It’s no longer a matter of debate: company culture matters. As Emma Seppala and Kim Cameron note in a 2015 Harvard Business Review article, stronger, more positive company cultures reduce healthcare expenditures, boost engagement, increase productivity, and cultivate more loyalty among employees.
To reap the benefits of a strong culture, organizations must be strategic. The culture cannot be left to chance; instead, it must be managed like any other business process or project.
Luckily for today’s employers, company culture’s well-established position as a pillar of business success has driven a variety of innovators to develop new culture-focused tech tools. Below are five such tools that can help any company create and maintain the kind of culture that produces real results:
1. Globoforce
Employee recognition is key to engagement, and engagement is key to a positive culture. As Gallup notes, “[E]mployees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to say they’ll quit in the next year.” Disillusioned, unappreciated employees are less likely to give their all at work, and it’s virtually impossible to maintain a strong culture with high levels of turnover.
Globoforce makes employee recognition easy. At its most basic level, Globoforce is a rewards fulfillment software, but it is also so much more. Organizations can use Globoforce to manage the entire recognition process, from nomination and approval to rewards redemption and fulfillment. Nor is Globoforce simply for managerial use: the software supports peer-to-peer recognition as well, which is vital to a strong culture.
Of particular note is Globoforce’s mobile platform, which allows users to access the full software suite on smartphones and tablets. Not only is this convenient, but it also ensures that recognition happens quickly. This is key to an effective recognition program: the sooner recognition occurs after an event, the more meaningful it feels to the employee. Quick recognition also reinforces the praise-worthy behavior, thereby encouraging employees to continue using best practices regularly.
2. Glint
As the saying goes, “What gets measured gets managed.” Culture is no different. To ensure your company has a positive, engaging culture, organizational leaders need to keep tabs on how the culture develops.
Tracking something as nebulous as culture can be tricky, but Glint offers a software solution to help. Glint allows organizations to create employee surveys, but these are no ordinary engagement pulses. The software gathers data on powerful culture drivers like empowerment, work/life balance, and career opportunities. This data is then turned into granular reports that track key culture indices in real time. Users can segment reports according to department, employee tenure, gender, age, and various other demographics in order to drill down into specific subsets of the workforce.
Perhaps most impressive are Glint’s predictive analytics. The software proactively tracks trends in the data and raises red flags when certain employee populations seem headed for increased turnover, decreased productivity, and lower engagement. Whereas most employee surveys are only reactive, Glint allows organizations to take proactive measures to stop problems before they arise.
3. WeVue
Part content management software, part social media, WeVue is an app that helps companies create and share positive cultures.
When an organization deploys WeVue, each employee in the company downloads the app. Employees use the app to create videos and pictures showcasing themselves, their work, their teams, their offices, and pretty much anything else they’d like to share. This content can then be uploaded to a public-facing website, giving job seekers an authentic look at the organization’s culture.
But WeVue isn’t only a recruiting tool. It’s also useful for internal matters. Employees can share their work internally with other employees on the app. This fosters communication, encourages collaboration, and strengthens bonds between coworkers.
Best of all, WeVue allows employee-created content to pull double-duty. A team can create content showcasing their latest project to solicit feedback from other members of the organization, and that same video can also be used as candidate-facing recruiting content.
4. Weirdly
Key to maintaining a strong culture is hiring the right people. This is why culture fit is such a hot topic in HR and recruiting circles today. Hires who don’t share a company’s values are less likely to do great work , and more likely to leave after a short period of time.
Unfortunately, hiring for culture fit is easier said than done. In one survey, two-thirds of the hiring decision makers who responded said they had misjudged a candidate’s culture fit in the past.
Weirdly makes assessing culture fit simple. Employers describe the kind of candidates they’re looking for in a given role, and the Weirdly software creates a quiz designed to measure how well each applicant fits the established profile. These fun quizzes give the candidate experience a boost, and they also serve as valuable screening tools. Employers can ensure they’re only spending time on candidates who will thrive in the culture, rather than interviewing countless applicants who don’t align with the company.
5. Benevity
Though often overlooked, corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be a powerful driver of positive cultures. Many workers today seek meaningful work opportunities. They want the chance to make a real impact on the world. When workers have this opportunity, they report higher satisfaction, higher engagement, and lower turnover.
What better way to help employees find meaning at work than by offering them opportunities to give back to their communities through CSR?
Benevity is a platform employers can use to do just that. Through Benevit, Employees can sign up for volunteer opportunities, make donations, and track charitable activities. Meanwhile, employers can use the platform to support employees’ causes by donating money of their own.
As an added benefit, a robust CSR program is also good for your employer branding. Talented candidates in search of meaningful work flock to organizations that make social responsibility a priority.
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Establishing and maintaining a positive culture is tough work, but the benefits are more than worth the effort. The tech tools highlighted above are some of the best software solutions for organizations that want to prioritize culture, but they’re not the only solutions on the market. Employers should do their research and choose the tools that meet their specific cultural needs. However, these five tools are certainly great places to start.
Matthew Kosinski is managing editor of Recruiter.com.
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