Pandemic's effects on workplace culture still felt: SHRM

Although the pandemic may be easing, organizations still are grappling with its ongoing impact, according to a new report from the Society of Human Resource Management.

“Today’s employers are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit new staff, making it all the more challenging to grow their business and the economy,” the report says. “The elusiveness of talent is unprecedented.”

The report, “Strengthening Workplace Culture: A Tool for Retaining and Empowering Employees Globally,” revealed several trends:

• Despite the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, workplace cultures have remained unwaveringly positive. Nearly three-fourths of workers rate their workplace culture as good or very good.
• Even in a pandemic, nearly nine in 10 workers feel physically safe at work, and 82 percent feel emotionally safe.
• Yet despite overwhelmingly positive and safe workplace cultures, the Great Resignation is sweeping the globe. Almost half of workers have thought about leaving their current organization.
• Negative workplace culture experiences will drive top talent to look elsewhere. Workers who rate their culture as poor (64 percent) are more likely to have actively searched for a new job in the past six months compared with workers who rate their culture as good (22 percent).
• Poor workplace culture can be a consequence of poor people management. One-third of workers say their manager does not know how to lead a team. That number rises to 54 percent among workers who actively are looking for a job.
• Organizations that fail to demonstrate empathy leave themselves vulnerable to turnover. Ninety-three percent of employees who work at an organization that offers empathy training said they love working for their organization because of the culture, compared with 56 percent of workers who work at an organization that does not offer such training.
• In a post-pandemic world, the divide between organizations that empower workers and those that don’t will continue to widen. Employees who rate their workplace culture as good (95 percent) are more likely to say they have a meaningful career working for their organization, compared with those who rate their culture as poor (32 percent), the report says.

“Even a pandemic couldn’t wreak havoc on workplace culture, which speaks to the strides that organizations have made in recent years,” the report concluded. “For the organizations that dedicated themselves to cultural change before the pandemic, their commitment to positive work environments bore fruit at a time of crisis. Workers generally feel safe and heard at work, increasing their productivity and benefiting the bottom line.

“Still, organizations must remain vigilant. New economic trends, namely the Great Resignation, make it all the more imperative to prioritize culture. Workplace culture will spell the difference between success and failure in a post-pandemic world. Now is the time to focus on communication, transparency, trust and all of the other tenets of a strong work environment — one that puts workers first.”