What is an advantage of a strong organizational culture

The value of a winning company culture for your business’ success.

Product Marketing Manager

Kate Heinz is a Built In product marketing manager who formerly covered career development, HR and tech recruiting topics. She previously worked as a content strategist for Yakkety Yak. Heinz holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Michigan.

Product Marketing Manager

Kate Heinz is a Built In product marketing manager who formerly covered career development, HR and tech recruiting topics. She previously worked as a content strategist for Yakkety Yak. Heinz holds a bachelor of arts from the University of Michigan.

Building a strong organizational culture will help recruiters entice elite candidates and retain top talent. Not only that, but a winning corporate culture has been shown to improve levels of employee engagement, productivity and performance. 

Organizational culture is defined as the values, ideals, attitudes and goals that characterize an organization. Your company’s culture consists of the important intangibles that dictate how your team operates and does business. In a lot of ways, your organizational culture becomes part of your organization’s identity. 

No two organizational cultures will be the same because every organization has unique goals and is made up of diverse individuals. A big part of creating a positive work culture is making sure every employee is represented and accounted for. Your organizational culture should unify your employees and propel them toward a shared goal.

Defining Organizational Culture

Organizational culture consists of values, ideals, attitudes and goals that characterize an organization.

Company culture has often been linked to attractive benefits like lax dress codes, flexible vacation policies and beer on tap, but in reality, these perks are merely byproducts of a company’s organizational culture. The elements of a winning corporate culture will vary across companies, the fact remains: a strong organizational culture is invaluable. 

From establishing a brand identity to uniting coworkers and increasing employee engagement, a healthy organizational culture can have a huge positive impact on your organization. Let’s take a look at some of the ways a strong organizational culture elevates companies.

Dawn Kawamoto contributed reporting to this story.

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Why Organizational Culture Increases Employee Engagement

Companies with winning organizational cultures have 72 percent higher employee engagement ratings than organizations with weak cultures. Employee engagement is defined as the extent to which an employee is passionate about, motivated by and connected to their work and company. It’s no surprise that winning organizational cultures lead to high levels of workforce engagement. Bonus: engaged business units enjoy a 22 percent increase in profitability.

Nearly half of employees, 49 percent, said that organizational culture influences their employee experience more than their physical workspace or the technology they use. Strong corporate cultures give employees a cause to rally behind and purpose to do so passionately. That intrinsic motivation is what inspires employees to engage deeply with their work. A winning culture encourages employees to form a strong connection with their peers, organization and their role, enhancing their work experience and increasing their engagement.

How Organizational Culture Can Decrease Turnover

Meanwhile, 38 percent of employees report wanting to leave their current jobs due to a negative organizational culture or feeling like they don’t fit in. Your goal should be to create a corporate culture that promotes diversity and inclusivity, but not every employee will click perfectly with your culture. However, creating a winning organizational culture firmly aligned with your core values and mission will keep your employees engaged. 

A company’s culture is a key factor for 65 percent of employees when deciding to stay at their job. A weak or negative organizational culture will cause employees to look elsewhere for work, but a strong culture will keep them around. However, organizational culture is not something you can set and forget — 74 percent of U.S. employees said they would consider leaving their place of work if the organizational culture were to decline. Your corporate culture needs to be diligently maintained and improved upon when required.

Improve Recruitment Efforts With Organizational Culture 

In the U.S., 35 percent of employees claim they would pass on their ideal job opportunity if the organizational culture didn’t appeal to them. Your organizational culture isn’t something you can hide from job seekers — they’ll be able to get a sense of your organization almost immediately and use it to inform their decision. To avoid losing the interest of top candidates, prioritize creating an organizational culture that leaves a strong impression.

Companies that create a positive candidate experience enjoy a 70 percent increase in the quality of their hires. A strong candidate experience starts with your organizational culture. Winning organizational cultures prioritize employees and their relationship to the company and its goals, which creates a positive employee experience. These individuals are likely to be engaged with and passionate about their work, two positive attributes that job seekers can pick up on. A strong corporate culture will entice equally motivated candidates that will add to your company’s culture and improve business.

How to Increase Productivity With Organizational Culture 

Your organizational culture has a lot to do with your employees’ satisfaction and engagement. If your organizational culture prioritizes teamwork, but an individual prefers to work independently, they’re probably not going to be happy. However, you can work to build an organizational culture that provides a balance of your employees’ individual needs that still aligns with your organization’s goals. Your employees will reward you for it with increased productivity and performance.

Satisfied employees are 12 percent more productive, while dissatisfied employees are 10 percent less productive. Your organizational culture will directly impact how you structure your workspace, treat your employees and organize your benefits packages. Create a winning organizational culture and enticing employee perks will follow. These perks have an effect on your employees’ happiness and thus the engagement and productivity of your staff.

A whopping 77 percent of U.S. employees believe a strong organizational culture enables them to produce their best work. Furthermore, 76 percent of workers see the impact that organizational culture has on their productivity and 74 percent report a winning organizational culture improves their ability to serve their customers. 

While any given organizational culture will evolve and shift as the organization grows, there are steps leadership teams can take to guide their corporate culture in the same direction as the company’s goals. Before you get started, make sure you have the bandwidth to see your plan through. Winning cultures are not created overnight, and a bad organizational culture can do more harm than good. An organizational culture that does not align with the company’s core values or fulfill the C-suite’s promises will appear disingenuous, deter top candidates and drive away employees. 

It’s a big task, but dedicating the time and resources to create an organizational culture that’s true to who your team is and where you’re headed will attract the best people for the job and propel your organization in the right direction. Want more? Check out these 42 statistics on organizational culture.

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