Of course, we know that the culture of the company is important when seeking a job. No employee wants to work in an environment that feels like it is taking years off their life. But what we often don’t hear about is the other side of the coin, which is when we are seeking a service provider, we should also be scrutinising the culture of its company.

Some people may think that companies who focus on building company culture and workplace morale is an altruistic venture — that we only do these things to be good people. But what this ignores is the fact that companies with strong cultures actually perform better.

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What is company culture

When talking about culture, we are not talking about sleep pods, or unlimited beer on tap. In this context, company culture can be simply defined as ‘the way we do things around here.’

Whether created intentionally or not, every company has one.

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Engaged employees

There are many factors that at the tip of the iceberg make up a good team member: hard skills (coding, designing, React Native, Figma) and soft skills (communication, ability to understand direction). But the hidden value of a team member is measured by how engaged they are in the business.

In the book, Culture is the Way, Matt Mayberry highlights an important point, “Only 20% of global workers are actively engaged in their work. The global economy is driven by the workers making up this global minority… The other 80% are merely going through the motions.”

From personal experience, I think we can all recall the effort and energy we put into something when we are truly engaged and care about the outcomes. When you feel invested in the company culture, it reflects in your engagement.

A subject for another day and probably my personal Linkedin page, is how it is also the job of the leadership team in the company to actively seek out and remove unengaged employees.

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Top talent

As we know, people who are in the workforce want a great company culture.

According to a survey done by Glassdoor, 77% of employees would consider a company’s culture before seeking a job there, with another 56% saying a good culture was ‘more important’ than salary for job satisfaction. It is human nature to want to believe in something and feel that they are a vital part of making a difference. So, it is likely that employees who work in a business have done their research and have actively sought out a strong workplace culture. Plus a good company culture develops existing talent. There is a reason the best sport teams in the world not only attract the best talent, but have a track record of shaping developing talent.

When a company creates a great culture that brings out the best in its team, drives winning behaviours in the marketplace and performs, word will spread.

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Alignment and execution

Why does this all matter? It all sounds very nice. But for you as the client, what is the end result?

In the words of Michael Jordan, “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”

Although there are many different responsibilities and roles that exist within a company, in order to ‘win’ there can only be a single team that pursues the same primary goal. Strong company cultures instills and promotes the daily behaviours (small steps) needed to win and execute the overall goal (giant leaps).

• Is there a better way of doing that?
• Your attitude doesn’t excite me
• That’s not the Moonward way

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Final thoughts

Being a great place to work is the difference between a good company and a great company. Brian Kristofek.

As always keen to hear the thoughts of others :)

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