Company Culture Key to Future Recruitment and Retention

Company culture has long been relegated to the “fluffy” side of business in the minds of many corporate veterans and observers. An engaging, a friendly, a welcoming, or even just a pleasant place to work is often thought of as something nice to have … as long as the company is making money.

But companies are increasingly seeing a robust company culture as a means to achieve those more concrete goals rather than as just a nice-to-have as long as the concrete goals are met.

Henry Albrecht, the CEO of employee experience company Limeade, says culture will be king in the years to come. Limeade believes culture will rise on the priority list of CEOs, getting closer in terms of importance to board-level metrics like revenue, profit, and market share.

Linking Company Culture and Profitability

There are multiple links between company culture and the bottom line. For one, employees are more engaged and, therefore, more productive, efficient, motivated, and willing to go the extra mile in a positive company culture than in a culture that is toxic or simply lacking.

Relatedly, employees are unlikely to stay at a company where they don’t feel valued. Particularly in a tight labor market with historically low unemployment, workers have a lot of options. And if they can make the same or sometimes even less money at a job with a more desirable company culture, they have no problem switching organizations.

Companies that want to keep top talent on their staffs and remain competitive need to take note of the growing importance of culture for these employees.

The Role of Technology

Many observers note the importance of human connections in maintaining a robust corporate culture. This is inherently intuitive, as communication is the foundation of any culture, whether used in the large-scale traditional sense of the word or as applied to the workplace.

Technological tools that facilitate greater communication, sharing, and collaboration also can magnify the benefits of positive cultural elements. This is particularly true for companies that allow remote staff, which is itself likely to increase as more and more employees demand flexible working arrangements.

Company culture isn’t just a nice-to-have perk anymore. Its impact on employee engagement, recruitment, and retention means it has a direct link to the bottom line, particularly in companies that rely on the skills and efforts of their people as their key asset.

Have you taken a look at your culture lately?