The nature of the workplace is changing, there’s no doubt about that. ‘Niceties’ that were once considered, well, niceties, have become the norm at many organizations. Companies are shifting away from a traditional workplace model of cubicles, filing cabinets and fear-based leadership in favor of providing perks such as office snacks, casual attire and leadership that aims to empower rather than subdue.
Corporate culture is a prominent ideology that has emerged as a result of modernizing workplace changes and it’s something that warrants attention given its ability to staunchly impact the bottom line. According to a study by James L. Heskett, corporate culture “can account for 20-30% of the differential in corporate performance when compared with ‘culturally unremarkable’ competitors.” It’s no surprise then, that organizations are keen to shape their corporate culture with an ethos that encourages synergy and increases productivity across the organization.
1. Encourage Employee Engagement with Your Enterprise Intranet
The quest for a highly engaged workforce is something that organizations the world over yearn for, earnestly striving to reap the well-reported benefits of cultivating a workforce that’s highly engaged. Perhaps the most cited employee engagement study of all, from Gallup has found that 87% of employees are disengaged in their work. This is a stark figure for many organizations actively trying to increase engagement. Along with providing employees with a trusted work environment to encourage job satisfaction and fulfillment, organizations must provide the right technology to achieve this.
An enterprise intranet goes a long way in providing the tools that encourage workplace cohesion and camaraderie, both of which are prominent factors for driving engagement and fostering corporate culture. SharePoint intranet features, like those available with Origami, enable employees to interact and actively participate in corporate news and published content, harnessing engagement. Providing a platform where both staff and leaders can engage and informally communicate promotes a culture of equality and fairness, attributes that many employees value in an engaging corporate culture.
2. Communicate Core Values, Vision & Purpose with a SharePoint Intranet
Company Values are at the heart of corporate culture, they’re a set of well-thought out attributes which organizations promote and hope to instill across the workforce. Company values are the backbone of organizational decisions and guide corporate behavior. Organizational purpose and vision provide context and direction to employees while helping to define the organization’s raison d'être.
Organizations that wish to uphold their vision and values must create an organizational culture that embodies these principles through encouragement and effective communication. The more an organization can authentically communicate and demonstrate its core vision, values and purpose, the faster they become ingrained practices at the organization.
What better way to use the backbone of the organization, the enterprise intranet, to communicate and champion organizational vision and purpose? The possibilities are endless, from news posts to organizational announcements and staff recognition, organizations can use their digital workplace as the stage for communicating their purpose, vision and values so that they can become intrinsically ingrained to fundamentally shape organizational culture.
3. Promote Collaboration with a SharePoint Intranet
It’s no secret that SharePoint Intranets are a pivotal tool when it comes to workforce collaboration, especially when organizations operate across multiple locations or employ staff that work from home. To experience the benefits of workplace collaboration, organizations must first provide the technology to adequately facilitate meaningful collaboration. Highly regarded enterprise intranets provide the necessary collaboration features when it comes to teamwork, communication and providing multiple people with real-time access to work on documents simultaneously, enabling organizations to reap massive productivity benefits.
A SharePoint intranet helps to ensure that overtime, effective workplace collaboration becomes ingrained in the organization and it becomes part of the cultural norm. From a leadership point of view, providing the right tools is crucial to encouraging collaboration. With the right tools, employees begin to drive the ethos of collaboration themselves from the ground up resulting in organizational benefits such as cohesive teamwork, increased productivity and enhanced problem-solving
4. Adopt an Intranet to Promote Workplace Fun
Creating an environment of fun as well as hard work is important for many employees. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that it needs to be all fun and no work but funnily enough studies show that providing just the right amount of fun in a workplace environment has a positive impact on productivity and absenteeism. This impacts so-called Millennials the most; people born from early 1980s to early 2000, a demographic that according to Forbes, are set to make up 75% of the workforce by 2025, something organizations should ignore at their peril.
Yes, you read that right, an increase of fun results in an increase in productivity and a reduction of absenteeism. But proceed with caution as there needs to be a balance. Enterprise intranets can help organizations to achieve just the right amount of fun in the workplace by providing an online space for employees to informally interact and communicate with each other, through likes and comments, socially shaping the organization’s culture. SharePoint intranets provide invaluable organizational information like policies, procedures, directories and more but they’re also the ideal tool for encouraging camaraderie and fostering a social workplace culture.
5. Leverage an Enterprise Intranet for Employee Recognition
Recognizing employee achievements goes a long way towards reinforcing organizational culture, by highlighting the actions and behaviours that encompass organizational values. This type of recognition serves to encourage other employees who wish to stand out among their peers for the right reasons. A SharePoint intranet is the ideal tool for promoting staff achievements as it serves as the backbone of the organization and the ‘go to’ place for the latest news and information. It’s typically an organization’s most centrally accessible hub, regularly frequented by employees so it serves as the perfect platform for rewarding and recognizing staff.
Global studies reveal that 79% of people who quit their jobs cite ‘lack of appreciation’ as the main reason for leaving, further cementing the need for a platform to adequately reward deserving staff members. The study also revealed that recognition is the number one thing employees say their manager could give them to inspire them to produce great work, with nothing else coming close, not even higher pay, promotion or training. something organizations must acknowledge if they wish to create a culture of retention.
Office 365 and SharePoint are transformational technologies, with many companies investing in teams to fully manage and exploit the opportunities available with this technology. While Office 365 and SharePoint go a long way in cultivating workplace collaboration, there are many shortfalls rendering this technology inadequate by itself.
Organizations can better spend their time and resources by enlisting intranet experts to provide a robust SharePoint intranet, that leverages their Office 365 and SharePoint investment. Origami provide beautiful intranets to organizations across many industries, shaping intranet design to fit the organization’s current needs while ensuring it’s scalable to meet future needs. Organization’s wax lyrical about the plethora of benefits experienced since implementing Origami enterprise intranet, spanning everything from increased employee engagement and collaboration to a sigh of relief now having a robust platform to shape and mould their precious corporate culture. What are you waiting for? Experience Origami SharePoint Intranet for yourself today!
Luis Ponce is the Director of Operations at Origami. He’s responsible for ensuring all Origami teams run in sync, focused on customers’ needs and fulfill commitment to our customers. Luis regularly advises on every strategic company initiative overall and specific project demands to make sure every angle is objectively considered and no corners are cut.
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