Think of Your Company as a Community
Between 2009 and 2015, NBC-TV aired a quirky sitcom that, while never a ratings smash, quickly acquired cult status. Community, created by Dan Harmon, followed a diverse group of students at the fictional Greendale Community College who form a study group to navigate the travails of undergraduate scholarship and ultimately, life itself. Although dissimilar in age, gender, personality, and temperament, the characters in Community form deep bonds of mutual respect that allow them to function as a community, each playing a unique role in the group’s success.
Although not technically a “workplace” comedy, Community can serve as an instructive model for how to acquire and retain workers at your organization. In short, it can demonstrate how to become an employer of choice. After all, by creating a community spirit, you can bring out the best in your people and, just as important, give them a reason to stay.
This discussion couldn’t come at a more critical time. As we know, retention is critical to any company’s success. And it’s in peril now. Many, many people are changing employers these days with maddening frequency; the average tenure is 4.1 years, down just slightly from 4.2 years in 2018, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This year, fully one-third of the entire workforce is expected to leave their current jobs to find better pay, to work remotely, or due to burnout. (This phenomenon is often called The Great Resignation or The Great Quit, a topic you have undoubtedly heard much about in recent months.)
Now, if you must hire and onboard a third of your workforce every year, that’s a massive expense, as well as an anchor-like drag on productivity. However, study after study has shown workers are more likely to stay with a company when they feel a personal connection to the organization, when they feel valued, when they feel as if they belong.
Like members of an actual community—say, those students at fictional Greendale Community College—workers in an office will have competing ideas, differing opinions, and unique ways of approaching problems. But if they consider their workplace “their community,” they’re apt to stay right where they are. Which can be good for your company. And your bottom line.
So how can you make an employee feel like part of a community? Here are a few time-tested techniques:
Develop and practice Emotional Intelligence (EQ). Leaders and managers at all levels need to better connect with their own feelings and develop the ability to connect emotionally with others. This is because it’s far easier to motivate, lead, and even redress people through their feelings than via reason or, worse, mere directives. (“Do it because I say so!”) But developing emotional intelligence is not easy. It requires listening, self-examination, and empathy. Like workers, leaders are themselves emotion-driven beings prone to frustration, fear, impatience, and anger, and they must learn to recognize and control these feelings so they can provide the solutions and support their teams need to succeed.
Double down on your company’s purpose. Every company exists to make money. But if that is all your company is about, you’ve given workers no reason to choose your company over someone else’s. Companies like Apple, Tesla, and Facebook have become corporate mega-giants by offering dreams along with a paycheck and benefit package. Like religions, they give workers the opportunity to become “part of something bigger than themselves.” And like someone who is devoutly religious—a “true believer”—a worker who embraces a company’s ethos is likely to stick with that company despite temptations to go elsewhere. But beware: Focusing on purpose requires that a company’s policies and operations honestly reflect the mission it purports to pursue. Lofty slogans are not enough. Actions speak louder than words.
Create connection points. Companies function best when employees actually know and care about one another. This is often achieved by giving workers opportunities to share stories, discover each other’s backgrounds, and learn what makes each of them an individual. Establishing such connections can be challenging in this era of remote working, but it’s essential to achieve not only workplace cohesion, but also durability. Even highly diverse workplaces can still function like a community when employees regard their co-workers as actual people rather than just job titles.
Infuse a culture of safety. When looking for a home, we look for a community with a low crime rate, quality schools, highly rated hospitals, and good community services, including police and fire. In short, we want a neighborhood where we feel secure. Workers look for similar amenities in their professional environment. They want a workspace where they can play to their strengths, operate free of harassment, and develop to their full potential.
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Creating the ideal workplace takes, well… work. As the African saying tells us, “It takes a village.” Success requires a community of people working together toward a common goal. Which is why we’re here. For decades, we at Conover Consulting have been helping companies of all types create cultures that attract and, importantly, retain top talent. For more information on how we can help you build a better community, please contact me at Laura@conoverconsulting.com.