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What Is Company Culture, and Why Does It Matter?
By VICKY BROWN
How do your employees feel about your company? If you can answer that question, you probably have a strong company culture.
For better or worse, every organization has a prevailing feel — whether it’s casual or stuffy, open or secretive, welcoming or intimidating. Your company culture embodies the personality of your business and can include elements like your mission and values, goals, physical environment, and expectations of your team.
What are some of the ways your company culture matters, and what can you do to create a positive culture for your team?
A. Boost for Recruiting and Retention
Every HR professional knows that two key words — recruiting and retention — can have a significant impact on the success of your business. Without the best team members, you will find it difficult to stay productive, satisfy customers and meet your objectives.
A positive company culture increases the likelihood of attracting the best employees — and keeping them. Team members who feel welcome in the work environment are more likely to build meaningful relationships with co-workers and feel that their work has value.
B. Positive Public Image
Today’s consumers pay significant attention to how companies treat their employees. Create a generous culture and a welcoming workplace, and you may build customer loyalty as well. Corporate culture has become an increasingly popular focus as corporate leadership teams seek ways to differentiate their brands.
By working to build a strong company culture, you increase the visibility and viability of your brand, and you gain a competitive advantage.
C. Healthier Bottom Line
Company culture can directly impact the financial success of your business. According to a Gallup meta-analysis, companies with the best company cultures for employee engagement enjoy higher profit than companies without an employee-centric focus. In addition, the study notes that improving employee engagement can result in better interactions with customers.
Every HR professional knows that two key words — recruiting and retention — can have a significant impact on the success of your business.
D. Team of Dedicated Advocates
When employees love coming to work each day — and feel welcome in their workplace — they’re excited to tell others. Research has found that recruiting through the networks of your employees may help you expand your talent pool by tenfold.
Talented, highly productive employees can recognize those valuable traits in friends and acquaintances. Happy employees are more likely to share their experience, helping you build a strong reputation with prospective customers and prospective team members alike.
Building a Robust Company Culture
If you’re not sure about the health of your company culture, consider taking a step back and conducting a “culture audit.” By evaluating the current status of your company culture, you can determine next steps in creating the organizational personality you want.
As part of your audit, talk to employees to gauge their views on your current culture. How do they feel that your company culture reflects your stated values and mission? If your organization does have a strong company culture, do your managers and team members embrace and reflect it to each other and to customers?
Every company is different, and there’s no single method for creating and maintaining a vibrant culture in your organization. By getting clear about your mission and values, and including your employees in the conversation, you can begin to build a company culture that reflects where you are now — and where you want to go.
The preceding is provided for general informational purposes only, and not intended to constitute legal advice.
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