How Company Culture Impacts Employee Morale and What Leaders can Do About It

Creating a strong company culture is a fundamental part of success. You need to invest in it to keep your employee's morale high. Ignore it and you might lose out on your momentum.

In fact, according to a survey, 66 percent of workers believe that company culture is extremely important to an organization's success.

A strong company culture ‒ both internal or external ‒ will make it clear what your organization does, how it does it, and what's expected of it.

When a company is fuzzy or chaotic, then that is where the problems arise.

What is Employee Morale?

In a nutshell, employee morale is the overall attitude, satisfaction, confidence, and outlook workers feel about their work.

When workers are positive about their work environment and feel that it could meet their vocational and career needs, then employee morale runs high.

But the thing is, you can't just give employee morale. What you can do is to control the majority of the components of the environment that workers have each day.

Employees, for instance, are a powerful contributor to whether employee morale will be positive or negative.

How Company Culture Affects Employee Morale

If your company culture is unclear, too rigid, or worse, non-existent, then you might be experiencing the following issues:

Lack of sense of purpose

In the rise of the millennial generation in the workforce, purpose becomes more important than ever. So, it doesn't come as a surprise anymore that a sense of purpose is crucial to maintain a successful work environment.

If your employees have a purpose-driven mindset each time they do their work, then they become more engaged, leading to better performance and productivity, and overall job satisfaction.

Feeling of underappreciation

Most people leave their jobs not because they're overworked or underpaid, but because they feel unappreciated and undervalued.

Remember that two of the most basic human desires are appreciation and validation. Employees need to feel that they matter, and not just merely cogs in a machine.

The good news is that when you invest your time and energy into appreciating their efforts, you’re saving yourself a lot of grief in the long run.

Stressful and toxic environment

Toxic company culture is one of the main causes of stress in the workplace. Also, the impact of a toxic and stressful working environment to your employees is real, both physically and mentally.

Some might not be so obvious or affect the person until they spend an extended period in the workplace.

The following characteristics are present in an unhealthy working environment

●       Lack of positive feedback

●       Lack of work-life balance

●       Bullying

●       Harassment

That's why employers need to find a healthy way to help their staff cope, with all the workplace pressures that come with the job.

Employee disengagement

Workers that are disengaged with their jobs are one of the main reasons why most businesses go bankrupt, and why the office culture has become increasingly toxic.

It’s also the reason why most organizations tend to lose their competitive edge, and most startups are bound to fail.

Not only disengaged employees could negatively impact a business, but it could also cost the company $2,000 for every employee per year.

The number one reason why employees feel disengaged from their jobs is that they no longer feel that their work is serving a purpose.

They're not aware that the individual tasks they're doing contribute a key role in the company's objectives. No one has taken the time to let them know of the priorities of the company, what the goals are, or a sense of recognition for a job well done.

That's why employers and leaders should understand the organization's mission and values by heart. They should behave in a way that rings true in those values. They also should take the time to appreciate their employees for their efforts, and give them the recognition that they deserve.

Over to You

When work becomes toxic, unfulfilling, and pointless, company morale will dip an all-time low.

But when employees feel great at what they do and how they do it, company morale will remain high. That’s because they feel that they belong to something bigger than themselves and will work hard to accomplish goals.

And you will see how it can have a positive impact on your business’s bottom line.

About the Author – Raymond Chiu is the Director of Operations for Maid Sailors Office Cleaning Companies NYC. Maid Sailors offers its customers unrivaled office cleaning services that can address even the toughest cleaning needs. Matched with affordable prices, Maid Sailors is your best partner in helping you turn your office into a work-friendly workplace.