The Impact of Workplace Culture and How We Can Help

Have you ever worked for a company and thought, "Man, this place would be a great work environment if only they did blank"? Then you stayed for a year or two and moved on, just to find most jobs were similar. There is a gap between the employer and the employee. A misunderstanding. 

Through my 30 years of life, I have worked for many different businesses in a wide variety of work environments. I have had a passion and drive for entrepreneurship and hard work for as long as I can remember. As soon as I was legally old enough to work, I was working.

From babysitting gigs to fast food, hosting and serving at restaurants, being a preschool teacher at 17, a hotel maid, part of the grounds crew at a golf course, a freelance model and affiliate marketer, and even briefly a personal assistant for the production team of the reality show The Bachelor, all by the age of 19.

After that came roles as a shift manager at a natural grocery store, a jewelry salesperson, a manager and stylist at a Guess store outside of San Francisco, positions in an investment firm and public relations, and now Glacier Growth Marketing. Doing contracted marketing and social media work had been a side job for me for many years before I had the opportunity to do it full-time. Well, I should say before making the opportunity. Because sometimes life won’t give them to you, you need to create your own and pray a lot. 

I was never fired, and I worked hard in every position I held. I simply always hungered for more than what was being offered, whether that was opportunities for growth, a stronger sense of purpose, or a healthier work environment.

These experiences had provided 15 years of growth, learning different industry standards, and finding out the hard, cold truth we all face. Working for someone else is not all it's cracked up to be. Not all places are toxic work environments, and the ones that are, I am sure, are never intended to be or even realize they are.

Through my time in college, I started in the field of psychology and sociology with a minor in photography and a certificate in journalism. I was learning everything I enjoyed, understanding the world and the people in it, the mind and behaviors, myself, and how to improve and grow. How to capture photos that tell a story and write articles that make you feel something.

Photos and film have always been a form of creativity as well as a way to tell stories. I ended up switching majors to Mass Communications as it was a better fit for my long-term career goals, although psychology will always fascinate me. You will find that my favorite genre of book is psychological thrillers, and select self-help books like Atomic Habits and The Let Them Theory, which all incorporate psychology.

In my Mass Communications classes, we covered Human Resources and healthy as well as toxic workplace environments. What I learned is something I always felt was important to change in the American workplace culture we see today.

Work harder and longer hours, and you will get promoted. Give up your weekends, holidays, summers, and sanity for your job. Don't take a sick day because it will eat into your vacation days, and then you will never get to enjoy life, so just come to work sick. Don't ever complain about your mediocre pay, your lousy manager, or lazy co-workers.

I can assume we have all either been mistreated, underappreciated, or have felt little to no satisfaction with our job at some point. And if you are a business owner, not only have you experienced that, but maybe now you are contributing to the toxic work environment you now run.

Your turnover rate is high, employee engagement and maybe performance are down, your employees talk about you behind your back, or you at least think they do, and you can't seem to get anyone to care about your business as much as you do.

Maybe you've tried making an effort to be a healthy work environment through team outings, bonuses, raises, vacation days, and you've asked employees what you could do better. You have even tried disciplining bad behaviors and rewarding good ones, yet nothing is working.

Ambition is low, dedication is lacking, and people seem disgruntled. But NOBODY is saying anything to your face or coming up with solutions to make it better. Or maybe they are, and you aren't hearing the problem or asking the right questions. 

There are several reasons why employees would choose to find work elsewhere before confronting their managers or the owner. They do not know what to say, how to say it, or they simply do not feel it is their job to tell you how to do your job. If they are choosing to continue working there, they also may fear repercussions for telling you the truth. Or maybe you are just refusing to hear them and choose to label them as "a problem," "unteachable," or "not ready for the promotion."

Many employers fear employees who are strong-willed and think for themselves instead of learning from them and their perspectives. Employers sometimes feel threatened to trust employees with decisions when they are more than capable.

We often see employers and managers become the bottleneck of the company because they are the only decision-makers, or they fail to do their part because they are doing too much. There have been companies that have fired or demoted employees because they were unable to perform in the way they were expected to, but they were never given the proper tools to do their job in the first place.

Business owners and employees have both been left unsatisfied and detached from each other for generations, but why has there not been much change? HR representatives were added to some companies, usually bigger ones with multiple employees, and not all industries. There have been lawsuits, "Me Too" movements, and even crazy stories of disgruntled employees doing awful things to their bosses, their place of business, customers, or even their co-workers.

Glacier Growth Marketing operates differently. We prioritize work-life balance, our employees' and contractors' well-being, and our clients.  We strive to create a safe, healthy, and satisfactory work experience. We have strong company policies and standards, and want everyone to feel truly happy to be a part of this team.

That is why Culture Consulting is a service we are passionate about. We want to help your business grow and succeed, and sometimes that growth needs to start within the roots of the company. We could create a fresh, new logo and rebrand your company, create a beautiful, engaging website, and increase your SEO ranking, but if your internal employees are unhappy, that can cause more damage to your business than you may know.

Our Culture Consulting services create a safe environment for your employees to share the real issues that are causing bigger problems within the company that you may have otherwise missed or never fully understood how it affects your business.

We will work to uncover the answers to these questions:

Why are employees disengaged or leaving?

How can leadership build more trust and accountability?

What behaviors support our company values?

How can we improve collaboration, communication, and performance?

Our services offer:

Culture Assessments

Employee Surveys

Interviews and Focus Groups

Analysis of Engagement, Turnover, and Performance Data

Values and Mission Development

Clarifying Company Values

Aligning Values with Day-to-Day Behaviors

Creating Culture Statements and Frameworks

Leadership Development

Executive Coaching

Management Training

Building Leadership Behaviors That Reinforce Desired Culture

Change Management

Supporting Organizational Transformations

Merger and Acquisition Integration

Adapting Culture During Rapid Growth

Employee Experience Improvement

Onboarding Programs

Recognition Systems

Communication and Feedback Processes

And we will work with you to determine everything you need to ensure your workplace culture is something that is meaningful to you and your employees.

This is important now more than ever as more and more individuals are prioritizing work-life balance. Great branding and company culture are things that not only employees look for, but customers as well. Your clients and customers want to support a company they agree with, and that goes beyond being good to them. They expect you to be good to your employees, too.

Here is a quick comparison between positive company culture and poor company culture.

Quick Comparison

Metric	Poor Culture	Positive Culture
Employee Turnover	High	Lower
Productivity	Lower	Higher
Recruitment Costs	Higher	Lower
Innovation	Reduced	Increased
Customer Satisfaction	Lower	Higher
Profitability	Lower	Higher
Absenteeism	Higher	Lower
Employer Reputation	Damaged	Strong

Which category does your business fall under?

Now ask yourself that again and be honest with yourself if you aren't. If you are truly willing to put in the work and follow our guidance, you would be surprised how much you will save on company turnover costs and time retraining employees, allowing you time to focus on other parts of the business while your employees learn to contribute to the culture that you set.

Gallup's long-running workplace studies found that organizations with highly engaged employees experience:

23% higher profitability

18% higher productivity

10% higher customer loyalty

43% lower turnover in low-turnover industries

Interested in discussing how we can help your business through Culture Consulting? Call us at 406-213-9549 or email info@glaciergrowthmt.com.

We look forward to helping your business thrive in today's changing market.