And why it matters to everything you do?
If you watched The Apprentice this week, you will have seen first hand that sometimes two people don’t work well together due to a “personality clash”. Jade and Joanna, who are both marketing experts, should have been able to produce a fantastic brand image, packaging, the whole works, but the fact that they didn’t work well together meant that they produced a very poor, lacklustre brand. Luckily, the food tasted good enough for the team to win, otherwise we’re sure that at least one of them would have been fired.
What’s that got to do with company culture?
Have you even been asked in an interview to describe yourself in 5 words? An easy question? If someone were to ask you to describe your company culture in 5 words, could you do that? Your company culture is it’s personality and just like some people don’t bond well with others, your company culture will fit better with some people than others.
If Joanna or Jade had been in a team with someone who shared their values, expectations and goals the end result would have been much improved. They would have worked as a strong team with high motivation and increased productivity, all with the addition of a bit of good fun! Remember, fun is good for business, whatever business you are in. If your teams are having fun, they are more engaged and more productive.
Don’t be like Harrison and hope that people will simply fit into your culture just because they have the skills to do the job. As if you did watch last night, then you will see that this is a recipe for potential disaster and poor results.
Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast – Peter Drucker
Culture is one of your best recruiting tools and to increase your applications from suitable candidates, promoting your culture, whatever it may be, will help ensure that you are attracting the right people with the right skills who fit into your culture.
These are the people who will help strengthen your employer brand, improve employee advocacy and help further promote your culture to more suitable candidates. Not only that, an employee who thrives in your culture will be happy, more motivated, more productive and less likely to move on from your company. It’s a win-win strategy!
Developing Your Culture
If you think that culture is simply having a nice range of benefits and a few posters around the office with a list of values – it’s time to think again. We’ve written articles about Employee Benefits and these are now becoming more expectations than perks and those posters that hardly anyone reads just don’t change a thing. If you do have those posters, do a quick poll today and ask people to name 4 of your values – can they? Employees rarely live by values if they are simply stuck to the wall.
86% viewed corporate culture as important or very important to business success. Source: Deloitte 2016 Global Human Capital Trends
Culture is something that needs constant attention. You can’t get it established and then sit back and expect it to be the same 4 years later. There are many companies who start out with an amazing culture, something so good that they have people queuing up to work for them, only to have it watered down as they grow and after 3-4 years, they begin struggling to recruit as no one knows who they are anymore, or their culture is no longer attractive and current.
So whilst it is important to develop a culture, it’s equally important to keep adapting it to suit the market, both internally and externally.
Showcasing Your Culture
Every company is different, but how do candidates know what it’s like behind your closed doors? If you are advertising for additional members of your team and your vacancy is competing with other companies in the area, showcasing your culture can help you have the edge and win the talent war against your competitors.
If you are finding yourself interviewing candidates who look great on paper, only to meet them and realise instantly that they are not the right fit, then promoting your culture will help save you time when recruiting. Have a look at our blog on The Best Way To Attract Candidates Through Your Company Culture for more insights.
Some companies shy away from promoting their culture as it doesn’t necessarily fit with their business branding and style. For example, a law firm may have a highly professional image to it’s clients, but may have a very funky culture with chill-out rooms, pool tables, fun day Friday and lots of other cool things that they don’t necessarily want to promote to their clients. This is where a separate careers website and social media presence may work best as it can hold a completely different look and feel to the client facing website and social media.
JobHoller are experts at helping you define and promote your company culture to help support any recruitment campaign, large or small. If you wish your recruitment efforts were more successful, maybe it’s time to talk to the experts – 01244 567 967.
