If you are involved in hiring and recruitment at your organisation, then chances are you are aware of the term company culture. Company culture is basically the essence of your organisation, it’s intangible, it can be difficult to pin point exactly what it is, but if you start to delve into areas such as your organisation’s vision, values, environment and beliefs then you’ll start to get a better idea of yours.
According to Deloitte:
94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to business success.
Therefore it’s important to understand the culture in your organisation and if necessary make internal changes to improve yours.
It’s not just about ping pong…
When it comes to tech companies, in particular tech start-ups, there is a common preconception of what culture needs to be. It’s easy to look at the Google’s and Facebook’s of the world and try and replicate their culture, but what companies have to realise is that a ping pong table, beer fridge and funky office décor does not equal a great company culture. Think of these things as the “cherry on top”, but where you need to focus your attention on is the less tangible elements such as communication, flexibility, rewards and recognition, employee engagement and overall motivation.
When company culture goes wrong…
It’s been very well-reported this week about a petition that employees of fashion brand Ted Baker have launched following “forced hugging” at the company. Before the news surfaced you may have looked at the company as having cool London offices (cleverly dubbed Tedquarters), lots of social events, plenty of financial rewards and the opportunity to join an established brand within UK fashion.
The reality it seems however is that the culture of “forced hugging” by the firm’s founder and boss Ray Kelvin is leaving employees vulnerable to sexual harassment with little option to report concerns to HR or managers. This of course is a very extreme case, but when you look at the negative impact this has had on the brand in only a few days of the reports (shares fell 15% yesterday and the news is guaranteed to put off potential candidates from applying to their vacancies) it’s a stark warning of the importance of creating a strong company culture.
Further Reading…
If you are looking to define and improve the company culture in your organisation then you may be intersetd in the following blogs from our sister brand JobHoller:
