Many companies believe culture is impalpable and cannot be altered. However, policies and practices can be intentionally designed, tested, and changed. Designer Robert L. Peters says, “Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.” Today some of the most modern companies are engaging employees by designing policies and practices that address four core human needs; physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual; the same factors used in human-centered product design. Below are examples of this human-centered design methodology that may work for your company culture.

Physical

Company policies and practices should be used to promote employees’ health. Sitting at your desk for hours on end can cause a multitude of life-threatening illnesses, yet so many companies support this type of behavior in their culture. Answering questions like; white policies and practices are in place to encourage people to move can help reduce health care costs and sick leave while improving your employees’ health.

Emotional

Company policies and procedures should make employees feel valued. Being “valued” is a key adjective with the highest levels of performance. Statistics show that employees who agree with the statement, “My manager genuinely cares about my well-being,” are 84% more likely to stay at their current company, 86% more engaged, and 66% more focused than those who disagreed.

Mental

Company cultures should be designed to improve or complement our natural cognitive developments. Studies show that multi-tasking actually increases errors and the time required for each task. Even still, employees are often asked to be more responsive than ever. Leaders should focus on the question, “What policies and practices could be altered to help people focus on one thing at a time?”

Spiritual

Many Millennials have put values before money when looking for jobs. A study recently found that 1 out of every 2 Millennials actively pursue companies with values similar to their own and is more likely to leave when their values are not aligned. Does your company have an inspiring vision or mission that helps people find greater meaning in their work?

The Result

The best corporate cultures actively analyze how they are meeting people’s core needs and then make adjustments to their practices accordingly. People are more committed, more engaged, and more likely to stay at their organization when companies do this. Beyond that, the financial gains appear to follow when companies have human-centered cultures. This alone will be one of the greatest competitive advantages in the age of knowledge work.