Every organization is bound to develop its own workplace culture. The number of employees does not matter. Whether it is a small business or a multi-million dollar corporation, every workplace has its own culture.
The workplace culture involves beyond how employees interact with one another. It is weaved into the way the business operates, its spoken and unspoken values and traditions, and how the people address internal and external issues.
Therefore, it is important and reflects a lot about the organization as well as its people.
More than that, culture is an advantage. It is one of the factors that can help an organization reach its goals and grow.
What Strong Company Culture Looks Like
There is no one company culture. Each organization has its own company culture based on vision, processes and procedures, strategies and solutions adopted, and management and employees. All these interact and define the company’s culture.
Yet, many entrepreneurs discuss and take steps toward forming a more thorough company culture or preserving an existing one through developments.
More organizations are adopting strategies to improve and strengthen company culture. They realize that there are many benefits to gain if they have the right factors, such as increased productivity, higher employee retention, attracting the best talent, and improving brand image.
An increase in productivity is one that many entrepreneurs might want the most. Here is how it works: If the company culture prioritizes meeting goals, the workers are likely to set their personal goals and work toward reaching them. Other strategies that promise to increase productivity will be useless if not baked into the company culture.
Entrepreneurs also want to improve brand image, and company culture will do that. If a company culture emphasizes professionalism and responsibility, that will be how the public sees the organization.
Here is a real-world example. SMRT, a multi-modal public transportation operator, had experienced a series of drawbacks that destroyed its reputation with the public. It took a change in leadership, who made major evaluations and shifts in company culture, to improve the public’s perception of the organization.
Seah Moon Ming, when he assumed the role of SMRT Chairman, admitted the weaknesses within the organization, which led to improvements. Today, Singapore has one of the best public transport systems globally, and SMRT plays a major role in making that happen.
A Strong Company Culture Is an Edge
It would be unwise to ignore the establishment of a strong company culture. As mentioned above, it can offer a ton of benefits to the organization. Moreover, it gives the organization an edge over its competitors.
The organization that can first leverage company culture will have plenty to gain and, more likely, achieve successes before its competitors. They may even win a bigger chunk of the market and increase sales by having a good company culture.
A study found that companies with strong cultures see four times an increase in revenue. All of the organizations in the 100 Best Companies to Work For list by Fortune have seen higher than average returns annually. For some of them, the cumulative return reached nearly 500 percent.
More than market share and revenue, organizations are also fighting over talent. While there are billions of people worldwide, there is only a limited number of working adults who have the right skills and experience that suit the organization or the role they are expected to play in it. That is why big names such as Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Facebook beef up employee benefits. The goal is to attract the best people around to lend their expertise toward helping the organization reach its goals.
And, company culture is one of the factors that people consider when applying for a role and accepting a job offer.
In addition, company culture improves talent retention. Once you find the right person for the role, you have to work hard toward keeping them within the organization. When employees feel that the company culture is pleasant, supportive, and provides them opportunities for growth and development, they feel more compelled to stay. On the other hand, companies with a negative culture tend to have a high employee turnover rate.
Many things lead to success in business, and company culture is one of them. Once you can build a strong company culture, you are better equipped to reach your goals and achieve success.