Workday's Ashley Godwin on what they have learned about their culture.
Workday Chief People Officer recently wrote a blog post about the company’s culture in which she says that even though the company climbed to #7 on the list of "FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work for in 2018", there was once a time when not all employees were happy to work there. But the company took a number of steps to help ensure our culture stays on track.
Here are three important learnings that Ashley thinks can apply to nearly every company when it comes to navigating the inevitable culture ups and downs.
1. Make culture a priority
Even with the best intentions, culture can start to slip into the shadows behind an organisation’s most pressing business priorities. To avoid that terrible moment when you realize your culture is slipping, your leadership team can work together to make culture a priority each and every day.
2. Listen to your workforce and take action
One of the best ways you can make culture a priority is to really listen to employees and understand areas where culture may be strained. At Workday, they partner with Great Place to Work, applying their own Workday survey technology to engage employees through two questions that are sent out weekly and which employees can answer in a few seconds from their phone, tablet, or laptop.
Based on the insights generated from the feedback, they have started delivering targeted coaching content to people leaders through their Workday Learning application, which suggests how managers can better support their teams.
3. Create meaningful employee experiences
Everyone appreciates great workplace perks, but creating meaningful employee experiences goes beyond that. At Workday, they have been honing their focus on moments that matter. Whether it’s helping their leaders and employees find a mentor, exploring peer learning options, building desired skills or connecting people with other colleagues (and they can leverage features in Workday that support these and other career growth and learning goals), their mission is to empower their teams and enable their growth.
