The social climate is an undeniable indicator of the health of a company, which contributes to maintaining a fulfilling work environment that is contributing to the well-being of employees. It is a first-class data for human resources departments, which use it to assess the degree of satisfaction of company employees. As soon as signs of deterioration appear, actions can be taken to restore a healthy social climate. Find out why it is important to take into account the Social Climate in Business, but also what practices should be implemented to improve it.
What is the social climate in business?
The Social Climate in Business Refers to the degree of satisfaction of employees with the environment of the company that employs them. It is a barometer based on the evaluation of several factors, which determines their relationship to their working conditions, their objectives, but also to the relationships they maintain with their employees and their hierarchy. This study makes it possible to establish a diagnosis of the social life of the company, in order to favor a healthy, peaceful and effective atmosphere necessary to achieve its objectives.
Promoting a good social climate in companies: the challenges
Maintain a Good Social Climate in Business remains a priority for management teams: it makes a structure that is effective, strong, sustainable and capable of overcoming difficulties.
Better productivity
If all employees in a company feel integrated and comfortable in the role they have to play, they will give the best of themselves. To do this, management teams must lead by example in order to contribute to the maintenance of a Social Climate in Business healthy. In addition, it is a virtuous circle: a good social climate favors communication, mutual aid and therefore efficiency. These are all factors that benefit the overall performance of the company and fight against absenteeism and turnover.
An Attractive Image
Good humor remains contagious: if all employees are fulfilled, they are all the more likely to remain so. Happy employees also convey a positive image of the company outside, because what happens in the company always comes through in the end. A Good Social Climate in Business Therefore encourages talents to join the entity and customers to buy a product or use a company service. This positive impression has considerably strengthened the brand image, but also the employer brand.
A tenfold increase in confidence
The development of a Social Climate in Business is inseparable from management based on trust and benevolence. Indeed, an employee's well-being at work depends on his state of mind, which is itself directly impacted by the way the company considers him. To promote a healthy environment and maintain a relationship of trust, managers must therefore value the work of an employee. Establishing a culture of dialogue benefits any organization that wants to combat high staff turnover and provide a fulfilling environment for its employees.
What are the indicators for measuring the social climate in companies?
The study of a certain number of parameters makes it possible to concretely assess the Social Climate in Business.
Communicate directly with employees
To do this, it is recommended to carry out regular surveys, for example by exchanging directly with your employees about:
- Feelings about working conditions, especially in terms of hours and employees;
- Feedback on daily management, the functioning and overall management of the company;
- The vision of the occupied place, the perception of the future and the evolution projects within the entity;
- The willingness and the propensity to want to recommend the company to others.
However, this measure of the social climate may be biased by the reservations of some employees, who do not dare to criticise their hierarchy.
Getting Closer to the Representation of Staff in the Company
In France, several partners can facilitate social dialogue between management and employees:
- The Social and Economic Committee (CSE), set up in companies with more than 11 employees;
- The union delegate or the representative of the union section (RSS).
Employees will more easily express themselves to their representatives. Exchanges with the CSE, the union delegate or the representative of the union section can give you a clearer and more objective vision of employee grievances or concerns.
A fluid and open social dialogue is always beneficial to the social climate within the company.
Conduct an In-Depth Study
The survey on the social climate in companies also involves an in-depth study of company data by human resources:
- The financial health of the structure to be compared with the external economic situation;
- Indicators of absenteeism at work, i.e. the frequency and duration of employee absences;
- The number of accidents at work, the rate of hiring, resigning and dismissal;
- Retaining talent by studying the average length of service of employees;
- Promotions and salary increases granted;
- Expenses allocated to the training and upskilling of employees;
- The rate of complaints made within the company, but also by external actors.
This inventory is essential in order to acquire a global vision of the company's situation and to assess the concrete state of the social climate in companies.
How to improve the social climate in companies?
Signs of a worrying deterioration, a growing absenteeism rate and a high turnover rate are two key indicators in measuring the social climate in companies. In order to avoid the emergence of these phenomena that impact the health, growth and performance of the company, several measures can be deployed to improve the social climate. To retain employees over the long term and promote their motivation on a daily basis, companies can indeed act on several levels.
Improving working conditions
Improving working conditions by reducing or distributing the workload more wisely between employees generally makes it possible to calm social dialogue and promote a better social climate within the company.
A thorough reflection on management methods can also improve the well-being of employees. Regular exchanges between teams and managers make it possible to highlight the difficulties and to provide concrete solutions.
Events, meetings and team building days consolidate team cohesion, and ease possible tensions.
Adjust your salary and social policy
An assessment of the gap between the highest and lowest salaries makes it possible to assess the degree of pay equity in the structure. The lower this indicator is, the more the company has a healthy and fair social climate that recognizes the work of everyone.
Other complementary mechanisms to salaries or bonuses can be put in place:
- Incentive: employee savings linked to company results
- Participation: redistribution of company profits to employees (mandatory for companies with 50 employees or more)
- Business savings plan (PEE): long-term savings product;
- Retirement savings plan (PER): a long-term savings product intended to build up a pension or capital for retirement;
- Complementary health insurance: mandatory for all employees, it can be 100% covered by the employer (against a minimum of 50%), or be the subject of reinforced guarantees
- Group pension insurance: only executive death insurance is mandatory, but a company can offer pension insurance to all its employees or to an objective category of employees (death, disability, work stoppage guarantees, etc.).
These schemes offer tax advantages to employees and businesses, and contribute to the loyalty of employees over the long term.
Boosting the training plan
An ambitious training policy offers career opportunities for employees. Training expenses represent investments that help increase the skills of talents, but also the value of the company's offer. Some training courses can also be carried out internally, in the form of workshops or mentoring. Your experienced employees can transmit their know-how to new members of the team: the former will feel valued and useful, the latter will appreciate this transmission of knowledge.
Engaging in a CSR approach
Corporate social responsibility is defined by the European Commission as “the voluntary integration by businesses of social and environmental concerns into their business activities and relationships with stakeholders.” Many actors, private, consular or institutional, institutional, support companies that want to take into account their social and environmental responsibility. CCIs, for example, offer resources and training around these issues. Engaging in a CSR certification process thus makes it possible to question many factors favorable to improving the social climate in companies.
Improving business communication
The various measures intended to improve the social climate will only have a very limited scope in the absence of effective communication. By promoting bottom-up communication, management teams gain more concrete insights into employee feelings and potential bottlenecks.
To give meaning to their work, employees must be informed and integrated into the life of the company, in order to come together around shared values. Thus, businesses have every interest in implementing a solution Specially dedicated to the development of internal communication, in order to take advantage of a strong corporate culture that conveys meaning on a daily basis. The Internal Communication Software Cenareo, dedicated to dynamic signage, attracts the support and attention of employees thanks to a unique experience. As close as possible to employees, interact with them on a daily basis and encourage the sharing of feedback.
With the Cenareo tool, your internal communication has never been so attractive and contextualized: multi-channel, flexible and easy to use, it contributes to the success of the actions of its Internal Communication Strategy In business. Deploy a dedicated solution among your existing tools, in order to promote a healthy social climate based on exchange and trust.
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