A day at work is not only about completing your assigned tasks and then going home at 5pm. The culture of the organization is a basic, vital, yet invisible, element driving the entire vehicle. Perhaps it is so invisible that it is often taken for granted, without much nourishment by senior management, including HR.
At JobNet’s May 2018 HR Seminar in Yangon, guest presenter Sally Low, HR Director for United Amara Bank Myanmar described HR as being the “meat in the sandwich” between employee needs and organizational goals. However many HR teams still find that they are focusing on the administrational aspects of the HR function with limited emphasis on strategic elements such as improving corporate structure and internal communications. This was confirmed in the October 2018 findings of the Myanmar HR Survey, jointly conducted by Roland Berger, Dale Carnegie Myanmar and JobNet.com.mm.
https://www.rolandberger.com/publications/publication_pdf/myanmar_hr_survey_2018.pdf
The survey also revealed that a positive culture is major factor in helping workers decide to join a new company, and also contributes to increasing employee motivation in the workplace.
With this in mind, we explore five ways that HR can contribute to building and promoting a positive company culture.
(1) Start at the top
Along with the company vision and business goals, it is the CEO and top management that sets the tone for the company’s culture. For example, if the CEO has a passive-aggressive attitude, such traits will ripple down through Department Heads and Managers, and so on.
The role of the HR Department is to be pro-active, performing as an in-house cultural consultant, leading the cultural shift from top to bottom. For this to happen, it is vital that HR is included in senior management discussions, so they can translate messages throu
ghout the company.
Some HR may feel reluctant to be involved in business development discussions with the top level. However, HR can access vital information and could start by providing some research, identifying the areas of employee dissatisfaction and low productivity. This shall convince the CEO that an appropriate company culture needs to be enforced in order to meet the business objectives.
(2) Advocating for the Management
When the specific company culture has been envisaged by the C-Suite, HR can advocate for the top-down implementation of such culture.
One possible way is to hold a session where employees talk about why they joined the company, a time when a fellow team member embodied the company’s mission, and when they overcame an obstacle. This reflection can enrich the atmosphere in the workplace.
Some companies have a reward and compensation system to recognize culturally high-performing people. This provides a tangible example for others and demonstrates that as well as achieving targets, star employees should be a natural fit to the company culture.
(3) Recruitment and Training
Talent acquisition can have a huge impact on the company culture, and it is important to hunt the right cultural fit.
One way to achieve this, as championed by the likes of some of the international tech giants, is to have a cross-functional committee for the new recruits. HR can determine the required technical skills and capabilities, while other members of the committee coming from different departments may assess the overall cultural fitness of the firm.
Training programs and workshops can also highly influence the culture by demonstrating the behaviors desired by the management. They encourage the employees to think and act in a particularly way, and thus laying the foundation of a behavioral change.
(4) Formal and Informal Feedback
Although it is a top-down approach, feedback and communications are necessary to steer cultural integration.
This could be in the form of structured surveys, collecting the generic responses, as well as through informal channels. HR, or the managers, can do emotional bonding with the team members, asking “off the script” about their work stress, personal motivations, and career aspirations.
If facilitated properly, peer coaching can also be an effective way to detect and improve the cultural loopholes at work. Especially for the new members, it is the fastest way to adapt to the company vibe.
(5) Advocating for the Employees
Based on the feedback of the employees, it is the responsibility of the HR to advocate for those voices at the top management.
Regarding the aforementioned research in talking to the CEO, the inputs should mainly come from the employees and a people-focused system. While the implementation part is a top-down approach, the curation could be a bottom-up strategy since employee engagement and participation is what matters the most.
Additionally, to respond to the rapid change of trends in the industry, the HR team as well as the company culture should adapt accordingly. Either lead the disruption or be disrupted.
Company culture plays a large part in how employees feel about their workplace and can affect aspects such as retention and productivity. A company culture cannot be changed overnight nor is it a one-time achievement. It is a continuous process of research, implementation and reiteration, and must complement the business goals of the organization. HR can play an active part by consulting from the C-suite all the way to the entry levels helping to build and promote a positive company culture.
To view the Myanmar HR Report follow this link
https://www.rolandberger.com/publications/publication_pdf/myanmar_hr_survey_2018.pdf