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It's Not Enough To Show Up: How Purposeful Culture Drives Business

Forbes Human Resources Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Natalie Baumgartner

Imagine this: You’re interviewing a great candidate, who is quite possibly the next rock star at your organization, and are asked to describe your company culture.

How do you answer? Do you brag about your free gourmet meals, ping-pong tables and unlimited vacation policy? The truth is that workplace culture is not based on the number of company outings you hold or whether you have happy hour once a week — and it’s certainly not determined by the size of your big-screen TV.

HR professionals will sometimes reference these perks — and that’s exactly what they are — in place of describing culture to entice talent to join an organization. Perks are not culture. While these additional benefits certainly enhance the employee experience, a company’s culture is rooted in organizational success. Culture is the soul of an organization and the North Star that guides every aspect of an organization, from employees and policies to leadership and, yes, even perks.

Higher standards, greater expectations and a more competitive landscape pile stress on HR departments to ensure employees are happy and engaged at work so they remain productive and committed. Delivering a strong, purposeful culture based on more than just perks gives businesses the edge they need to not only recruit the best talent, but to retain their teams as well.

Improving Retention With A Purposeful Culture

A multigenerational workforce may have differing opinions on the current political climate and what they need and want from an employer, but at the end of the day, we’re all people. Human beings from every generation strive to be the best versions of themselves they can be, and hold their employers to those high standards as well. Regardless of generation or industry, today’s workforce is asking for the same things: flexible work schedules, competitive salaries and benefits, and a positive work-life balance.

Now more than ever, success in the human capital space is not simply about meeting the bar, but surpassing it and delivering an unmatched employee experience. Regardless of culture, employees today are not typically sticking around for years, let alone decades like their predecessors. A 2016 poll showed that 41% of baby boomers remained with their companies for at least 20 years, even though they faced similar pressures at work as younger generations encounter today. That’s compared to the 43% of millennials who anticipate leaving their jobs within two years. As we look ahead, turnover rates will continue to rise in organizations where employee experience and culture are misaligned.

Three-quarters of millennials believe that changing jobs helps advance their career, meaning culture needs to be a driving factor for why they want to stay in a position. In order to achieve this, organizations are tasked with not only aligning culture around what’s most important to their employees, but then also truly and authentically living by those values. Consequently, without an aligned culture, the talent life cycle will continue to operate like a revolving door.

Developing An Aligned Culture With Employees In Mind

According to the Work Institute, work-life balance, management behavior, compensation and benefits, well-being, and work environment collectively account for nearly 50% of the reasons employees cite for leaving a job today. These factors have something critical in common: the importance of their alignment with a clear, strength-based company culture.

Culture is king, but it can’t just be haphazardly thrown together. The first step in delivering a purposeful culture is to establish a solid foundation of core values to unite around. These values need to be clear, meaningful beliefs that directly relate to, and embody, what an organization represents.

While the organization development world used to believe that culture “starts with the top,” what we've come to know is that culture — how we do things in our organization — is truly informed by the core values of the people who make up the company. Each of our personal core values is hard-wired by the time we hit adulthood and enter the workforce, and they scarcely change over the course of our careers. What’s more, our personal core values drive our behavior every single day more than any other factor.

To determine core organizational values — four to six is the optimal number — it’s critical to first understand the values of your people and then compare those beliefs with the cultural values your organization needs to deliver on its strategic goals. Finalizing the four to six core values gives the entire organization a platform to align with that's rooted in what’s most important to them.

Without an aligned, thoughtful culture, there’s not only a disconnect between leadership and the workforce, but employees don’t have a motivator, a cause to rally behind or a reason to be productive. An organization that does not truly live its values is setting itself up to lose talent, resources and revenue. Conversely, employees who are inspired and relate to their leaders through fundamental shared beliefs drive results — improving financials, enhancing customer satisfaction and ensuring high business performance.

Success Is Rooted In A Purposeful Culture

Culture goes awry when it is not intentional, clear and aligned across every aspect of an organization. Companies that do not take the time to foster an aligned, purposeful culture will have a workforce that simply “shows up to the job.” But to remain competitive in today’s business climate, employers rely on their employees to not just show up, but to thrive at work.

With the rise of mobility across industries and the higher standards employees expect from employers, it’s not enough to simply offer superficial perks to retain the best talent and motivate them to perform. Every company needs to commit to an aligned, purposeful culture that guides employee and organizational success.

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