What would people say if they visited your business for the next week and spoke to your employees? Do you think they would find happy and engaged employees? Gallup’s 2017 State of The Workplace report found that 70% of U.S. workers are not engaged with their company.

How can you tell if there is a dysfunctional company culture at your business? What are the signs? There is no special test, this isn’t math, and there isn’t a formula to follow. Determining the state of company culture is a culmination of many observations. Here are some questions you can ask yourself about your company.

• What is the turnover rate for your business? Turnover rate can be a sign people are unhappy with your company. The best way to compare turnover rates is with yearly comparisons. It is also important to conduct exit interviews with departing employees to understand why they are leaving. Is it a personal decision, such as a move out of the area, or is it professional? Be blunt, ask if there is something wrong with the company provoking the change.
• How are you doing with repeat customers? Customers leaving to competitors is a sign there is a problem with the product or service. However, if you haven’t had a price or product change it could be a sign of a dysfunctional company culture.
• Do you, or your middle management, have issues with ongoing employee disputes? Employee disputes are the sure sign of a toxic work environment. If the conflicts are happening in multiple departments of your company, it is a sign you may have a dysfunctional company culture.
• Are your employees disengaged? A regular Gallup meta-analysis identified nine indications of employee disengagement. Does your company have growing problems with these issues?
  • Absenteeism
  • Profitability
  • Productivity
  • Employee theft
  • Safety incidents
  • Turnover
  • Customer satisfaction ratings
  • Patient safety, if a medical services business
  • Declining quality of service or product

The old saying “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” plays into determining your company culture. Your views can be clouded by your opinion of the company. This is normal, and sometimes it is a good idea to get another viewpoint. An outside evaluator can provide an entirely different perspective.

Equal Parts Consulting has been that objective pair of eyes for many companies. Our approach is to seamlessly integrate with your employees and get on-the-ground observations of the internal relations and communications of your business.

We can help you achieve the right balance in your business. Speak to one of our experts and see how our innovative approach can help you locate and correct issues in your company.