The challenge to maintain culture throughout covid

When Covid forced other management teams to figure out how to maintain a strong corporate culture in a world where staff were suddenly working from home, Expleo had a major advantage.

As an IT services group which employs 550 people in Ireland – and 15,000 worldwide – it was already used to promoting a positive culture among a distributed workforce.

Many of its personnel, made up of software developers, quality assurance experts, business analysts and project managers, deliver end-to-end digital transformation services by working not in Expleo’s own offices but on site at clients’ premises, including government departments, utilities and banks.

Despite having its workforce so spread out, Expleo Group has won a number of awards as one of the best large workplaces in Ireland.

“It is a challenge to maintain culture in such circumstances and communications is really important to achieving it,” says Expleo Ireland managing director Phil Codd.

Prior to Covid, that included bringing people together for events as much as possible, from lunch and learns to parties.

The company appoints brand ambassadors too, who work with internal marketing teams to promote its employer brand as much as possible and to make sure all personnel are fully aware of what’s going on within the group.

“We want people to feel involved, even though they are not all together,” he explains.

Codd records a monthly catch-up podcast, which staff can listen to at a time when suits them, to keep abreast of events in the organisation. “We also have a fairly flat management structure, where everybody is available to everybody. Staff will often ring or email me with ideas, for example,” he says.

It sends out winter packs to staff, with high-viz jackets, torches and woolly hats, and summer packs with USB powered mini fans and t-shirts. “All staff members get a birthday hamper as a little thank you. It’s about appreciation,” he explains.

For Codd, having a positive culture is about ensuring that “even though people aren’t working side by side, they know they are all are moving in the same direction.”

In a sector such as IT, where talent is at a premium, having a strong company culture is a valuable tool for recruitment, engagement and retention of staff.

“A great corporate culture is the glue that brings many of the components of a sustainable and highly successful organisation together,” explains Jim Flynn, a partner at Great Place To Work.

“It aligns colleagues to the organisational objectives and strategy. It gives customers and stakeholders the assurances that they need to continue their support. Most of all, it is key to attracting and retaining the right staff.”

That matters because even the best corporate strategy is doomed to fail without good people to bring it to life. It’s why, as management guru Peter Drucker put it, “culture eats strategy for breakfast”.

Agility

A great corporate structure supports agility and resilience too. It “enables organisations to ‘turn on a six pence’ and adapt their strategy to a rapidly changing environment,” says Flynn.

A problem for management is how to assess it. It can’t be “gut” driven.

“Culture is best assessed using an evidence-based system that’s well validated,” says Flynn. With Great Place to Work, that means using proven tools and methodology to measure corporate culture, benchmark against peers and best practice, and follow up on your findings.

Having a positive corporate culture creates a virtuous circle. “Top talent will actively seek out your organisation, so you get to pick the best from a number of suitable applicants,” says Flynn.

Once in, “a high degree of passion and loyalty translates into talent pursuing opportunities within the organisation. Talent becomes difficult to poach” too, he says.

In relation to performance, “colleagues bring the best of themselves to work and are aligned to the strategy. KPIs are exceeded and learning is a valued asset.”

By contrast, a poor culture will often show itself through numerous open roles and a high and costly rate of attrition. Of staff who don’t leave, “many underperform,” he cautions. “Some people will work hard but are often pulling in different directions and second guessing each other, making the same mistakes over and over.”

To build a healthy corporate culture, the best place to start is with solid data on which to base decisions.

Double-digit growth

Esri Ireland does just that. “We assess our performance by digging into the data and insights from our annual Great Place to Work (GPTW) employee Trust Survey to provide us with evidence-based feedback, so we can address specific areas for improvement and seek employee perspectives to help us action plan,” says its managing director Paul Synnott.

Since it began its GPTW journey in 2016, it has grown its team from 37 to 67 employees. Moreover, average revenue-per-employee improved from €130k to just over €200k.

The company, which is set for further recruitment, aims for “a culture of trust that is built on listening and achieved through open and honest conversations within and across all levels and roles in the business,” he explains.

“There is no doubt in my mind that our trust-grounded culture has had an impact and influence on how employees feel and of the loyalty they show to Esri Ireland through their passionate work ethic every day. It’s no coincidence that our revenue and profit growth has been on a similar trajectory, with single-digit return on sales pre-GPTW moving to double-digit growth in the mid-twenties after we engaged with Great Place to Work Ireland.”

Winning Best Workplace awards helps with external recruitment too.

“The emotive nature of Best Workplace recognition has been a huge asset to us in developing our employer brand and building our collective network,” says Synnott.

“Being associated with Best Workplaces gives us a huge advantage in our recruitment strategy – it helps us attract high-quality talent who want to build their careers and develop both personally and professionally. It increases our brand awareness amongst potential candidates who ordinarily may not know who we are or what we do - they become curious to understand more about us. Being part of the Best Workplaces in Ireland network means that we can extend our reach way beyond our own community.”