Building great workplace cultures in a changed world

In a period where there has been a lot of challenges economically post-Covid, it is great to be able to shine a light on organisations that have continued to focus on building a great culture because it is better for people and better for business.

Almost 60,000 employees working in Ireland were invited to complete the Great Place to Work survey, sharing their insights across 17 key categories of their workplace culture.

Featured in this year’s Best Workplaces magazine are 100 companies of all sizes, and industry sectors who have set their ambition to build a great culture.

But what does being a Great Place to Work mean, I hear you ask? A Great Place to Work is not about being a perfect workplace. There is no such thing. It is about listening to your employees’ voice through the Great Place to Work survey and making firm action plans to respond.

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It’s not about pool tables and bean bags, but good communication, good performance and supporting your leaders to become high-trust leaders. Your local leader can have a big impact on your experience in work and can positively support you to be at your best.

The best workplaces are focused on creating meaningful connection for their teams when they are together and creating reasons why teams should come together

At Great Place to Work we believe that every employee, no matter what type of work they do, should have the opportunity to do their work in a great culture.

Here are some areas great cultures we will be focusing on this year.

Flexibility for all

There is no doubt that there are now more flexibility options available for employees across all industries than pre-Covid. The period 2020-2022 became for many a live research lab to test the concept of flexibility. Many work cultures will never return to their pre-Covid way of working in the office, 9–5 Monday-Friday. They will move to fully remote or a hybrid version of this with a number of days remote and a number of days together.

The best workplaces are focused on creating meaningful connections for their teams when they are together and creating reasons why teams should come together. Over the next few years we will see this flexibility option slowly move to frontline roles, manufacturing roles and hospitality.

Supporting mid-level leaders

Mid-level management can often be a tough place. We know from the research that local leaders have a massive impact on their teams’ wellbeing and performance. One of the areas of tension between leaders and teams is the “way of working” – flexibility or not. In some cases, the leadership team’s wishes may be at odds with those of their teams. This can be a tricky balancing act for mid-level management, who need to keep their teams motivated and focused.

Watch out for organisations increasing their available talent pool by renewing and clarifying their view on the type of talent they are looking to attract

The best workplaces support mid-level managers and make sure they are provided with clarity around plans and ambitions in a timely way so they can inform and build trust with their teams.

Widening the talent pool

We are in the midst of large-scale talent shortages across many industries. Organisations need to work creatively to find that unique edge to attract the best talent. Ireland’s Best Workplaces develop all kinds of innovative solutions to attract talent. One area gaining a lot of traction in organisations is to rethink and alter their view of the type of talent they are looking to attract in terms of previous experience, industry background and so on. Talent is more inclined to change industry if the culture is compelling and the employer brand is strong.

Watch out for organisations increasing their available talent pool by renewing and clarifying their view on the type of talent they are looking to attract. For example, given the ever-changing nature of roles, people with a growth mindset rather than fixed will be in high demand.

Congratulations to all of Ireland’s Best Workplaces featured in today’s magazine. You are setting the bar for what is possible for all work cultures with a good employee listening tool and a continuous improvement mindset.

Cathal Divilly is chief executive of Great Places to Work