Scaling culture in a company
Culture in a company should encompass all of its values, visions, and goals – in other words, everything that makes it operate the way it does, from its process for hiring personnel to its protocols for communicating via email and video meetings.
While things like catered lunches and unlimited PTO can enhance a culture, culture is so much more. In fact, it’s one of the most important contributors to employee happiness.
A Columbia University study found much less turnover in organizations with a positive culture. Plus, these happy employees who buy into a company’s culture are typically more willing to become advocates for it, in turn helping improve recruitment. [1]
Building a culture that works
Almost all executives (94%) and employees (88%) think distinct company culture is important to have. [2] For large and well-established organizations, such a culture may have been in place for many years. But what about small and medium-sized businesses that are just getting started? How can they create an appealing culture right away?
An MIT assessment of Glassdoor identified a so-called “big nine” of important cultural attributes that jobseekers prioritize:
- Agility
- Collaboration
- Customer focus
- Diversity
- Execution/process discipline
- Innovation
- Integrity
- Performance recognition
- Respect
These nine are interrelated. For example, companies that facilitate effective collaboration through video meetings, VoIP calls, and real-time chat are almost always going to be more agile, i.e. capable of rapidly responding to industry changes and seizing key opportunities.
Accordingly, investing in modern audio and video collaboration tools will help businesses put their best foot forward when recruiting, supporting, and connecting employees, no matter where they are physically located. That’s a key competitive advantage in the age of mobile and remote work, and one that contributes to the other components of the big nine, like being able to focus on customers and come up with ideas that fuel product innovation. See how web conferencing can be utilized for real-time online collaboration
The role of collaboration and culture in a company
Many businesses now launch without a traditional corporate campus or even dedicated desks for their workers. They may also support remote work policies, which have the dual benefits of reducing rent or real estate costs and giving employees greater flexibility.
Such a flexible company structure promotes agility. Businesses that tap into mobile and remote work can hire from – and target customers in – more locations, market themselves more effectively to highly sought-after recruits, and scale their office space usage up or down as needed. Global Workplace Analytics has nicely captured these benefits in numbers:
- More than 80% of employees [2] think telework is a job perk, illustrating its importance to a positive corporate culture.
- Companies can save six figures or more on office space, as well as on employee relocation expenses and the costs of turnover.
- Remote workers can in some cases be more productive, with one firm seeing increased sales, fewer customer complaints, and lower attrition
So what’s the catch? For starters, many remote workers feel left out, which is a potential risk for companies that rely on these working arrangements.
This is where collaboration solutions, like ones for holding online video meetings from anywhere with an internet connection, can make all the difference. Because collaboration is a core component of appealing company culture, it should be supported with the best available software featuring capabilities that extend far beyond conventional conference calls.
A video conferencing platform, in particular, can bring workers together across multiple locations and make them feel like they’re included, thanks to key features such as:
1. Face-to-face meetings at any time, from anywhere
What do you think feels more conducive to a positive, supportive company culture that can scale: A low-quality, anonymous-sounding voice call, or a lifelike conference over high-definition video?
Video conferencing meetings have the unique benefit of making attendees feel like they’re all in the same room even if they’re actually far apart. They’re perfect for in-depth conversations that provide crystal-clear insights into everyone’s real-time reactions and body language, making them a great addition to anything from a sales demo to a human resources update.
2. Easy usability, both at the desk and on the go
High-quality communications between employees are vital to productive company culture. That’s why issues such as email, meeting fatigue, and difficulties joining an online meeting can spell trouble for both productivity and morale. But intuitive video meeting solutions can help by making it straightforward for anyone to participate.
In Webex, joining a video conference is as easy as tapping/clicking a button when it’s time for the meeting to begin – no dial-in number is required. Joining is simple by PC, tablet, phone, or using a standards-based video conferencing system. Participating doesn’t even need a download, as it’s possible to connect via a web browser.
3. Screen sharing for real-time communication
Remember how we said that a lot of remote workers felt like they were isolated and possibly missing important information? Screen sharing within a video meeting platform helps alleviate some of these concerns and make it easier for everyone to stay engaged. Screen sharing works on both desktop and mobile devices. It can be used to share an entire screen for demoing a particular workflow, or just a specific document or application so that viewers can follow along with the presenter’s explanation.
4. Save the conference for later with meeting recordings
If someone can’t make a video meeting or simply wants to review what happened, later on, they can easily do so thanks to built-in recording capabilities in Webex. After the meeting ends, an MP4 of the session will be emailed and can be viewed with just a click.
Building a positive company culture is essential to the long-term prospects of any business. Video meetings make it easier to ensure that employees are happy no matter where they’re working from.
Learn how to get started with Webex for free today.
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