According to data from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and Gallup, strong company culture is directly tied to increased productivity, improved employee retention and overall better hiring. In other words, great company culture can help a business attract and retain great talent, even in a tight labor market.
Tips For Building a Culture That Attracts
Whether you’ve consciously worked on it or not, your company has a culture. It is the set of norms that define the way employees approach their work each day. And that culture attracts people who thrive in your type of work environment and naturally repels those who don’t feel aligned with it. Here are some strategies you can use to build and nurture a strong culture that attracts the right people.
Know Your Purpose
Your purpose is your “why.” Why does your business exist? What is its mission? Create a well-defined purpose or mission statement that your employees can connect to. This helps both current and prospective employees to determine whether or not their values and passions align with the mission of the organization.
Define And Live Your Values
Similarly, you want to define your company values. These are the guiding principles that inform your client relationships, your partner relationships and even your relationships with employees. Values are not a suggestion – they are a mandate that should shine through every aspect of your company, and they shouldn’t just be stated, they should be practiced every day.
Prioritize Communication
Employees who feel “out of the loop” will not be engaged in their work. When they have to guess what is going on with the company, its leadership and their decisions, they will lose trust and confidence in the organization.
Be open and upfront about how things are going. Is the company on target to hit its goals? Will there be changes coming? What’s going right? Where did the business miss the mark? What can employees do to move the company forward? Talk about these things regularly in company meetings and encourage individual division leaders and management to practice open communication with their employees, as well. Communication creates trust and will have a positive impact on your culture.
Encourage And Accept Input
Employees feel valued when they are heard. Part of your communication strategy should include ways for employees to share their own feedback, ideas and thoughts. Your employees have great ideas on how to make the company better – from its culture to its processes to its products and everything in between. Allowing employees to help shape conversations is a great step towards building a healthy culture.
Looking For More Tips On Hiring In A Tight Labor Market?
If you are looking for top sales and marketing talent for your ag business, contact the expert recruiters at Morris Bixby today. Our process is streamlined, accurate and efficient to ensure you have access to the skilled, well-matched people you need when you need them – even in a tight labor market.