a regular basis. Beyond that they don’t really talk to anyone else. And they certainly don’t try to make work friends.

This can lead to tasks getting done twice, knowledge silos, confusion, disconnection, lack of collaboration, and so much more.

On the other hand, when employees have work friends from other departments, it can increase collaboration, make everyone more efficient, and lead to a more welcoming work environment.

81% feel that work friends are highly important while 78% say they benefit mental health. Having work friends can also help employees feel more engaged, satisfied in their roles, and connected to work.

So let’s dive into why work friends matter and how you can build connections between employees.

Why work friends matter

We live in a world where people are lonelier than ever. They’re falling back on AI to become their new besties, and that’s just…dystopian. AI can’t replace true human connection, but it can become a sycophant that no human friend can compete with because it will always tell you what you want to hear.

I digress.

Work friends encourage employee engagement. They encourage collaboration. They make your business a more welcoming place to be for employees both new and old.

82% feel work friendships improve employee happiness and job satisfaction, while 81% feel they improve productivity.

The majority of professionals, especially Gen Z-ers, think companies should facilitate work friendships through non-work-related activities like holiday parties or happy hours.

Despite all this, ¼ feel their employer isn’t focused on activities or events that lead to work friendships.

People without work friends are more likely to feel isolated. Interestingly, 58% of employees believe relying too much on digital channels is a huge barrier to making work friends.

Taking steps to combat loneliness improves your employer brand and shows your team members that you care about more than just making money.

How to connect your team with work friends

So now that we’ve looked into why work friends are important, let’s dive into how to connect your team with work friends:

ERGs

Employee groups are essential tools for connecting people across your organization to work friends. Groups focused on inclusion are of particular interest for mid-level and senior employees.

Wherever employees work from, ERGs mean they can meet like-minded people with similar interests, goals, or backgrounds to them. This creates a stronger connection to the workplace, making them want to start work every day.

It also helps make work feel less monotonous because people are engaging with more than just the same colleagues every day.

Workrowd is a powerful tool to help you run your ERGs and other employee initiatives. Employees can see all your groups in one place and choose which ones to join. They can also get the latest updates, sign up for events, and so much more. Get in touch today to book your free demo.

In-person events

One of the best ways to strengthen friendships and form new ones is meeting someone in person. Networking events, breakfasts, lunches, courses—they’re all useful ways for people to get to know their colleagues and find work friends.

Bake sales are another option you could try. I’ve found anything that revolves around food or drink usually works well for bringing people together. And you could even run it to raise money for charity, making it a double win.

Online events

For remote teams, events can be more challenging, but they’re not impossible. You just need a little creativity.

Everything from online gaming tournaments to quizzes to book clubs can work as online events that are open to everyone.

Volunteering 

Volunteering is a really effective way for employees to meet new people, break out of their comfort zones, and make a difference to the world. Many businesses offer a handful of days per year that employees can take to volunteer.

If you have a formal volunteering scheme, this can also be a way for employees to connect with colleagues and get to know them outside of the context of work. It’s a way to strengthen friendships and form new ones.

Support people’s wins

Whether it’s running a marathon, publishing a book, getting married, or something else, celebrating employees’ personal wins shows that you care about them beyond what they do for your business. It creates a deeper human connection and makes them feel like a valued part of your organization.

You don’t have to do anything major, but a “good luck” post on Slack, or even donating a little to their charity run can go a long way. Encouraging others to do the same helps people feel supported and enables them to connect with others who could become work friends.

Set up a challenge

Challenges employees can take part in, such as raising money for a particular charity, or collectively running a certain distance, give them something to aim for as a group.

It creates a shared goal where they can keep each other motivated and celebrate achieving something together with their work friends.

Conclusion 

Work friends are one of the most powerful, but underestimated, employee motivation tools in your arsenal.

When people like who they work with, they want to show up in every sense of the word. They’ll work harder and be more present, so they’ll perform better and be happier. Which makes your workplace more welcoming and productive for every employee.

Help work friendships thrive

If you’d like to provide more opportunities for team members to find work friends, why not try Workrowd? You can organize employee events, set up ERGs, and so much more. Get in touch to learn how we can help you reach your employee experience goals.

When people recognize what we’ve done and how far we’ve come, we feel seen. And that’s powerful. That’s why acknowledging employee anniversaries is so important.

At work, recognition is a key motivator. In fact, it’s so important that 83.6% of employees say recognition affects their motivation. What’s more, 77.9% would be more productive if they received more recognition. 

It could even help with retention. 71% of employees would be less likely to leave if they were recognized more frequently at work.

So what, exactly, should you recognize? Here are examples of employee anniversaries to celebrate that will supercharge engagement.

Employee anniversaries to celebrate

Here are some employee anniversaries and milestones worth celebrating:

First day

Celebrating someone’s first day in a role makes them feel valued and like you appreciate them choosing to work for you over another business.

