People before profit: why company culture matters

Your company culture has the power to set you apart from the competition, and it can do miracles for your team.

 

If these past couple of years have taught businesses anything, it’s been the importance of a healthy and authentic company culture. After all, it’s what has kept teams together as they worked from their kitchen tables and Zoomed in to every meeting.

 

But what exactly is workplace culture? It’s the character and personality of your organisation, made up of your people’s values, beliefs and traditions. It’s ultimately what brings your company to life, and together. Culture is reflected in just about everything at work: be that the office setup, employee benefits, hiring decisions, leadership or even working hours.

 

But a healthy culture doesn’t just happen. It needs to be nurtured and invested in, continually. And we don’t mean just buying the office a ping pong table.

 

So what are the benefits of an authentic company culture?

 

Your company culture has the power to set your business apart from the competition. Not only can it attract clients looking to work with a business with aligning values, it can do miracles for your team, too.

 

Here’s what a good company culture can do for your business:

 

Attracting new talent

 

As more and more companies bounce back after the lockdowns, the competition for talent is higher than ever. Today, hiring isn’t just about what you offer, be that the number of personal days offered or the possibility of free lunch. It’s now more about what you stand for as a company, and how you do business.

 

According to Glassdoor’s 2019 Mission and Culture survey, 77 per cent of respondents said they would “consider a company’s culture” before applying. Meanwhile, 56 per cent said they found a good workplace culture to be "more important than salary" when it came to job satisfaction.

 

To top this, a survey by the Society or Human Resources Management (SHRM) found that company culture was the number one reason why people picked one job over another – proving it pays to invest in your culture.

 

Retaining your talent