Workplace Culture Can Help You Attract And Retain Top Talent
Company culture, a once cliché term, is now at the forefront of every leader’s brain - as it should be. Pair the up-and-coming millennial generation that continues to shift the nation’s workforce with the hundreds of thousands of employees who have become accustomed to working at home over the last year and a half, and there you have it... The Great Resignation.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, during the months of April, May, and June 2021, a total of 11.5 million workers quit their jobs. This voluntary workforce mass exodus has left businesses of all sizes and industries wondering how, if at all, they could combat such an occurrence.
As a business owner, you likely are already aware that a solid culture could be your best defense in the fight. But, what you may not have realized is culture isn’t the casual dress code Fridays and suction-cup basketball hoops on the wall that once deemed an organization as a good place to work. Now, culture is developed on the premise of a much different set of values, including work-life balance, inspiring leadership, and professional development – just to name a few.
Every company will develop a certain type of culture over time, but it is your job to control the values, beliefs, and attitudes you create. Keeping an eye on this can help boost productivity and decrease both turnover and negative behaviors. According to Balance Careers, your employees are more likely to enjoy their work and be more productive if you focus efforts on culture and making sure that your employees are happy while getting the job done. It’s not just about your current employees, though. If you’re looking to grow your business, consider how your culture may appear to candidates. 56% of workers ranked a strong workplace culture as more important than salary, with more than three-in-four workers saying they’d consider a company’s culture before applying for a job there.
Five Aspects That Drive Your Culture
There are five aspects that can impact your company culture: opportunity, success, appreciation, and well-being, and purpose. All five aspects are arguably subjective, but equally important.
- Opportunity: Opportunity can look different for every role and every employee. Is it the opportunity to learn a new skill or the opportunity to one day have a higher title? If opportunity breeds success, why limit what opportunities are available to your employees?
- Success: Both personal success and the company’s success should be key drivers for your culture, but at what cost? What does success look like to your leadership team and how will you communicate it along the way? How will you celebrate successes, and, on the contrary, how will you develop and coach employees when they fall short of it?
- Appreciation: Heavily-important to millennials, your employees seek recognition. The age-old saying, “A person who feels appreciated will always do more than expected,” still holds true. Is your management team expressing appreciation and recognizing achievements? Taking it one step further, are you recognizing your employee in a way that resonates with that particular person? Finally, recognize that communication is crucial in expressing your appreciation, don’t assume your employees know that you appreciate them.
- Well-being: One of the most talked about topics as the country begins to put an emphasis on mental health, what does your culture offer for employees’ well-being? Sure, not every organization can offer mental health days or an office puppy to boost morale. But, are your leaders trained to recognize burnout? Do your managers have a zero-tolerance policy for gossip? Are you working to create healthy relationships or are you giving never-ending to-do lists and nonstop deadlines?
- Purpose: The infamous “why.” What’s your company’s why? What is your employee’s why? Does your job candidate have a why? (Spoiler alert: if they don’t, they likely will lose motivation) Do those align? Are the values made clear?
Taking the necessary footsteps above to define your culture could save you from losing your top talent. Still, it can be overwhelming to even get started. As your trusted HR partner, we know what tactics to leverage in helping build a culture that is unique to your organization. Contact us today to discuss your options.