A poster on a wall won’t prescribe a company’s culture.

Culture is formed by the employees, for the employees.

By DevCom founder and CEO, Mari Lee  |  Edited by Laura Potgieter |  21 July 2023

“Being human” often leads to intangible challenges when it comes to optimal performance in an organisation. Humans drive the numbers, and if the humans in your organisation are not thriving, your organisation will not either.  Your company culture is the single most important organism that will support your business goals. Start by recognising that employee commitment is crucial for organisational success. By ensuring that employees are engaged and committed, you can create a positive work environment and boost productivity. Employee engagement and bottom-up wellness are vital for sustainable business growth. Extensive research shows that engaged employees are more productive, less likely to be hostile or unionised, and more likely to stay with the organisation.

So, how do you engage your employees?

Bottom-up engagement starts with the employee. Employee engagement is an individual experience. In part, driven by personal values and what we value in a job. The solution must also be personalised. All of us are triggered and activated by fires that might not be ignited by the same type of fuel. When employees receive personalised feedback on what is driving their (dis)engagement and are given the opportunity to address it, their responses will be motivated from a place of value. With awareness comes the opportunity for change.

But where do you start? As a full-scale consultancy, we offer comprehensive solutions across these areas.

  1. Conduct a thorough assessment of the business environment, identify key variables to measure, and collect data from existing sources and through new conversations. We use conversation as a tool. A pre-assessment, using qualitative processes or tools like The Greenlight tool for social impact provides valuable insights.
  2. Based on the assessment, we design customised actions such as training materials, communication campaigns, peer groups, and facilitator training. Digital and other communication platforms have their place, but we are firm believers (and we see it in our research results) that conversation is where we share meaning and it is the true definition of communication. Unless shared meaning has transpired, there isn’t really communication that has taken place.
  3. Demonstrate how employee engagement positively influences various aspects of a business. By focusing on practical measures such as reducing absenteeism and improving punctuality, the organisation will achieve tangible improvements.
  4. Transform these results into business intelligence. We do this by presenting a dashboard that highlights the influence of employee engagement on sales. Managers receive quarterly reports that detail communication scores, HR scores, engagement scores, and their impact on sales and margins. This tangible feedback empowers managers to make informed decisions and take actions that drive positive outcomes.