• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, June 13, 2023

It's likely that few people working in the email marketing trenches worry much about corporate culture. Some are gig workers who rarely, if ever, enter an office.

But petty annoyances and power struggles can affect their work even offsite, so it may pay to heed the new study from Arbinger Institute, conducted by Ascend2: Creating a High-Performance Culture: The Role of Company Culture in Driving Success. 

The companies polled see these benefits from having an improved corporate culture: 

• Increased productivity — 46% 
• Improved retention — 40% 
• Improved employee engagement — 38% 
• Increased feelings of inclusion, belonging & psychological safety — 34% 
• Increased revenue — 26% 
• Improved communication & collaboration improved employee — 26%
• Improved employee accountability, improved situational awareness — 22% 
• Decrease in negative conflicts—21%

But getting there is not easy. The challenges: 

• Evolving the strategy to meet changes in the workforce — 52% 
• Follow-up/staying consistent — 46%
• Resources needed to implement — 38%
• Employee adoption — 38%
• Creating a strategy — 35% 
• Tracking performance metrics — 33% 
• Buy-in from leadership — 26%

It’s all well and good to improve the culture. But you still have to make your numbers. Indeed, 77% of decision-makers and strategic leaders report that short-term goals (revenue, profit-margin, reduction of expenses) “hinder long-term strategies to improve company culture,” the study says.  

What are the key elements of a successful corporate culture? Best-in-class companies focus on the following: 

• Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) — 71% 
• Leadership development — 69%
• Performance management — 71% 

In addition, best-in-class companies emphasize: 

• Professional development — 67% 
• Time management — 51% 
• Business process—46% 
• Technical training — 46% 
• Mindset — 39%
• Succession planning — 37%
• Offsite/team-building activities — 30%
• Job rotations — 23%

And what are the results? Of the best-in-class firms, 47% have seen significant revenue increases in the past year, versus 9% of all other companies. And 75% of the best-in-class are likely to have an extremely positive outlook on business success, compared to 21% of the others. 

Moreover, companies that prioritize DEI, leadership development and performance management initiatives see better results in key areas.  

For example, 84% of this group enjoy an extremely positive outlook on their business success. And 53% experienced a significant increase in revenue last year. What’s more, 34% report an employee retention rate of 80% or higher. 

Don’t despair: Even if you feel isolated, you can buy into these changes and even help lead them.  You would well see an uptick in your metrics. 

Ascend2 surveyed 302 strategic decision makers and executive leadership from U.S. organizations with 500 or more employees in March 2023.