Several places I’ve worked at have taken people out for lunch on their first day. It’s a particularly nice gesture if they don’t know the area and aren’t sure of the best places to eat.

This is also a good bonding experience for new team members to get to know each other better. They can chat casually outside of the intense onboarding that happens during the first days on the job.

End of probation 

Passing a probationary period is a huge milestone for employees, especially in tough industries or businesses.

Birthdays

I always think it’s important to celebrate birthdays, even in small ways. A simple “happy birthday” in Slack or on Workrowd can make a difference. It’s one of the most obvious employee anniversaries that can make people feel seen and special.

Customer reviews

Did someone get a really great customer review? That’s something to celebrate! It demonstrates what high-quality customer service within your organization looks like, setting an example for the rest of the team.

First year (and other yearly employee anniversaries)

Completing a full year on the job is a big deal. It shows that person has survived probation and onboarding and has become a vital part of your team.

Beyond that, celebrating these employee anniversaries annually can help keep your people feeling engaged and energized to take on another year.

Finishing big projects

When someone has completed a big project, either on their own or on a team, celebrating that milestone shows that you recognize what they’ve done and how hard they’ve worked.

Promotions 

Promotions are always something to celebrate. They show someone has worked hard and achieved great things within your organization.

Safety milestones

Going days, weeks, months, or even years without health and safety incidents are huge achievements. This is especially true in industries where health and safety are vital to company success and employee health.

Sometimes celebrating employee anniversaries of something not happening is important, too!

Revenue targets

Did a person, team, or the company as a whole hit a revenue target? That’s definitely something to celebrate!

Company anniversaries

As centuries-old household names become things of the past (just recently British brand WH Smith announced it was leaving main streets after being around since 1792), celebrating company anniversaries in addition to employee anniversaries is essential.

It shows the difference employees make, how much they’ve contributed over the business’s history, and how far the company has come. It’s a meaningful, fun way to celebrate the past, present, and future of the business.

Retirements 

Retirement is a pivotal time in someone’s life. Regardless of how long they’ve been at your company, celebrating an employee’s retirement shows that you appreciate the effort they’ve put into your business and the key role they’ve played.

It also marks their transition into a new period of their life.

Ways to recognize employee anniversaries

Here are some ways to recognize employee anniversaries:

Shoutouts 

This is the simplest thing on the list, but it really does make a huge difference. Giving someone a shoutout in a meeting, a Slack channel, a krowd, or somewhere else colleagues can see is a meaningful way to celebrate employee anniversaries.

It can also help to create a culture that celebrates employees, encouraging people to celebrate their colleagues in turn. Doing this makes a big difference to teamwork and employee morale.

Extra day off

An extra day off, for example for someone’s birthday, shows that you value employees’ lives outside of work and want them to take time to rest or celebrate with loved ones.

An extra day of PTO could also be a way to reward employees at the end of a particularly stressful or long-term project, allowing them to recover and unwind so that they don’t burn out.

Away days

For corporate milestones, away days can help you come together as an organization to celebrate, reflect, and plan for the future. You could do a combination of celebrations like activities or meals out, alongside planning sessions.

Team activities or retreats

Another option to celebrate team or corporate milestones is to give teams a budget and allow them to organize their own activities or retreats. This is particularly useful for larger organizations that may struggle to find a venue big enough to hold everyone.

It also enables managers to cater to their team’s preferences so no one feels forced to do an activity they’re uncomfortable with in the name of corporate politics. Making these annual, bi-annual, or even quarterly gives your team employee anniversaries to look forward to.

Vouchers

A voucher to spend on a meal or a service is a simple way to celebrate employee anniversaries and show you’re thinking of them.

Treats

As an alternative to a voucher, you could get them a little treat such as donuts, chocolate, gift card, etc.

Something special

For bigger employee anniversaries, what about something special? 

For example, when someone I know retired she received a carriage clock; another received a watch for 35 years of service. The gift doesn’t have to be related to timekeeping—these examples are a coincidence—but they were high-quality items that both people still have and cherish the memories behind.

Company merchandise

For company milestones, branded merchandise celebrates both employees and the business. It also means that employees become walking advertisements for your organization if they wear or use that swag out and about.

Decorate their desk

This is a nice way to inject personality into the office for birthdays or other employee anniversaries. Streamers, balloons, cake…have fun with it. You could even tailor it to their fashion sense, favorite color, favorite cake, etc, to show you’re really paying attention.

Conclusion 

Celebrating employee anniversaries and milestones shows your team that you appreciate the time and effort they put in to help grow your business every day.

Connect your employees with Workrowd

Another way to show your employees how much you appreciate them is to keep them connected. Help them organize and sign up for team initiatives, join employee groups, and build bonds with their colleagues with Workrowd. Our platform is the one-stop-shop for all your engagement initiatives.

