The benefits of having a robust and vibrant work culture cannot be stressed enough. But building a great workplace, where employees can excel and bring their best and authentic selves to work, calls for an intentional approach. At Salesforce, we build a culture of trust by being incredibly intentional about our Ohana, our values, our behaviours, and the experiences we deliver. Our recent recognition as a Great Place to Work validates the high-trust culture that we take immense pride in. Let’s look into how organisations can create an enabling work environment for employees.
Make the workplace a people’s place
Employees must feel a sense of belonging and a strong connection with their company. The traditional employer-employee relationship must be replaced with a ‘partner in growth’ sentiment. How can you do this?
1. Drive a growth culture through technology
To drive a culture of growth and efficiency, employees need to be enabled with the right tools and technology. At Salesforce, we leverage digital platforms to reshape employee engagement and elevate our business productivity. From a world class digital onboarding experience, to using Salesforce’s very own online collaboration tools like Salesforce Anywhere (Quip), Chatter and other digital applications, our overall approach is to empower our employees and let them use technology to work more flexibly, more remotely, and more freely.
2. Tune in to employee needs and respond appropriately
Designing policies and setting goals with an employee-first mindset establishes credibility and demonstrates empathy. It builds mutual trust and transforms employees into brand advocates. At Salesforce India, employee-friendly leave policies and flexible work hours encourage employee well-being.
3. Institute feedback mechanisms to make employee sentiments count
Your best employee engagement strategies can become obsolete if you don’t constantly improve on them by seeking feedback. We hold bi-annual employee surveys to gauge employee engagement and the health of the work culture. This helps us stay employee-centric; and employees feel that their voices matter. Crucially, these assessments also enable a feedback loop that helps shape our leadership styles. By way of these measures, employees are participants as well as beneficiaries of change.
4. Enable learning and growth opportunities
With the pace at which technology is evolving, employees need to constantly learn new skills to take charge of their careers. Salesforce believes that personal growth and development empowers our employees to produce better results and meet their goals. Through Trailhead, Salesforce’s very own gamified learning experience platform, many of our employees and customers are blazing new trails every day by gaining new skills and honing the existing ones.
Instil a sense of ownership among employees
A culture of ‘Trust’ and ‘Autonomy’ can have a strong impact on employee productivity and the company as a whole. In one of our internal employee surveys, 94% of respondents said that they were “willing to do extra to get the job done.” When employees feel a sense of ownership, they are willing to make a personal commitment to achieving the organisation’s goals and results.
Provide the power of purpose
For employees to feel motivated and charged-up, it’s important for the workplace to offer more than just work. Businesses can be a platform for positive change, giving back to the communities they work and live in. This is the premise of our1-1-1 philosophy, where 1% of our revenues, 1% of products and 1% of employees’ time is contributed to the community.
Employee volunteering extends the sense of value-driven employment. It offers a meaningful way for teams to bond and makes employees happy. At Salesforce, we encourage our employees to avail Volunteer Time Off (VTO) benefit of 56 hours, and match their donations to worthy causes for upto $5,000.
Emphasise the values your company stands for
Communicate clearly about the core values of your company. More importantly, walking the talk when it comes to company values will ensure that employees follow your lead. At Salesforce, we inspire each other and the industry through our values of trust, customer success, innovation, and equality.
Let employees know you have their back
Why wait for an opportune moment to build a supportive work culture for your employees? The most employee-centric organisations have internal mechanisms in place to help their employees cope with personal and professional crises. And these can be amplified, when needed, by customising benefits to suit specific situations. For instance, during the ongoing COVID-19-triggered situation, Salesforce has been working diligently to support employees as they navigate through this pandemic.
From supporting work-from-home with an allowance to set up home offices to initiating special well-being programs, our response to the pandemic is constantly evolving. Our back-up childcare program and family care leave options are initiatives to help our employees, especially working parents, manage the economic and logistical challenges of the pandemic. We also have an India COVID Care Program in place, which connects employees to reliable and affordable 24/7 healthcare services should an emergency ever arise. B-Well Together, our weekly webinars with luminary speakers and wellness experts globally, recently completed over 100 episodes and has been received very well.
Salesforce India has demonstrated that building a healthy work culture demands carefully thought-out policies; policies that promote employee happiness across critical dimensions – excelling at the workplace, contributing to the larger society, and finding a reliable support system at work.
