The internet, video, social media, and communication continues to impact and reshape our lives in unanticipated ways.
Corporations are awakening to the reality they are no longer insular institutions with a public face and a hidden, internal working environment. People want to know all about your company culture.
Your brand is more than just a name.
Providing the ability for workers to post feedback on what companies are really like is the meat and potatoes of websites such as Indeed and Glassdoor. Even sites with other purposes, such as LinkedIn, are a primary source of insight for recruits and prospective new employees.
Looking for More than a Paycheck
Consultants and experts in the employment field have been alerting employers to a significant shift in expectations from employees for the past two decades. However, the past few years have seen a rapid acceleration of these new standards, fed by an increasingly tight market for top recruits and talent.
Savvy firms in high tech have led the way with the idea of creating innovative and worker-friendly environments. As the publicity and awareness about free meals, full on-site day care (yes, even for pets), liberal working hours and vacation time has increased, the expectations have grown tremendously.
The simple fact, however, is that the most desirable hires today are not just looking for a list of monetary perks. Instead, they are looking at a prospective employer’s overall company culture — the working environment itself.
Culture and Climate: How To Attract the Best Performers
While the idea of company culture has been around for more than 50 years as a topic of discussion among personnel experts, it has now become a boardroom level issue of concern and priority.
For example, Deloitte touches on the issue in its focus on the concept of human capital. Engaging employees with the appropriate culture is now seen as essential to not only attract the right candidates and hires, it is a major part of keeping those team members and ensuring adequate levels of retention.
For a time, executives were more focused on a defensive position, ensuring their cultures and working environments were compliant with new anti-discrimination and sexual harassment standards. Those types of environments, however, are now expected to be the norm.
The simple fact, as Deloitte refers to the “naked corporation,” is that today no corporation, large or small, can cover culture deficiencies with fancy works and attractive brochures. Social media and videos are just a few ways employees will tell the world what working at a company is really like.
Companies Call For Proactive Efforts
These realities are the reason so many boardrooms and C-level executives are now sitting up and taking a more proactive stance on the issue of culture and climate. The issue is not only not going away; it will be a key factor in shaping any company’s ability to compete in the coming decade.
Here at ROI Online, culture is everything. Our Culture Code dictates how we treat and interact with each, as well as our clients.
Ready to kickstart your culture? Download the first part of our free Company Culture eBook now and learn how to establish a winning workplace.
Editor's Note: This blog was originally published in 2015. It has been updated for freshness and accuracy.
