What Is It About Culture?

What is it about culture that made it a buzzword of 2014?  Perhaps it was the fact that many companies were finally emerging from years of downward trends due to the recession, and were looking for ways to re-envision themselves or hire new and fresh thought leaders.  Maybe it was the realization that there is more to a work environment than just a high salary and rigid expectations.  Or, perhaps it was the understanding that people are looking for more from their places of employment than just a place they clock into and out of day in, and day out.

Company culture is an important factor that companies are now paying attention to, and it is paying dividends for many. Top talent wants a culture that they can fit into. A quality culture can help drive the talented individuals that are a part of it to achieve more and more easily buy into the vision if everyone is on the same page.

On the TalentTalk Radio Show, Chris Dyer, the CEO of PeopleG2 routinely asks his guests to talk about culture, and the impact that culture has on their success. Overwhelmingly, every CEO, HR Executive or business professional that he has interviewed speaks to the importance of culture as a driving force behind recruiting the top talent, retaining the top talent, and getting the highest amount of production out of that talent.

Employers that treat their employees well and create a culture of empowerment are ones that are becoming the sought after places of employment. The importance of work/life balance, for example, is something that is on the forefront of many individuals. If this is important to you, wouldn’t you do your homework and find an employer that has adapted this type of ideology into their company culture?

Job seekers are not just looking for the top pay, but are looking for those things that make a job a GREAT place to work. They want those places that are high trust environments, where their contributions will be accepted as a part of a team effort to make the company move to the next level.

The most important aspect of culture…don’t try to make another company’s culture fit your company’s cultural mold.  Every culture has to be individualized.  It’s important for a company to take the time to create, reinforce and sustain its own culture and find out what works and what doesn’t.  Once that culture is defined, and employees buy in to it, it becomes engrained in them and helps to drive a company forward.