Company Culture - It’s become quite a buzz word lately in the business world. Candidates are craving a positive culture, companies are actively seeking ways to improve their company culture, and HR professionals are promoting company culture on every platform. It’s in our faces every single day and everyone says “it’s so important” - but why? Why does having a positive company culture really matter if you’re making money and getting your work done? (We’re playing devil’s advocate here - company culture is great) - But seriously, why? You hear it all day long on LinkedIn and company socials and company websites but no one ever sits down and tells you WHY. Luckily, we have 7 reasons WHY company culture is so important! Check them out - But first, let’s define company culture really quickly…

What is Company Culture?

According to The Balance Careers, Company Culture “is the personality of a company. It defines the environment in which employees work. Company culture includes a variety of elements, including work environment, company mission, value, ethics, expectations, and goals.” Are you starting to see why this may be of some importance yet? If a company lacks a great environment or mission, has poor ethics, values, and expectations, and never sets goals - people are going to be very unhappy… Culture represents everything an employee holds dear - it’s all of the important details (aside from revenue) that people care about.

7 Reasons Why Office Culture is SO Important:

1. Positive Employee Experience- Okay, so this is obvious right? When the company culture rocks, the employees are destined for a positive experience. And, when your employees are your best advocates, this is a double win because they will praise your company, EVERYWHERE. And, FYI, you want that praise if you ever want growth or a positive reputation. A positive company culture boosts morale amongst employees too and gives them a passion and a motivation to work hard all day, everyday. With a good company culture, all of the “babysitting” is over with because your employees are going to want to perform.

2. Low Turn-Over Rates- This goes hand in hand with that whole positive employee experience thing….Employees aren’t going to want to leave if the culture is great. This leads to an incredibly low turn-over rate which bodes significantly well for your company. If you’ve been around for 20 years and you have employees that have worked there for 15 out of those twenty or even all 20 - that looks incredible to prospective hires and indicates that they are happy and willing to work there for 15+ years of their life. Retention rates are vital to your company and is just as important to people as the company’s culture. Check out this great stat from built in: “employees who don’t like their organization’s culture are 24% more likely to quit” - Crazy right?

3. Great Reputation- Contrary to Joan Jett, you should care about your bad reputation! A great reputation is such an important piece to the puzzle of your company’s success. Reputation will either scare potential hires away if it’s poor, or will attract a flock of talent if it’s awesome. With a great company culture in place, your reputation will flourish, especially with the younger crowd who is placing a larger emphasis on a company’s culture.

4. Attracts Talent- Everyone wants to attract talent, right? But guess where all of the talent is going? - To companies with a killer company culture! We feel as though a few stats will help drive our point. The site, built in has a ton of awesome stats surrounding company culture. Here are a few:

   -46% of job seekers cite company culture as very important when choosing to apply to a company.

   -47% of active job seekers cite company culture as their driving reason for looking for work.

   -15% of job seekers turned down a job offer because of the company’s culture.

   -35% of American workers say they would pass on the perfect job if they felt the company culture wasn’t a good fit.

   -91% of managers in the U.S. say a candidate’s alignment with the company culture is equal to or more important than skills and experience.

5. Improves Both Inclusion and Diversity- Typically, a great office culture and diversity/inclusion go hand in hand. That’s because an awesome office culture is both diverse and inclusive! When a company culture is where it should be, everyone should feel welcome when walking through its doors. There should be clear mapping, elevator access, and anything else that could better improve D&I efforts. The difference between a poor culture and a positive culture when it comes to D&I is the want to be diverse and inclusive...the want to be welcoming and open to any and everyone. A poor culture couldn’t care less and thrives on revenue and revenue alone. That’s the difference - the desire is there.

6. Improves Company Growth- When you work at a company with a great culture and you’re attracting talent, maintaining long-standing employees, and uphold an awesome reputation - you’re going to have growth! When the culture is a great fit, people are happy, they want to perform - high performance equals revenue which means funding for hiring. And, if your culture is where it should be - you’ll have candidates leaping at the opportunity to apply and interview and you’ll be growing before you know it!

7. Allows for Company-Wide Transparency/Comfort- It’s so important to maintain a regular focus on employee’s well-being. By being honest, promoting positivity, and being open minded to suggestions, your employee’s well-being will positively improve and will allow them to have a more transparent, comfortable working environment. Everyone wants to feel comfortable and secure at work and they want to feel as though their voice is heard.

All of these points have a trickling effect - where one fails, they all fail into a downward spiral. Keeping up with an awesome culture is vital to a company’s existence and vital to employees overall! Be sure you really evaluate your current culture and see what you could do better. Maybe even consider a survey to see what your employees want or need!

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