Get in touch today to book your free demo and find out more.

Almost two-thirds of people who leave a role do so because their values or goals don’t align with the organizational values of their employer.

While there’s never going to be a perfect match, when employees’ values do align with their employer’s they’re happier and more productive, meaning your business can grow faster.

When a company has a well-defined set of values, employees are 115% more engaged.

And when they discuss those values daily instead of yearly—keeping them at the forefront of employees’ minds—employee engagement goes up by 37%.

Despite all this, less than a quarter of businesses have a detailed list of company values.

If you’re considering creating organizational values to help motivate your workforce, or you want to rejig your existing ones, here are some examples to get you started:

Purpose 

With the cost of living crisis, numerous wars, and a tumultuous political climate, the traditional model of having a stable job, buying a house, and being able to afford marriage and children has now become the exception rather than the rule. 

So, it’s no surprise that employees want more from their work. They want to feel like they’re making a difference in the world, not just working to pay the bills.

In fact, teams with a strong sense of shared purpose experience a 17% increase in performance. Obviously, incorporating purpose into your organizational values can make a huge difference to output.

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA)

DEIA still matters to employees. And it’s increasingly important to younger generations. Gen Z is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation ever.

Clearly prioritizing diversity shows that you listen to, and understand, employees’ motivations and priorities. 

It also shows that you want to avoid groupthink and encourage creativity with your organizational values. The more diverse a workforce is, the more creative and better at problem-solving it becomes.

Creativity 

Creativity is an overused buzzword on resumes to the point where it’s now a little meaningless. But true creativity is still a powerful tool—especially in the age of AI.

True creativity comes from diversity of thought, both within teams and among individuals themselves.

For example, Ada Lovelace was both a scientist and a poet. Her combined interests allowed her to think differently from her contemporaries. In fact, she’s most well-known for being the world’s first computer programmer.

When we focus purely on one thing, it becomes harder to problem solve. We never give our brains a break, we have no time for play, and we’re too focused on what’s in front of us.

When we have a range of interests, it has a subconscious effect. For example, some interests of mine include cooking and ghost stories. So I’ve written books about a haunted chef and often use cooking or ghosts as analogies for life or writing techniques. Those things are unique to me and my interests.

If you want to embrace creativity as one of your organizational values, consider encouraging employees’ creative hobbies outside of the business, in addition to organizing creative activities for them to try together. There are endless possibilities, from pottery throwing to painting to cross stitch and beyond.

Continuous learning

Learning new skills is good for our physical and mental health as well as our work performance. 

Using your organizational values to create a culture of learning, and giving employees the opportunity to keep learning, helps your business stay fresh and innovative. 

It also creates a more psychologically safe space, where employees are more comfortable taking risks. After all, if you’re not taking risks, how can you learn?

Honesty and integrity

Employees want to know they can trust their employers. Having honesty and integrity as organizational values demonstrates that you’re going to be open and honest with them. Even if things are uncomfortable.

This transparency creates a deeper connection with employees and can even have a motivational impact when things are going badly. After all, if their values are in line with your organizational values, they’re going to want the business to succeed. And they’ll put more effort in to help it do so.

Work-life balance

Work-life balance was a big trend during Covid, but there’s been some backlash lately. 

For example, the co-founder of BrewDog recently said that the UK is “one of the world’s least work-oriented countries.”

Perhaps because so many are struggling to pay the bills even when they have a job, they wonder why they should bother putting the effort in if they can’t afford basics like food and electricity.

As the world continues to change at an unprecedented pace, many of us have begun to realize that giving all our time and energy to companies that either don’t pay enough, don’t value employees enough, or will drop employees without a second thought, isn’t worth it.

Instead, employees want to be able to switch off at the end of the day and do their own thing. Whether that’s spending time with children and family, building a side hustle, pursuing a creative hobby, or simply relaxing in front of the TV.

And employers should encourage this. When employees have time to recharge and have a range of hobbies, they’re happier and more productive. Forcing employees to work extremely long hours is unsustainable and risks burnout.

Conclusion 

Organizational values play a key role in your attraction and retention efforts. And they help you bring in people who are aligned with your values and want to help you succeed.

Organizational values can also help you attract customers with similar values. In turn, that increases your brand strength and your visibility.

Encourage a culture of connection

Connecting employees with a one-stop shop for everything your organization offers can work wonders for your employee experience. Organizing important information, events, programs, and groups in one place ensures team members can always access what they need, when they need it.

Workrowd can help you keep your organizational values front and center with a central hub for your company culture. Get in touch today to learn more and book your free demo.

Layoffs are a painful experience for everyone. That’s why it’s so important to have a plan in place for rebuilding company culture after layoffs.

