The importance of social climate in the workplace

The social climate is an undeniable indicator of a company's health, helping to maintain a fulfilling working environment conducive to employee well-being. It is a key indicator for human resources departments, who use it to assess the degree of employee satisfaction within the company. As soon as signs of deterioration appear, action can be taken to restore a healthy social climate. Find out why it's important to take social climate into account, and what practices can be implemented to improve it.

What is corporate social climate?

Corporate social climate refers to the degree to which employees are satisfied with the corporate environment in which they work. It is a barometer based on the evaluation of several factors, which determine their relationship with their working conditions, their objectives, and the relations they maintain with their colleagues and superiors. This study enables us to establish a diagnosis of the company's social life, with a view to fostering the healthy, peaceful and efficient atmosphere needed to achieve its objectives.

Promoting a good social climate in the workplace: the challenges

Maintaining a good social climate within the company remains a priority for management teams: it makes a structure efficient, strong, sustainable and capable of overcoming difficulties.

Greater productivity

If all employees feel integrated and comfortable in their role, they will give their best. To achieve this, management teams have a duty to set an example and help maintain a healthy corporate social climate. What's more, it's a virtuous circle: a good social climate fosters communication, mutual support and, consequently, efficiency. All of these factors benefit the company's overall performance, and combat absenteeism and staff turnover.

An attractive image

Good humour is contagious: if all employees are happy, they are all the more likely to stay that way. Happy employees also convey a positive image of the company to the outside world, because what goes on inside the company always comes out. A good social climate encourages talented people to join the company, and customers to buy a product or use service . This positive impression considerably strengthens not only the company's image, but also its employer brand.

Increased confidence

The development of a positive corporate climate is inextricably linked to management based on trust and benevolence. Indeed, an employee's well-being at work depends on his or her state of mind, which in turn is directly impacted by the way the company views him or her. To foster a healthy environment and maintain a relationship of trust, managers must therefore value an employee's work. Establishing a culture of dialogue benefits any organization wishing to combat high staff turnover and offer its employees a fulfilling working environment.

What are the indicators for measuring the social climate in the workplace?

By studying a number of parameters, we can concretely assess the company's social climate.

Direct contact with employees

To this end, it is advisable to carry out regular surveys, for example by talking directly to employees about :

• Feelings about working conditions, particularly in terms of working hours and pay;
• Feedback on day-to-day management, operations and overall company management;
• The vision of the position held, the perception of the future and plans for development within the entity;
• The willingness and propensity to recommend the company to the outside world.

However, this measure of the social climate may be biased by the reservations of some employees, who dare not criticize their superiors.

Getting closer to employee representatives within the company

In France, there are several interlocutors who 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 union section representative (RSS).

Employees will find it easier to express themselves to their representatives. Discussions with the CSE, the union delegate or the trade union section representative can give you a clearer, more objective view of employees' grievances or concerns.

A fluid, frank social dialogue is always beneficial to the social climate within the company.

Carry out an in-depth study

The social climate survey also involves an in-depth study of the company's figures by human resources:

• The financial health of the structure in relation to the external economic situation;
• Absenteeism indicators, i.e. the frequency and duration of employee absences;
• Number of workplace accidents, hiring, resignation and dismissal rates;
• Retaining talent by studying the average seniority of employees;
• Promotions and salary increases ;
• Spending on employee training and skills development ;
• The rate of complaints made within the company, but also by external parties.

This inventory is essential for gaining an overall view of the company's situation and assessing the actual state of the social climate.

How can you improve the social climate in your company?

Growing absenteeism and high staff turnover are two key indicators of a worrying deterioration in a company's social climate. In order to avoid the emergence of these phenomena, which impact on the health, growth and performance of the company, several measures can be deployed to improve the social climate. Companies can take action on a number of levels to build long-term employee loyalty and motivate employees on a day-to-day basis.

Improving working conditions

Improving working conditions by lightening or more judiciously distributing the workload among employees generally calms social dialogue, and fosters a better social climate within the company.

In-depth reflection on management methods can also improve employee well-being. Regular exchanges between teams and managers can highlight difficulties and provide concrete solutions.

Events, meetings and team building days consolidate team cohesion, and ease any tensions.

Adjusting your wage and benefits policy

An evaluation of the gap between the highest and lowest salaries enables us to assess the structure's degree of pay equity. The lower this indicator, the more the company has a healthy, fair social climate that recognizes the work of each individual.

Other mechanisms can be set up to complement salaries or bonuses:

• Profit-sharing: employee savings linked to company results
• Profit-sharing: redistribution of company profits to employees (mandatory for companies with 50 or more employees).
• Plan d'épargne entreprise (PEE): a long-term savings product;
• Plan d'épargne retraite (PER - retirement savings plan): long-term savings product designed to build up an annuity or capital for retirement;
• Supplementary health insurance: compulsory for all employees, it can be covered at 100% by the employer (as opposed to a minimum of 50%), or be subject to enhanced guarantees.
• Group provident insurance: only executive death insurance is compulsory, but a company can offer provident insurance to all its employees or to an objective category of employees (death, disability, sick leave, etc.).

These schemes offer tax benefits to employees and companies alike, and help build long-term employee loyalty.

Boost your training plan

An ambitious training policy offers employees prospects for advancement. Expenditure on training represents an investment that not only helps to enhance the skills of talented staff, but also the value of the company's offering. Some training can also be provided in-house, in the form of workshops or mentoring. Your experienced employees can pass on their know-how to new team members: the former will feel valued and useful, the latter will appreciate this transmission of knowledge.

A commitment to CSR

Corporate social responsibility is defined by the European Commission as "the voluntary integration by companies of social and environmental concerns into their commercial activities and their relations with stakeholders". Numerous private, consular and institutional players support companies wishing to take their social and environmental responsibility into account. CCIs, for example, offer resources and training on these issues. Embarking on a CSR labeling process can help you consider a number of factors that can improve the social climate within your company.

Improving corporate communications

The various measures designed to improve the social climate will have very limited impact in the absence of effective communication. By encouraging bottom-up communication, management teams gain a more concrete understanding of how employees feel, and of any sticking points.

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To give meaning to their work, employees need to be informed and integrated into the life of the company, so as to unite around shared values. This is why companies are well advised to implement a solution specifically dedicated to the development of internal communication, with the aim of benefiting from a strong corporate culture that conveys meaning on a daily basis. The Cenareo internal communications software dedicated to digital signage creates a unique experience that attracts the support and attention of employees. Get closer to your employees, interact with them on a daily basis and encourage the sharing of feedback.

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With Cenareo, your internal communications have never been so attractive and contextualized: multi-channel, flexible and easy to use, it contributes to the success of your company's internal communications strategy. Deploy a dedicated solution among your existing tools, to foster a healthy social climate based on exchange and trust.