The organizational culture and its importance in employee engagement, recruitment and retention is an actual topic, especially in industries with a shortage of specialists. In this context, the organizational culture is a fundamental business strategy.
The company’s culture exists independent of the organization’s efforts to shape it. However, when it is consciously created, it can be used as a competitive advantage in recruitment and retention.
Starting the moment you have a clear picture of the organizational culture in your company (whether you own the business or you are just a manager), you will want to work hard to develop and protect it, then use it to grow the business. Even as a simple employee, the maintenance and the support of the company culture is reflected in a fine working environment.
The reality has proved that the performance achieved only by effort does not encourage a healthy organizational culture, that’s why a business with real chances to make history requires efforts to stimulate the employees.
Thus, the idea of a constructive culture, in which the people involved in work are supported to collaborate and connect, is more and more often spoken. Empathy beside competition, to achieve a collective well-being at business level.
The basic features of a constructive organizational culture are, according to specialists:
- The employees don’t work because they supposed to, but because they want to achieve meaningful things for the group or for the world;
- The creativity and the trial and error learning are encouraged;
- The people in the company recognize their potential, which they can do and are more willing to learn continuously;
- Collaboration and connection versus competition.
Two ways to use organizational culture in HR
1. In recruitment
A strong organizational culture will generate a strong employer brand as long as there is guidance and vision. The company culture is the way you operate internally, and the employer brand is what the outside world sees. The recruitment processes will become much easier if you give out authentic snapshots of the positive aspects of your culture, as outlined in this article on Culture Amp blog.
The reasons are simple: recruiters will identify faster potential employees who fit the environment, and candidates will react positively and want to be part of the organizational culture they resonate with. On the other hand, a clear culture will naturally determine employees who are unsuitable to leave the company.
The key to any successful recruitment process is that the employer brand identifies itself with the organizational environment. The efforts of the recruitment team will be in vain if this equivalence is not real, and the new employees find a totally different organizational culture then the one they have been presented. Eventually they leave the company and may even become detractors.
The companies that use their culture to differentiate themselves in front of potential employees make a smart move. Inserting information about organizational culture in recruitment ads or on presentation pages on thr site or in social networks is certainly beneficial. The professionals are tired of reading typical job descriptions that give no clue about the company’s environment, according to the article Organizational Culture & Its Impact on Recruitment & Retention.
In today’s highly competitive market, the organizational culture often makes the difference between hiring / retaining top specialists. In addition, when you take into account the company culture and the competitive advantages it generates, the loyal and involved employees are on top. One of the safest recruitment sources is a reference from an employee dedicated to the organization.
2. In retention
As companies improve their organizational culture to attract and hire specialists, the logical conclusion is that they will remain in the company. The loyalty to the company is a very important aspect of the retention efforts. And, while it seems clearly that, by using organizational culture as a recruitment tool, you will increase your employee retention rate, this effort can improve retention in other ways.
For example, when the organizational culture is transparent to employees, they will develop a more intense sense of business objectives because they know how their work is integrated into the company’s global picture. So, when the employee has a purpose, he will be happier and more productive.
When the company culture becomes the basis for business, it can guide new decisions that support retention, such as benefits. The strategy of benefits, supported by the organizational culture, generates loyalty and gratitude. A satisfying work environment enhances employee performance. The higher the productivity, the more business revenue grows.
The human resources, the core of every business
The employees are the key to achieving the organization’s goals. That’s why the organizational culture and the recruitment allow employers to evaluate the potential employees and find ways to increase human resources’ efficiency in the company.
The employees work as an engine of the organization, and in their absence things simply do not function. By retention of the good employees in a positive organizational culture, both productivity and income increase, and top specialists will be more willing to work in such a company.
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