LinkedIn Business Solutions tells us that 72% of recruiting leaders worldwide agree that employer brand has a significant impact on hiring.1 It is no wonder then that increased competition in the labor market has led to many companies pouring significant effort into employer branding to attract top talent, investing considerable resources to showcase their culture, values, and standout employee benefits.
But beyond external messaging, how much focus is placed on cultivating an internal sense of pride amongst employees? Pride at work goes beyond a paycheck or job title — it is about employees feeling genuinely connected to the organization’s mission and going above and beyond to contribute to its success.
When employees are proud of where they work, they naturally become the company’s most authentic ambassadors, sharing their enthusiasm with peers, customers, and potential hires. In our Best WorkplacesTM around the region, 9 out of 10 survey participants say they would strongly endorse their company to friends and family as a great place to work, compared to just 6 out of 10 in an average company in Asia. So while external branding is vital, organizations would be remiss to overlook the importance of cultivating internal workplace pride.
What is workplace pride?
Simply put, employees feel a sense of pride when they find meaning in what they do and the company they work for. This could be due to a strong brand reputation, trust and admiration for leadership, or doing work that is in line with one’s interests and values.
The Great Place To Work® Trust Index© survey measures three levels of pride at work:
1. Corporate Image: Pride in the company’s reputation in the larger community.
2. Team: Pride in the team’s accomplishments.
3. Personal Job: Pride in one’s individual contributions to the organization.
To truly be proud of who they work for and what they do, employees need to feel connected to the organization’s purpose, celebrate the success of their team, and understand how their daily work contributes to the big picture.
What is the value of cultivating workplace pride? Great Place To Work research2 shows that when all three levels of pride are met, employees are:
- x6 more likely to endorse their workplace to others
- x2 more likely to want to stay with the company for a long time
- x1 more likely to say it’s a great place to work
Pride has a multiplier effect on engagement – when employees feel like valued partners connected to a mission bigger than themselves, not only are they willing to give extra to get the job done, they also experience a stronger sense of ownership and belonging, ultimately building loyalty and a shared vision for the organization’s success.
What does workplace pride look like?
While the goal is to develop pride at all three levels, it is common for employees to have pride in one aspect but not another.
For instance, employees in a well-established company may feel a high level of pride in their company’s corporate image, yet lack pride in their personal job if managers do not take care to recognize employees’ unique contributions. Without a culture of valuing and using team members’ different strengths and perspectives, employees may feel like they are just a cog in the wheel – unappreciated and undervalued. This leads to lower employee satisfaction and higher turnover rates despite the organization being well-respected in the industry.
In another scenario, an employee might enjoy working with his teammates, and experience pride in their shared successes. But if the company does not act in line with his values, or has recently had to execute mass layoffs, this may result in the employee losing his sense of pride in the company’s corporate image.
Cultivating pride at all levels
In our 2024 report, we shared that Great Place To Work ASEAN & ANZ published Best Workplaces Lists across Australia, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia, with 740,000 employee voices represented.3 Survey data showed that a great workplace experience starts with leadership. Here are ways leaders from great workplaces are helping their employees find meaning in their work and connect the dots to the bigger picture.
1. Articulating purpose
Employees who feel their work is purposeful are more likely to endorse the company to friends and family, and less likely to leave the company.4 Great workplaces have a clear mission and vision that is cascaded to all levels of the business. When employees understand the company’s goals and the roadmap to get there, they can find greater alignment with their own values and feel proud of being a part of something that is bigger than themselves.
2. Celebrate team accomplishments
If employees tend to work in silos or have to compete against each other for recognition, it can be difficult to find pride in the team. Help your employees find value in teamwork by providing avenues for collaboration or conducting knowledge sharing sessions. Where appropriate, incorporate team accomplishments into recognition and rewards, such as having an award celebrating the impact of team efforts on organizational success, or having a team performance component to bonuses.
3. Connect the dots
It can be difficult for individual contributors to see how their daily work contributes to organizational goals, especially when their roles are not directly tied to common metrics of success such as revenue or customer acquisition. Leaders can help employees connect the dots is through a culture of recognition. When praising employees for a job well done, instead of stopping there, articulate how a key business goal was impacted by their contributions. Great Place To Work research shows that recognition is a key driver of great work, with employees twice as likely to go above and beyond when they feel recognized.5
Pride as a competitive advantage
So the next time you are thinking of your employer branding campaign, why not turn to your internal champions to endorse your organization. As our Best Workplaces show, the power of pride is in a workforce that is deeply invested in the organization’s long-term vision and understand their role in contributing to its success.
Want to find out how your employees are experiencing workplace pride? Visit us at https://greatplacetowork.co.id/employee-survey/ to find out more.
