An organization is not just about products and services and financial success. Without people, none of that could be produced, managed, or grown. So why do companies place so much emphasis and spend so many resources on marketing, sales, production, and finance and so little on developing a workplace that people love to work in? Why is organizational culture at the bottom of the list of priorities for most organizations?
Top-down vs. bottom-up approach to employee management and development is the most common method of “leading” staff to produce more. We all remember what we learned in kindergarten about how to treat others, how to be part of a team, how to help each other do the best we can and be the best we can be. There were also rules on what you could do and not do, schedules for what you did all day, and consequences if any of it was not followed properly! But the balance was there and if you were anything like me, you liked going to kindergarten, being with others, learning new things, doing lots of cool stuff!
But what happened to that concept once we grew up and entered the working world? Now we were going to work because we had to and maybe not because we wanted to. The rule book was bigger – much bigger – and the fun learning stuff maybe not so much. If you were unfortunate enough to get a cubicle job in a big office, well, not too much team stuff going on there. And what about incentives to be the best we could be? Raises, time off, bonuses for getting the job done? Mostly monetary and not about who we were or how we could do better so much as increasing productivity for the boss.
Employers quite often believe all they need to do about culture is put up some inspirational or comedic posters in the staff break room, or write extensive policies and procedures for everyone to follow, or use perks or incentives as carrots to make their staff perform better on the job. What they don’t understand is that culture is the driving force for setting the standard for excellence, the absolute priority for people looking for the fit they want in the job they need. Culture is the number one variable over all other job-seeking considerations, including the job itself, the impact on career goals, the rate of compensation, and work/life balance.
“How Companies Can Attract the Best College Talent”, Sanjeev Agrawal, MARCH 17, 2014
Yet employers almost always ignore culture and spend most of their time on their products and marketing and managing the money aspect of their business. They need good talent in their organization to realize success but they don’t understand what the best talent is looking for. People want to be part of your organization, not just work for it. They want to fulfill your mission and believe in the promise that your mousetrap is the best mousetrap for your customers. They want to know that you not only value their expertise but that you also want them to take an active part in making decisions, debating strategy, and growing themselves as well as your business!
Employers need to know that if they build a culture that people will love to be part of, then the best talent out there will come. Culture dictates the type of talent you attract, how well you can respond to challenges and opportunities, and what kind of long-term success you can achieve. So be authentic, pay attention to the qualitative aspects of what you can build for your team, and you will be able to attract, engage, and retain the best talent out there.
Diana Rae CPA 