Your people are your most valuable asset. It’s true! Where would your business be without its employees putting in the time and effort to service your customers each day? No business would survive without the skills, knowledge and endeavour of its people. They are the lifeblood of an organisation. That’s why putting employee experience, health and wellbeing first makes complete business sense, and creating a people-first workplace is essential. In this blog, we’ll examine seven areas where prioritising people in the workplace can generate tangible business benefits, and how measuring your workplace culture helps you understand the difference between the culture you want and the one you have.
Prioritising your people makes business sense
People haven’t always been treated with respect at work. During the industrial revolution employees were mere cogs in the wheels of machines. Employers were free to make irrational demands on people’s time and placed no importance on health, wellbeing or working conditions. It wasn’t until the 1980s that HR departments became the norm and prioritising people became a business priority. It’s shocking to hear about the way some people were treated at work. Thankfully, today’s workplaces are much more people friendly. Lots of organisations appreciate the value of their employees, promote positive attitudes and behaviours, and actively put employee needs before profit. The return on investment from investing in people can extend way beyond creating a more engaged and motivated workplace. Let’s look at this and some of the other big business benefits of creating a people-first workplace culture.
Motivation and engagement
When employees know their organisation values them and puts their personal needs before business success, they tend to feel happier and more motivated in their work. Job satisfaction is higher when people are supported, encouraged and valued by their employer. 
Employee engagement surveys generally uncover a link between pride at work and recommendation. This means that when employees feel happy and connected to their work, they will tell friends and family all about it, creating a positive brand image and boosting your reputation as a great place to work.
Innovation and creativity
People-first organisations invest in learning and development to boost the skills and capabilities of their employees. A survey by LinkedIn Learning found that learning amplifies people’s connection and sense of purpose at work. When employees have opportunities to learn, they are more invested in the success of their organisation. A growth and learning culture brings several business benefits including job satisfaction, enhanced innovation and higher levels of creativity. This can lead to a plentiful supply of fresh ideas, collaboration, and innovative thinking. If there’s one way to stay ahead of the competition, it’s through innovation.
Focus on wellbeing
Promoting caring, sensible attitudes towards mental, physical, financial and emotional wellbeing creates a sense of comfort and belonging at work. In our post-pandemic workplace, job seekers are increasingly looking for employers that prioritise wellbeing, flexibility, inclusivity, and offer a good work-life balance. As well as feeling cared for, people want to work in an environment where they feel included and part of a team. Knowing you can come to work and feel comfortable and welcome in your team environment increases overall wellbeing. It also means employees are less likely to experience stress and burnout and be absent from work due to sickness. The CIPD reports that just over half of organisations now have a stand-alone wellbeing strategy. Is your business one of those taking action to enhance wellbeing at work?
Employee recruitment and retention
According to Great Place to Work, 85% of employees at the UK’s best workplaces want to stay at their organisation for a long time. This compares to the UK average of 61%. LinkedIn Learning also found that companies that invest in learning have a 57% retention rate compared to 27% retention where there is a moderate learning culture. Clearly companies that prioritise a positive people-first, learning culture will save money on recruitment and attract better calibre, and a wider pool, of applicants.
Customer experience and retention
As well as attracting and retaining talent, a people-first culture may also enhance relationships with customers. This can happen through implementing those innovative new ideas, or simply because employees are happier in their role, which leads to more positive, engaging and memorable customer interactions.
Increased productivity
Putting people first contributes to higher productivity in a number of ways:
- Learning and development can create more challenging and rewarding work opportunities
- Promoting wellbeing and teamwork leads to collaboration and efficiencies
- Attracting skilled people leads to better ways of working
- Happiness and satisfaction at work is linked to higher performance
- Improved customer interactions attract new business relationships.
Financial performance
For all the reasons we’ve covered, when you invest in creating a positive workplace culture and a great employee experience, your business can become more profitable. Increased productivity, strengthened customer relationships, more innovation and creativity – investing in people can lead to a more profitable business.
A 2022 study by PWC examined eleven employee experience drivers and concluded that focusing activity around wellbeing, training, and development opportunities would lead to the biggest business benefit, equating to almost 5% of turnover. Investing in all eleven drivers could yield more than 12% of total revenue. Two strong reasons why it makes complete sense to put people first – but not the only reasons. Financial reward should never be the sole driver for investing in people.
If you’d like to learn how to create an employee experience with people at its heart, take a look at our guide – The Heart of HR: Strategies for Building a Positive Employee Experience.
Download your EX guideHow to measure workplace culture
While organisational culture is something we all experience, it can be a challenge to define and measure it. Wouldn’t it be valuable to understand the difference between the culture you want and the one you actually have? And how to bridge the gap between the two? Using industry-leading tools and our expert consultancy, we help you understand the specifics of your culture so you can make informed decisions on where to focus investment and measure its impact. Ask us about measuring culture.