Whether it’s the managers sharing the bad news, the employees being let go, or the ones left behind, layoffs can create an atmosphere where people feel afraid. Afraid they’re next, afraid for their colleagues, or afraid of the consequences that might come from them sharing their concerns.

And we live in a time of mass layoffs. In the US tech sector alone, layoffs cost more than 100,000 people their jobs in 2023.

61% of adults between 18 and 34 have felt pressure and anxiety over layoffs. 46% of employees who were laid off were unprepared.

Companies that do have to go through layoffs therefore need to prepare employees, and the company culture, for these tumultuous times.

They also need to have steps in place for rebuilding company culture after layoffs. This can be a volatile time where everyone feels like they’re walking on eggshells, they’re worried for their jobs, and they’re adjusting to the new normal.

So, how do you go about rebuilding company culture after layoffs? Let’s take a look:

Have the uncomfortable conversations

Layoffs are challenging times. But they’ll be even worse if you don’t have the hard conversations.

It’ll be uncomfortable, you might squirm, but you’ll feel better once it’s over with.

It’s worse to carry around – and bottle up – questions, guilt, or other negative emotions that can impact your personal relationships, your work relationships, and your ability to perform at work.

The sooner you rip the bandage off, the better you’ll feel. Plus, the faster you’ll succeed at rebuilding company culture after layoffs.

Create a psychologically safe space

To have the uncomfortable conversations, you – and employees – need to feel safe voicing opinions and concerns without consequences. 

If that fear is there, there’s already something wrong with your company culture and layoffs will only make it worse.

Employees could share their feelings in a one-on-one with a manager; a company-wide town hall; in an employee resource group; in an employee feedback survey; or somewhere else. 

Wherever it is, they need to feel like decision-makers hear their concerns.

Otherwise, it can add to the already stressful time of layoffs and the looming sense of dread and uncertainty that comes with it. You’ll have a much harder time rebuilding company culture after layoffs if you haven’t built up that psychological safety.

Build connections

Sometimes, during layoffs, people’s work friends can be asked to leave while they get left behind.

Work is one of the main ways many of us socialize. So it’s important to ensure employees can still find and make new friends.

Setting up ERGs enables employees to connect with those who share similar interests or backgrounds to them. These groups also help foster relationships and create a sense of belonging, in addition to helping with rebuilding company culture after layoffs.

Be open and honest

Open and honest communication is key to any positive company culture. It’s how employees feel psychologically safe at work. Plus, it leads to greater creativity and innovation, and it makes people better problem solvers. It also means that any issues or conflicts that arise don’t stick around to fester. You can have the conversations that solve things sooner rather than later.

Making employees aware of what’s happening, what will happen, and being honest when you don’t know certain answers will help to allay some of their concerns.

Consider explaining why the layoffs are happening, and why now. You may also explain why the people who were let go were chosen.

It’s not a panacea, but it should at least calm some of the anxieties. Particularly if there are a significant number of far-reaching cuts, and you need to get out ahead of rebuilding company culture after layoffs.

Offer psychological support

Layoffs can be so stressful there’s even a term called “workplace survivor’s syndrome”. It’s a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that can impact those left behind.

Contrary to the belief that they should feel glad they still have a job, many are left feeling concerned about how long that will last. Are they the next to go? It can also be overwhelming taking on their departing colleagues’ workloads.

It’s important to acknowledge how stressful this time can be for employees and offer them support in terms of coaching, mentoring, or counseling where they can talk through how they feel with someone unrelated to your organization. 

That way, they can learn the coping techniques to come to terms with the situation, process their grief and guilt, and find a way to move on in the new normal. Individualized support like this can go a long way towards rebuilding company culture after layoffs.

Re-align everyone with your values (or set new ones)

It can help to refresh, review, or even update your values during a time like this.

Things are already up in the air, so if employees don’t know what your values are, or they’ve fallen by the wayside, this refresher can give them a renewed focus on what the company goals are and what you want to achieve in the short- and long-term.

Reminding everyone what you stand will set you up for success when rebuilding company culture after layoffs.

Conclusion

It’s important to find avenues for rebuilding company culture after layoffs. Otherwise it can lead to employees questioning their roles within your organization. You don’t want to risk losing your key players because they decide your team is no longer the right place for them.

Supporting employees, listening to their concerns, and communicating honestly with them can help employees feel more secure and work toward future-proofing your organization.

Need help creating a safe space for connection?

Would you like to set your organization up with a central hub for rebuilding company culture after layoffs?

Workrowd has what you need. With all your employee programs, groups, and events in one place, plus automated feedback surveys and more, you can give team members more of what they want with less effort.

Plus, our real-time analytics dashboards help you track the impact of your initiatives, so you always know how far you’ve come at rebuilding company culture after layoffs.

Ready to learn more? Visit us online or write us directly at hello@workrowd.com to schedule your free demo.