Building the Perfect Workplace – A Guide

When it comes to attracting and keeping top talent these days, employees are looking past traditional perks. Perks are no longer the way to find and retain top employees. These days, it’s about building effective work relationships. 

Employers who don’t understand these changing dynamics will fall behind, while those companies that understand what employees want, and provide it, will ultimately succeed. 

It’s No Longer About the Perks

Perks are still valuable if they address what employees want. There’s nothing better than sitting at a table with your team and enjoying some wonderful food provided by the company. In this scenario, the free food is not the draw; it’s being used as a valuable tool to enhance team communications. 

What many companies are missing is that perks are not personal. They’re just perks. 

This is where some businesses still fall short. They haven’t yet realised that their employees are craving the more personal touch. Instead, the companies insist on offer perks that were once found very valuable. Sure, perks were once effective in drawing in and keeping top talent. But those days are gone. Employees want more than traditional employee benefits and programs. They want to build high-quality relationships at work. 

The Past—It Was Possible to Be Successful in the Old Ways

It’s true that in the past, it was enough to provide great perks and programs for employees. Even companies that were not that pleasant to work for could draw in top talent if they had great perks. However, studies are showing that this way of operating a business is falling by the wayside 

Gone are the days when employees were only cogs in the machinery. Instead, today, employees who work in the right environment find a voice, encouragement to speak up and share their innovative ideas.

Employers now need to recognise the fact that their employees are valuable contributors, instead they are creative, productive members of the company. In other words, employees are actually intangible assets to a company and key to its success. Company employees carry the knowledge needed to give a company an edge in today’s evolving markets. 

And it’s not just having the very highest intellectuals on the team that determines success. Instead, it’s the collaboration between all members of the team that makes the team more effective. It is fully engaged employees who drive success. 

What does this all come to? It’s about developing the right type of company culture. This people-based culture is what will help your company succeed now and on into the future. 

How to Build a Great Company Culture

Here are some tips used by some of the largest, most successful companies around. The tips encompass four different elements of workplace culture that make the most difference for employees. 

1). Have a Mission

When companies have a larger purpose than just making money, they are sure to succeed. Employees who believe in a mission build stronger, better relationships with one another. They are all focused on making the mission a success together. 

2). Colleagues

Hiring top talent can mean a huge difference for all employees in the company. The best people draw in more top talent, making this a repeating cycle that strengthens the company as a whole. 

3). Trust

Trust is essential in the workplace, and most people want to be seen as trustworthy by others. Studies have found that the best employees, those who can be trusted, are the most successful when they have the ability to work when they want. In fact, many will work longer hours than if they had to show up to work at the same time each day. 

Some companies even offer unlimited paid vacations for employees who don’t abuse this work policy. 

4). Caring 

Employees prefer to work for a company that truly cares about them and their wellbeing. For example, a company can show more compassion when an employer experiences the loss of a spouse. If the two were working for the same company, then the business could offer one-half of the deceased employee’s salary for the next ten years. This is a policy that’s currently offered by Google. 

Companies that show true care will always draw the best talent. 

Summing It Up

The goal is to understand what employees are looking for, which tends to be improved relationships. Perks are no longer the main drawing card for top talent. What everyone wants and needs is a deeper relationship with their fellow employees and employer and hand in hand, a company that truly cares about its employees’ wellbeing. 

A business that understands these needs and wants surely has a better chance of succeeding now and on into the future.