In the past, and even until now, companies have functioned under the concept of putting customers first and impressing clients. While clients are still held in high esteem, more and more companies are focusing on extending these values to their employees.

Employee relations and company culture are two mutually inclusive terms that are growing increasingly popular in the business space. They describe an organization’s dedication to creating a sense of community among all employees. 

Although employee relations and company culture have very different meanings underneath the surface of the terms, together, they reflect the importance of creating positive relationships at work. But how exactly do they connect? In this article, we explore the fusion of employee relations and company culture and what it might mean for businesses today.

Understanding the Basics: What Is Employee Relations?

To understand the benefits of connecting employee relations with company culture, it is first important to understand the core of each term. Although employee relations and company culture focus on creating a positive sense of community in the workplace, they focus on two distinct parts of an organization.

Employee relations, in simple terms, refer to the relationship between employers and their employees. It is a term that has grown increasingly popular in the modern business world, becoming popular as one of the recipes for a successful business.

Employee relations is concerned with fostering positive relationships in the workplace. It falls outside the net of regular employee policies designed to create an unbiased establishment and takes it one step further by creating a sense of community.

The changing business demographics mean that traditional office settings are evolving. Trends in the business world are rapidly evolving as the world advances, transforming the average traditional company into a modernized faction. One way the business world transforms is by paying more attention to business employees and giving them the attention they are not usually given.

Nowadays, employees are not simply helpers who do the job for an establishment. They are resources and assets that bring a business’s goals and missions to life while equally acting as a direct point of contact between the organization and clients. 

More importantly, employees are seeing their worth in the business market. This growing self-awareness has raised the bar for a company to keep its employees. Today, the salary being paid is not as important to an employee. In the modern business market, employees will choose a company that treats them right over every other option.

This is one of the major reasons employee relations are important today.

Employee relations involve building a positive relationship with and for employees. It focuses on creating a positive community where employees feel welcomed and valued by their company.

The Human Resources department typically manages employee relations. As such, it encompasses several aspects of HR management, including employee compensation, disciplinary processes, and diversity initiatives. It generally involves anything that involves understanding employee needs and managing the relationships within the organization.

Examples of employee relations cases are usually incidents that may affect employees’ relationships at work. Some of these include:

• Workplace Conflict

Conflicts occur everywhere, and the office is not exempt from this. With many people of various ages, backgrounds, and backgrounds in one place, it is almost impossible not to have disagreements and disputes. In most cases, these disagreements may arise due to differences in opinions, bias, or lack of proper communication.

Employee relations necessitate the immediate squashing of conflicts within an organization. While conflict dissolution might be difficult mostly because it is impossible to please everyone, employee relations focuses on the best way to resolve these problems with little bias.

• Workplace Bullying

Employee relations ensure that every employee gets equal rights. This, in turn, ensures no employee is bullied by their colleagues or members of the higher chain of management. By ensuring the absence of bullying in the workplace, companies create an environment where all employees feel safe.

What Is Company Culture?

Company culture, or organizational culture, is the shared beliefs, values, and goals within an organization. It encompasses how this gets done within the organization, including how employees think, act, and what they believe in.

Company culture is more than simple policies guiding the actions that go on within an organization. It reflects the written and unwritten rules of what the company stands for and how employees manage, interact, and perform within the organization.

Research by Deloitte showed that 88% of employees believe that distinct company culture is essential to the success of an organization. This research also found that 94% of executives highlighted company cultures as an important part of company success and growth. Essentially the importance of company culture to a company’s growth cannot be overstated.

Company culture may not have been in the business scene for a long time, but it has become one of the most popular terms today. This powerful dynamic offers numerous benefits to employees and employees, highlighting the essence for which the company exists.

For every organization, there is always a sense of unique work culture. However, for a company to be successful, the work culture must be nothing but positive.

Creating good and positive work is a great way to attract talents that fit your company’s objectives. Employees today are seeking out companies with a culture that aligns with theirs. They want to work with organizations that fit their ideations, beliefs, and personal or professional growth.

This is not surprising as working with an organization whose culture matches yours ensures you feel right at home in that workplace setting. Working with a company with a positive workplace culture has been proven to positively help employees’ psychological health, increase job satisfaction, foster healthy relationships at work, and create a sense of community where workers can feel welcomed.

For a company, creating a positive work culture where workers feel valued and welcome increases employee loyalty. It also means employees are more active, satisfied, productive, and intentional about the growth of the business. This is a win-win situation, making company culture one of the most vital ingredients to a successful company.

The Different Forms Of Company Culture

No two company cultures are truly identical. However, companies can share a very similar company culture.

Company culture includes everything from a company’s design aesthetics and layout to how employees are expected to dress. It includes the company’s values, objectives, mission, and goals.

There are various categories of company cultures. Many company cultures today are variations of these general company cultures. The various categories of company culture include:

1. Adhocracy Culture: A culture that encourages its employees to take risks. This culture challenges the status quo by encouraging employees to think outside the traditional thinking box. Most companies that practice this are start-ups, tech, or new-generational companies.

2. Clan Culture: Focuses on creating a clan, family, or tight-knit community of workers. It minimizes or completely eradicates hierarchy and ensures employees all feel involved and valued. Companies with clan cultures are usually open and have a more supportive environment. Small companies usually practice this kind of culture.

3. Customer-Focuses Culture: This culture emphasizes the “customer is king” narrative and tends always to put customers first. They are customer-focused, meaning every action carried out in the company is directly or indirectly directed toward giving customers nothing but a positive experience. 

