Employees play an important role in building the reputation of any organisation.
Their sentiment towards the company is what they will be communicating to their nearest and dearest. This is important to consider as friends and family will have a perception of the company which is based on what employees say, rather than what a fancy advertising campaign might say.
Reputation Matters, an African research company specialising in reputation research, has developed its Organisational Climate Survey (OCS) research model to assess what exactly contributes to employee morale, productivity, employee motivation and behaviour, and job satisfaction.
“We have developed our OCS based on our reputation management model, the Repudometer to extend our reputation research scope,” says Chris Bischoff, research analyst at Reputation Matters. “Employees play such a big role in driving companies’ reputations, it is therefore important to understand the collective perception of employees: what influences their motivation and behaviour; what are their operational needs and communication preferences; and how do they perceive their roles in relation to the organisation’s vision and roadmap?”
Organisational climate has a more in-depth focus on how the organisation is experienced by employees on a daily basis. It should however, not be confused with organisational culture, which relates to the “why” things happen.
Nowadays an average workforce consists of three generations, namely Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials; each of which have different communication preferences. Reputation Matters’ OCS model helps to gain greater insight into the different generations to increase engagement amongst all employees through their preferred channels of communication. This helps improve and build stronger relationships with employees.
“The climate of your organisation also has an impact on the calibre of new recruits that you attract. So it is important to have the foundation in place so that you attract the right people,” says Bischoff. “A healthy organisational climate will also positively contribute to employee retention.”
An organisation’s leadership team plays an important role in establishing the climate. The leadership team will bring certain values, goals and structures to the table and this has a great influence on the overall organisational climate and how employees interact with each other. “As a person in a leadership position, you need to realise that your employees are your company’s most valuable resource; look after them, help them to grow in their position, in turn they will contribute to overall company growth,” says Bischoff.
By having a positive organisational climate, companies will see better performance and functioning of the business. Employee motivation and job satisfaction is also impacted, which ultimately contributes to the business’ bottom line.