In a recent blog we discussed what millennials want in an accounting job. Many of the factors that would attract a millennial workforce had to do with a company’s culture. So how does an organization create a strong company culture that attracts, lands and retains the right people? Here are some tips for turning your company into an organization that people compete to work for.
Food For Thought
Before we launch into how to build a strong corporate culture let’s talk about why it’s important. According to a 2010 Hewitt Associates study of more than 900 organizations globally, “companies with the highest level of employee engagement outperformed the total stock market index, posting shareholder returns 19% higher than the 2009 average.” This tells us that there is an impressive ROI on a positively impactful company culture. So how do we transform our existing culture into something that fuels our employees’ productivity and engagement?
Step 1: Connect the Dots
Define what is important to your organization and make sure your brand reflects that. Align your core values, mission statement and organizational outcomes to this vision. Most importantly, make sure employees understand how their roles connect to the achievement of the company’s goals. Employees need to feel that their work is meaningful. Connecting their duties to the big picture facilitates this.
To learn how your company’s brand is impacting your ability to attract and retain talent read this blog.
Step 2: Create a Baseline
The next step is to establish an understanding of how your current culture is impacting your employees. Send out surveys that address both pain points and strengths. Create an anonymous channel for feedback.
Step 3: Goals
From the surveys establish 3 actionable items. Communicate these goals to your employees. Consider empowering managers as change agents and provide initial and ongoing training in effective communication strategies to position them for success. Send follow-up surveys and refine your strategies based on the subsequent feedback.
Step 4: The Teaching Culture
Employees want to invest in a firm that invests in them. When financial compensation is essentially the same between two companies, the next two differentiators that matter are work/life balance and the ability to progress. Research on millennials, for example, cites meaningful work and access to ongoing professional development as two factors that would sway them toward an organization. With this in mind it makes sense to establish a teaching culture. There are four steps to doing this. They include: building leaders, establishing a culture of openness to new ideas, creating a process that allows teams to identify what has facilitated success and what hasn’t and making sure that leadership comes from everyone.
For more information on how to establish a teaching culture read this LinkedIn post.
Key Takeaways
To create a great company culture establish a baseline for improvement based on an objective assessment of your current culture. Turn the feedback into actionable goals and then foster a process that allows those objectives to be achieved. Provide ongoing training and support. Empower your leadership to be change agents and consider establishing a teaching culture. Your company’s culture is your differentiator when it comes to attracting, landing and retaining great employees, so invest in it accordingly.
Your Next Step
No one should walk the job search or hiring road alone. At Clarity Recruitment we help others realize their success through a process that marries proprietary technology with unwavering commitment. Contact us today to take control of your career, or to partner with us to hire well.
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