FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JANUARY 21, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 19
The strategic advantage top workplaces are using in 20201
BY DOUG CLAFFEY, ENERGAGE
People oft en ask me what separates
Top Workplaces from the rest. And while
they outperform average organizations on
many levels, there’s one key distinction:
Top Workplaces leaders know that creating
Have you checked out QNS Home Pros yet? It’s where you
should look when hiring home services professionals
Schneps Media recently launched QNS
Home Pros, a resource for New Yorkers
looking for a roster of professionals to
help with hiring specialty contractors.
Th e launch is especially timely with the
beginning of the new year, when plans
for spring cleaning and home renovation
projects take shape.
Th e NYC Home Pros program is an
extension of Brownstoner Home Pros,
a trusted home services section that has
been successfully connecting businesses
with thousands of Brooklyn and NYC
homeowners, buyers, and sellers for over
a decade.
Now, the NYC Home Pros directories
can be found on all of Schneps’
borough-leading NYC channels, including
amNewYork, QNS, Brooklyn Paper,
and Bronx Times. Chock full of contractors,
architects, electricians, landscapers,
agents, lenders and other home specialists,
NYC Home Pros provides project galleries,
bio information, testimonials, and
contact information so you can reach out
to them directly.
Or you can let the NYC Home Pros
Concierge, a live online chat, do the work
for you — for free.
Here’s how it works: Provide your location
and project details, and a real person
— not a bot — will match you with
local pros. If you’d prefer Concierge over
the phone, just tell us what you’re looking
for and our knowledgeable concierge will
help you — even check in periodically to
see how your search is going. Check out
QNS Home Pros here.
Are you a home services professional in
New York City looking for exposure to an
engaged audience of more than 4 million
monthly visitors? Sign up for NYC Home
Pros on QNS.com. Schneps takes no fee
from any job you book through the service.
a workplace culture where employees
are highly engaged is a competitive advantage.
And they make it a strategic priority,
day in and day out.
Nationwide, less than a third of employees
are truly engaged at work. But it’s a
diff erent story at Top Workplaces. Of the
57,000 organizations we’ve surveyed since
2006, Top Workplaces achieve almost
double the engagement rate. Th ose companies
that score in the top 10 percent on
our surveys see engagement levels above
85 percent.
Recognition and bragging rights aside,
employee engagement translates into
stronger retention, higher productivity,
and better performance. But employee
engagement is the outcome of a healthy
workplace culture. In today’s business
environment, employee culture distinguishes
the world’s most valuable companies.
It’s where value is created or
destroyed.
In fact, culture is the only remaining
sustainable competitive advantage. Great
business strategies can be copied, but culture
cannot. When an organization’s culture
fails, it’s only a matter of time before
it becomes public and costly.
Every organization has a culture.
Some are intentional, some accidental.
Companies that say culture is a priority
but don’t back it up are just fooling themselves.
Th is is how leaders lose their jobs
and how companies cease to exist.
Leaders at Top Workplaces are intentional
about defi ning and forging a unique
culture that directly supports specifi c
business goals. Not that all cultures are
the same. Even among Top Workplaces,
some thrive on high energy and fun, while
others benefi t from quiet intensity. So ask
yourself:
What defi nes your workplace culture?
How do you know?
Are you happy with it?
Is it helping or hindering your business
objectives?
Whenever I ask leaders these questions,
the answers spur terrifi c discussions.
Th e challenge is understanding how
to measure culture and how to change it.
Th e most tangible measure of culture is
employee engagement. Great workplace
cultures fl ourish when a team of talented
people share an organization’s values and
embrace its objectives. We look at these
key factors in engagement:
Motivation: As an employee, do you feel
you are giving your best?
Commitment: Do you want to stay?
Referral: Would you recommend the
organization to others?
Strong cultures become self-sustaining:
they attract like-minded people who will
thrive in that environment. Th at’s why
Top Workplaces can be picky about who
they bring onboard, whereas other organizations
have to pay more money to keep
people.
Speaking of spending, isn’t it strange
that some organizations have training
budgets and hiring budgets, but not budgets
for culture and retention? Training
and consulting soak up money and time
but tend to not change behaviors.
Today we see companies using technology
in smart ways connect with their
employees and move the needle on
employee engagement. Th is new breed of
solutions — inspired by social media and
backed by neuroscience — open the lines
of communication and enable organizations
to craft a culture that supports business
strategy and is resilient to changes in
their market.
Creating a great workplace culture
requires raising the level of trust and connection
among employees so they commit
their best every day. Top Workplaces
do this, and they do it consistently well. So
when leaders at aspiring organizations ask
me how they, too, can capture this advantage,
my answer is this: get intentional
about your workplace culture.
Nominate your workplace at topworkplaces.
com/nominate/amny/
/WWW.QNS.COM
/QNS.com