4. Hierarchy Culture: The direct opposite of clan culture, hierarchy culture possesses a well-defined management hierarchy. The culture structure has upper managers, supervisors, and employees at various organizational levels. Hierarchy culture is usually risk-averse and sticks to certain policies and rules to minimize failure due to risks. It is typically found in traditional communities.

5. Market-driven Culture: The market-driven culture focuses on dominating the market. It is usually highly competitive and emphasizes the need for productivity amongst employees.

6. Purpose-Driven Culture: As its name suggests, a purpose-driven culture is driven by purpose. The company’s reason for existence defines its values, mission, and goals. In most cases, these companies focus on giving back to the community.

7. Innovative Culture: Innovative culture focuses on creating innovative products. It focuses on coming up with the latest, most innovative ideas for products and services to meet customer’s current needs. This culture allows employees to experiment and find solutions to customer problems.

8. Creative Culture: Focuses on and upholds creativity. It looks for new ways to provide customers with new experiences.

Connecting Employee Relations And  Company Culture

Employee relations and company cultures are no doubt interconnected and have a significant impact on a company. Together, these factors greatly influence how an employee perceives a company.

Years ago, and even in many traditional companies today, the focus was greatly on keeping the customer happy while employees struggled to voice their frustrations. However, the change in the generations of workers has brought a wind of change. Coupled with changing workforce expectations, increased mental health awareness, changing legal landscapes, the advent of technology, and the growing popularity of social media, more workers have begun emphasizing employee prioritization. As such, if you plan on attracting and hiring Gen Z talents, you must first provide the type of culture and quality of employee relations they need.

More importantly, companies are beginning to recognize how much of an asset their employees are. After, employee intellect, skills, expertise, and performance are what truly drive the success of any company.

Standards have been raised in the job market, and employers are expected to display empathy and compassion towards their employees. This not only includes providing competitive salaries, employee compensation or bonuses, or mouthwatering benefits. 

Now, employers must show more care and concern for their employees’ well-being. One way this is possible is by taking a closer look at employee relations and the entire organizational structure in a business.

Additionally, a company’s reputation not only lies in the quality of its products or services. It is also determined by how well they treat their employees.

A study showed that only one in five correspondents are comfortable sharing problems or raising conflicts with colleagues. It also shows that only one in six people feel highly connected to their organization and the people they work for and with. This indicates that many companies need to take a deeper look at their employee relations and company culture.

Connecting company culture and employee relations means creating a strong link between an organization’s values, norms, and practices (all factors that represent company culture) and the relationship between employees (which represents employee relations). By fusing both employee relations and company culture, companies can create an environment where employees feel engaged, supported, motivated, aligned with company values, and, of course, appreciated. 

Why Should Companies Connect Employee Relations And Company Culture

A closer look at how company culture can strengthen employee relations and vice versa fosters a positive and inclusive work environment. It makes it easier for companies to create a work environment where employee satisfaction, work-life balance, productivity, and relationships are priorities.

Building a strong company culture emphasizing positive employer relations offers numerous benefits for companies and their employees. In a time where employees are spending shorter tenures in their jobs due to their needs for security and growth not being met, building a company culture that prioritizes employee relations will play a role in solving the resignation and quiet quitting the pandemic in the business world.

With a strong culture that excels at relations, employees will feel more understood, motivated, and in the long run, be more productive. Some reasons to connect employee relations and company culture include the following:

• Employee Engagement and Productivity:

The fusion of company culture and employee relations is a great way to create an environment where employees feel more connected to their roles. This helps employees be more motivated to work, increasing engagement and productivity.

• Job Satisfaction:

One reason employees are leaving their jobs is the absence of satisfaction in the roles they play in that organization. By connecting company culture and employee relations, companies create positive environments that increase employee satisfaction. This acts as a powerful tool for attracting and retaining top talent.

• Enhanced Communication and Collaboration:

By connecting company culture and employee relations, companies help employees feel welcome as a part of that establishment. This is integral in promoting open and effective communication as employees feel comfortable expressing their thoughts, ideas, and concerns. This open communication strengthens the relationships among employees, thereby leading to better collaboration, teamwork, and problem-solving.

• Positive Company Reputation

Building a strong company culture that excels at employee relations is vital for a positive reputation. Connecting company culture and employee relations creates an environment where employees can have positive experiences. This speaks positively about the company, showing customers, stakeholders, and the public that they truly care about employees. 

More importantly, employees are likelier to be ambassadors and speak positively about the establishment. This attracts customers and talents looking for jobs and impresses stakeholders enough to make them long-term establishment partners. 

• Alignment With Organizational Values

Connecting company culture and employee relations helps companies to constantly and consistently reinforce their values and goals. By creating a culture where employees not only share the same values as the establishment but also feel heard and seen, organizations will find it easier to work with their employees toward a common strategic goal. This alignment with organizational values fosters a cohesive and purpose-driven workforce.

Creating A Company Culture Where Workers Feel Heard

Company culture and employee relations are two integral part of an establishment that companies have to improve. By connecting company culture and employee relations, corporate ventures can create an environment where employees are constantly motivated, satisfied, engaged, productive, and dedicated to working towards the organization’s common goal.

However, having a positive company culture isn’t enough. You need talented employees who share the same value as your company and are as dedicated to reaching the company goal.

When it comes to attracting and hiring talented individuals, our team at iCreatives are professionals at solving your staffing needs. From marketers to tech experts and designers, we are experts at recruiting the best talents for your company across all industries.

Want to fill job roles quickly with high-quality candidates? Contact us at 855-427-3284 to get started.