Workplace culture is one of those intangibles in the job that can be a huge benefit or detriment to attracting talent. Good workplace culture is something most candidates screen for. If your culture is toxic, candidates will pick up on it and steer away. Most employers understand the power of good company culture but what they may not know is how to strategically work toward improving it. This blog will show you the way.
Understanding Company Culture
The first step toward strategically changing your company culture is to understand what it is. Company culture is the glue that holds your teams together—or possibly the wedge that drives them apart. One corporate culture guru defined it as“the social operating system that influences how your employees work with each other, customers, and the community. It has both the potential to help a company thrive or cause it to suffer.”
Look around your business. What kind of “operating system” do you have? It is a culture of rewards and positivity? Or, is your culture one of low self-esteem, gossip, fear, and negativity? If it’s a negative work culture you’ll notice turnover and disruption. A positive culture increases productivity. Once you’ve determined the characteristics of your workplace culture, you can start to change it. Here’s how.
Four Ways To Change Your Workplace Culture
If your managers and leadership aren’t talking openly about how to change your workplace culture, you should. The number one reason the best candidates choose a job is because they like the cultural environment. This is closely followed by career progression, pay, and benefits.
If your company is being deliberate about changing the cultural environment, there are four things you can do right now to make it happen:
1. Connect Your Teams To A Mission
People want purpose. No matter the job, we like to feel as if our work means something. If you can connect even the most mundane jobs with the reason why they matter, you can in turn sell that to a job candidate as well as to your employees. This is especially true for younger generations who “are more likely to work for and stay with companies that have a clearly defined purpose and meaningful opportunities.”
2. Create Positive Recognition For Your Teams
We can’t say this enough: Lead by the carrot and not the stick. To do this, you should create goals with the employee and not for them. This will increase their buy-in of the goals. Then create a system of positive reinforcements (rewards) to encourage their work to strive toward these goals. Rewards don’t have to be money, either, although that’s great if you can afford it. Flex time, dress-down days, catered lunches—all of these things can encourage your teams to hit the numbers.
3. Never Degrade Your Workforce
We’ve seen so-called “leaders” heavily impact negative morale by chastising workers. The employee experience matters to your company’s productivity, worker retention, and it even has an impact on your ability to attract new talent. Conversations, team interactions, messages from supervisors, and even corporate communications all change the tone of the workplace. Failing to connect positively to your team drags everyone down. Don’t do it.
4. Hire For Cultural Fit
Hiring the right people is hard. PrideStaff Thousand Oaks diligently seeks to understand your culture and what you’re trying to build. Then we carefully find the right candidates that exhibit both the hard and soft skills you want and need.
Call On PrideStaff Today!
We can help you build a better corporate culture by bringing you the best candidates in the market today. Contact Us.
