The modern-day workplace thrives on what we know as company culture, and the landscape for what this looks like has seen a huge revolution in recent years. Thanks to media representation of good company culture in workplaces on screen, in addition to the lifestyle changes brought on by the global pandemic, priorities have shifted.
In the past, the 9-5 job has been represented as a ‘slog’ and a means to an end to earn money and get by. But today, people are frequently passionate about work and their careers. So, what changed? Company culture!
If you’re struggling with high staff turnovers, unmotivated teams and recruiting quality candidates, company culture may be the missing piece of the puzzle. Here you can find all the facts, statistics and figures you need to decide if the company culture is something you should invest in and how to do it successfully.
What is Company Culture?
First, let’s go over the basics of company culture, so you understand from the get-go what you need to strive toward.
Company culture is quite hard to define as so much comes under this umbrella term that it can be difficult to navigate. This is also where so many companies go wrong, as they may believe they’re incorporating good company culture when in reality, it is dressing up basic human needs as a high-class benefit.
For example, free breakfast in the communal kitchen. This is definitely a nice perk but having a fruit bowl and milk in the fridge is not enough to make staff feel appreciated and valued.
To sum it up, good company culture is the cultivation of business growth, achieved by giving each employee a voice and healthy attitudes towards work, behaviours and ethics. It involves respect, trust and opportunity for all team members to be involved in creating shared values and a positive environment.
What Happened to Traditional Workplace Culture?
If you’re still wondering what all the fuss is about regarding company culture, you might be questioning what was wrong with how things were done before. Why fix what’s not broken after all?
Well, this is where you need to consider the idea that hierarchical company culture is broken or outdated and out of fashion.
Hierarchy company culture is the traditional funnel that follows the chain of command from the top down. This conventional and stiff command structure focuses on strict job roles, definitions and goals as a maker for success and prizes stability.
However, this is not to say that the hierarchy culture is no longer found in the corporate world; for some, it does work, and employees enjoy the clear structure and expectations.
For others, hierarchy culture stifles creativity and limits the potential for thinking outside of the box. It can also make employees feel detached and a cog in the machine, as they cannot suggest ideas or contribute to change in the company.
5 Company Culture Values
If you’re unsure of what a good company culture looks like, it can be compared using a few essential values.
1. Agility
Agility in a company has different meanings, all of which create an exciting workplace that achieves its goals. Agility for management means being quick and nimble to jump on trends and seize opportunities. For team members and staff, there has been one term for which jobseekers will skim a job advert: flexibility. Increasingly, jobseekers look for flexibility and agile working in their roles, allowing them to start and finish work at times that best suit their needs and work from locations other than the office.
2. Collaboration
Working collaboratively across the company creates clan culture, which makes everyone within the business feel valued and heard, no matter their salary or position. It also pushes the company as a whole towards success as new ideas come from different perspectives and previously unheard parts of the team.
3. Execution
A large part of company culture falls to delivery and execution, which essentially means putting promises and ideas into action. By prioritising what matters most to both team morale and the company’s goals, delivering on commitments shows the company’s accountability.
4. Integrity
Company culture is built on the integrity of everyone in the organisation, from executives to company leaders. Maintaining a code of honesty, transparency, and ethics creates an open and honest environment where people are encouraged to share their thoughts and opinions from the personal stress of workload and well-being to the company’s health as a whole.
5. Respect
Finally, employees, team leaders, and company owners alike must give and receive respect, exercising consideration and courtesy for everyone. This value involves listening to others’ thoughts and ideas and taking them seriously, resulting in everyone feeling valued and dignified daily.
How Does Culture Affect your Reputation?
So, why is company culture important?
Weak company culture can affect your business reputation in a number of ways. From the hiring process to growing and maintaining customer and client loyalty, your reputation could be hindering your efforts to expand.
In fact, 86% of job seekers will avoid a company based on a bad reputation. This could be cultivated through word-of-mouth accounts of what working for the business was like and even online job review platforms, such as GlassDoor and Indeed. These sites allow past employees to share honest feedback on their experiences. Suppose issues identified by former team members are not addressed. In that case, a poor reputation is cultivated, which can bleed into the views of prospective customers and clients.
More Money or Better Culture?
When it comes time to invest in company culture for your business, it is important to remember that it is a long-term investment. Although some associated quick wins come with the changes, the long-term nurtured relationships and environmental changes will have the greatest impact.
At the mention of long-term goals, you may wonder how essential improved company culture is and at what other costs it may require. You might even be tempted to scrap the idea before any plan is implemented. It may seem like an easier way to improve employee morale is to offer pay rises.
In terms of budgeting, you should be able to improve company culture in a way that doesn’t require huge expenses. But still, the question of what matters more to staff, salary increases or better company culture is important to ask. The answer may shock you!
Research carried out by Glassdoor found that over half of the respondents, who were adults from the UK, United States, France and Germany, valued company culture over salary in terms of job satisfaction. In fact, 73% of respondents would only apply to a company if their personal values aligned with the company.
Do You Need Company Culture?
Is now the time to shift focus and improve company culture? The answer is yes.
Company culture will improve your business in many ways, all of which have a knock-on effect on each other, creating something bigger and better.
Transform Employees into Advocates
A great company culture will turn your employees, who can often be your biggest critics, into advocates of your business. If they believe in the business and feel like an important part of the team, they will be more inclined to both live and promote it internally and externally.
You can achieve this by recognising the good work done and giving credit where it is due. This furthers the sense of accomplishment and achievement for your team.
Improve Employee Retention
When your employees feel they are part of a community rather than just replaceable assets, you will see a huge increase in employee retention. It can be disheartening when your best team members leave the company for other opportunities. Sometimes, it can come down to details in culture and environment rather than just who is offering more money. By improving employee engagement, you can minimise staff turnover.
Better Function for Smooth Onboarding
Company culture affects all areas of your business. For example, a happy working team is also efficient and arguably cares more about the work they do. In turn, this means you have processes in place that have been more carefully thought out and cultivated, such as your onboarding process. When this is a smoother and easier process for the company, you can expect other tasks and goals to be more easily achieved.
Turns a Company into a Team
Your company’s culture will bring your staff together and turn them into a team. This also ensures that goals are aligned and clear, encouraging all team members of the team to get involved in problem-solving and offer new ideas and perspectives.
Culture can also break down the ‘cliques’ of different teams, ensuring people from all departments can mingle and work together, creating a stronger workforce.
Improving your Company Culture
Are you ready to take the first steps to improve your company culture?
If you feel inspired by our guide and are ready to move toward a positive change, Chris Kenber can help. Chris is an expert business coach offering a personal approach and can help you with all the advice you need to grow your business.
Contact Chris Kenber today for more advice and guidance on improving your company culture and business.
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