Strengthening culture to maintain brand momentum – Part IV: Care

Companies that continuously innovate and evolve their cultures will remain competitive and thrive. A critical part of a positive culture is maintaining a genuine sense of support and appreciation within the working environment and beyond. 

As companies grow, the personal connection between leadership and employees can fade.  Once the empire is built, employees often report losing many positive aspects of the culture from when the company was smaller. Employee engagement data helps us translate what employees are saying into what they’re feeling: the company doesn’t appear to care about us anymore. It’s a company’s job (whether a challenger or an incumbent) to help employees see the business knows it wouldn’t succeed without them. Organizations that are experiencing or have experienced significant growth should proactively seek employee feedback on the culture and demonstrate how much their contributions are valued. 

Every organization will have its own version of showing care. There is no “right” way— only the right way unique to your organization. Leaders must think beyond the standard benefits to truly empower and support employees. Consider both what your brand stands for and what your employees truly value to create a meaningful impact.

Building out systems and resources for authentic care in employee experience

How does your company support employees’ physical, mental, and emotional well-being? Many employees now expect companies to invest in these areas through benefits, programming, and policies. Comprehensive resources can run the gamut across mental health support, nutritional coaching, stress management, creative outlets, fitness initiatives and more—depending what your people have asked for and value. 

It’s also important to consider how your organization helps employees balance and blend their personal and professional lives how they see fit. Providing flexible work arrangements, generous parental leave, and resources to manage personal commitments can make your people feel more supported as they juggle life’s many demands and changes. 

Empowering managers to be coaches  

It’s rare for employees to feel like managers really care. This is usually a result of managers having too much on their plates and a lack of incentive to prioritize performance management and coaching. For example, if a manager needs to cancel a meeting on their calendar, a one-on-one with a direct report is usually one of the first to go. One way to show people you care is to empower managers to develop people. By empowering managers, companies demonstrate they care about their employees’ growth and well-being. 

As businesses scale, they often add middle managers who may be new to managing teams. Investing in managers’ development and ensuring they have the tools to coach and develop their teams effectively creates a supportive environment where employees feel valued and understood. These environments are often best built by connections to seasoned employees. 

Companies should harness the knowledge of experienced employees to create comprehensive training and coaching programs for new talent. If an organization can tap into those who have been there, done that, and codify their learnings into training and better programs to coach young talent, they’re going to succeed at building a force field against their competitors. 

Authentically communicating care

Authenticity is the foundation for the relationships employees and candidates form with an organization as an employer. Without it, attracting top talent, deepening employee brand belief and improving the organization’s reputation as an employer will always remain substantial challenges.

Ensure your EVP reflects the genuine care you cultivate within your organization. Share stories of employee growth and well-being through internal channels and social media. Consider tailoring your communication to resonate with different generations and remote workers. Use platforms your audience frequently visits, and personalize your messages when possible.

Care is more than a paycheck 

Businesses succeed and become industry leaders by prioritizing what is important to employees. A company’s employee experience has a remarkable impact on its customers— there’s plenty of evidence of the link between the quality of the culture and the business’ success. In an era where employees have unprecedented choices, a culture of genuine care is a powerful differentiator in the market.