7 Ways to Improve Your Company Culture

It’s no secret that having a positive company culture is a competitive advantage when it comes to attracting and hiring top talent. With 75% of candidates considering an employer’s mission and brand even before applying for a job, investing time at the top of the funnel is imperative. It’s now the candidate, not the employer, who is in control during the hiring process.  So, what exactly are candidates looking for? Well, I believe it’s a solid company culture. I was honored to speak this week at the Glassdoor Summit and was inspired by the conversations I had there and the positive response from attendees, because I think more and more companies are realizing what our co-founder Dharmesh Shah has long believed and advocated: that in great companies, culture is to recruiting what product is to marketing. Now, don’t get me wrong. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is company culture. But, there are easy ways to get started improving your company culture, and I’d like to share a few of them with you here.   1. Want to know what your employees think? Ask them. It’s the people who make up the culture of an organization. So, if you want to know how your company culture stacks up, your first step is a simple one: ask your employees. It’s imperative to measure culture. At HubSpot, my team takes a culture pulse by using a three-question employee net promoter score (eNPS) survey, which is administered once per quarter. The eNPS allows employees to share what they love about the culture and what they wish was different. I then share the results – the good, the bad and the ugly – with the entire company. This commitment to transparency, even when it’s not convenient, shows me and the rest of our senior leadership team where we need to take action. And that action helps move the needle from employee engagement to employee happiness. 2. Write down what matters. People used to think that culture was like fight club. You don’t talk about it. But, Netflix, under Patty McCord’s leadership, dispelled this myth when it codified its culture into an industry-famous culture deck, which has since been the model for thousands of other company culture codes, including HubSpot’s. By writing down your culture and what matters to you, it’s easier to share and disseminate, to make sure everyone is on the same page, and to keep yourself and your entire organization accountable. 3. Don’t assume your C-Suite has the best ideas on culture. The C-suite at any company is often filled with visionary leaders, but this doesn’t mean that they always have the best ideas when it comes to improving culture. That’s why it’s important to source and act on ideas from employees who are in the trenches. For example, at HubSpot, an individual contributor noticed that Wednesdays were affecting employee morale, and he came up with the idea to improve his colleagues’ mood by hosting Waffle Wednesday breakfasts. Waffle Wednesdays have now become a culture activation across our six global offices and a time-honored tradition our employees look forward to. Moral of the story: trust your employees to know what will help them be more productive in the office. 4. Introduce the elephant in the room. I believe that transparency with a capital “T” is a non-negotiable when it comes to culture. That’s why it’s imperative to talk regularly about what isn’t working alongside what is. Because – let’s face it – employees are talking about what’s happening at your company whether you like it or not. You may as well actively engage in the conversation and proactively address changes in the business or with key personnel. The ivory tower is now a glass door; transparency is leading the way, so companies need to adapt or they will be left behind. It’s not always a comfortable process, but pointing out the elephant in the room helps employees feel confident about the company’s commitment to moving forward and tackling those big, hairy problems that we all have. 5. Make culture a business, not just an HR, priority. According to Glassdoor’s CEO, Robert Hohman, companies on the Glassdoor “Best Places to Work” list outperform the S&P by 115%! As they say, the proof is in the pudding, or – in this case – the research. Culture drives tangible financial results for companies and has real effects on the bottom line. Thus, companies cannot afford to relegate culture to some corner of the HR org where it will be forgotten. Instead, it should be a business priority for the company and a top-of-mind action item for all company executives. 6. Humility > Hubris. Once a company has a culture that’s working, it’s easy to get cocky. Or, worse: complacent. Culture is constantly a work in progress, and it’s culture that helps organizations fight the temptation to be average. When HubSpot landed the #4 spot on Glassdoor’s “Best Places to Work,” the hard work didn’t end. That’s when it started. Candidates began expecting even more of us, and in turn we had to expect more of our customers, partners and team members. Remaining humble and constantly iterating is the key to success.  7. Hire remarkably smart people who are passionate about your mission, the people you employ, and the problems you solve. If you ever worked on a group project in high school or college, you know that no one likes having to pull other people’s weight. This is particularly true for top-performing employees who don’t want to work with average performers they know they’ll have to overcompensate for. It’s these top-performers who are the ones most affected when recruiters make the “shoulder-shrug” hire – the candidate who is “fine” but not “remarkable.” Companies serious about improving their workplace culture never compromise on their people. Ever. They hire top-of-the-line employees who will constantly ask questions and push each other to raise the bar. As I did for Summit attendees, I urge each of you to make a resolution to do something differently when it comes to culture at your respective organizations. This doesn’t mean you have to boil the ocean by immediately tackling all seven of the steps outlined here. It means starting small and making the commitment to take at least one. If you tangibly measure your culture, ensure everyone at your organization is on the same page, and make employees part of the solution, I promise you won’t regret it. Your candidates will thank you, your employees will thank you, and your alumni will thank you.