Because we were just honored to receive Ireland’s best large workplace 2019 accolade, I thought that now might be a good time to share my thoughts on bringing company core values to life and creating an award-winning culture.
After all, how do you know, year-round, if your business has a healthy workplace culture? For me, it starts with trust and commitment from the business, from our leaders, and from our employees. Having a set of core values, a common language, brings clarity and balance. Having leaders who are trusted and trusting sets the stage for success.
Workday started with a set of six core values from the very beginning, and they continue to guide us to this day. Other companies are also seeing the value of this approach. According to research by Deloitte, an overwhelming 94 percent of executives and 88 percent of employees now believe a distinct workplace culture is important to business success.
In part, this is due to changes in the way we work. Where once an employee’s experience was shaped by the people in their office or within their department, now most of us belong to globally distributed teams. Having a culture based on a set of common values sets the direction for the business, draws people together, and acts as a sort of contract between employees, so everyone understands what they can expect from one another. And, the best way to build trust with your customers is by proving you really are who you say you are.
This year, Workday’s commitment to culture was recognized by Great Place to Work. We were named as the best large workplace in Ireland and listed among the best workplaces for women. It wasn’t the first time we’ve been featured. In fact, we’ve been in one of the top four positions in our category for the last four years. In the U.S., we were also recently ranked number four in Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For.