Organizational Culture: The Key to Competitive Hiring

My years in the HR industry have taught me a lot. It’s a given that being so immersed in the business has given me an inside view of how different types and sizes of companies handle HR issues far more than my years working as an HR professional ever could, but what I didn’t expect to find is that there are some issues that are almost universally avoided. I’m not talking about paperwork or system upgrades or tedious tasks since it’s a given that no one like those things (and if you do, I’m a little concerned for you). What I am talking about are issues that are either so complex, so time consuming, so baffling or so difficult to get a handle on that we just generally accept them as is and consider any efforts toward change wishful thinking. One of these issues is organizational culture, the collective values and habits of your people. I don’t think any of us started out our HR careers with this attitude toward organizational culture. I think it creeps in over time as we see just how hard it is to get a boat the size of a Carnival cruise ship to change directions. So while many talk about organizational culture and changing its course in their companies, talk is often about as far as it goes. In a way, a lot of people have just stopped caring. Not necessarily because they truly don’t care but because it feels that there is no engine powerful enough to make the 180 degree turn that the ship needs. Think back to your horrible college girlfriend or boyfriend and try to remember when you reached that point where it felt there was no progress to be made so you just stopped trying. The way we tend to handle organizational culture is a lot like that, but without the drowning your sorrows in cheap beer and/or a pint of ice cream. [Related: Employees, learn how customer-focused cultures win in employee engagement] However, organizational culture is the foundation of your business and as long as the ship is in the water, there’s a reason to care! Rather than accepting your company’s culture at face value and not being too concerned with what you see, work toward making improvements and enhancements. In this situation, change is absolutely not futile because even small differences in company culture can have a big impact on the business. If you’re not yet sold on the idea, here are three more reasons you should start caring about organizational culture: A competitive advantage The culture of your organization can affect nearly every aspect of the business, from how customers are treated to how much freedom employees have to think innovatively to whether or not employees leave early on Friday afternoon. Because of this, your organizational culture can either give you a competitive advantage or disadvantage, both in business and in recruiting. Learned habits and their effects over time While a bad workplace habit of a group of employees may not be too disconcerting right now, it could very well become part of your culture over time. By turning a blind eye to the state of your organization’s culture now, you’re making the situation worse in the long run because you also won’t be actively working to protect the culture. Whether employees with bad habits stay with the company a long time or simply pass on those habits to other (especially new) employees while they’re there, they are hurting your organization. In short, if you’re not working to improve the culture or protect the great culture you have, you’re hurting the organization. The bottom line Though your primary job may not be to increase sales or cut costs, you were placed in your role because the people who make up an organization do have an effect on the company’s bottom line. When organizational culture is substandard, productivity suffers, innovation is rare, employees tend to take more sick time and they are less likely to be your employer brand advocates. All of these things cost the company real money, so it’s vital that the culture reflects that. It’s time to start thinking about whether or not the level of care we put into organizational culture helps or hurts the business. What’s the most daunting aspect of shaping organizational culture? Let us know in the comments section below.