Following the pandemic and subsequent Great Resignation, prospective employees want more in their careers than just fair compensation. Company culture, the norms, people, and values behind your brand, is quickly hiking up their priority list. Why is it influential? When a highly sought-after candidate has comparable offers from multiple firms, company culture is the clincher.
Expectations, workplace benefits, leadership style, and other factors drive productivity, performance, employee satisfaction, and turnover—in both directions. Whether calibrated or misaligned, culture ultimately affects your firm’s clientele, balance sheet, growth, and longevity. Here are three ways your firm can market its company culture to recruit and retain qualified professionals who enrich your organization.
#1 Define and Create an Authentic Culture
Company culture is more than a snazzy HR poster in your breakroom. It is ever-present and intrinsic to your firm. Only your firm can define what your culture means to you—and apply it to the people you hire, how you support one another professionally and personally, and what measures success.
Don’t have an accurate pulse on your culture? Engage your team. What better way to define values and standards and improve morale than to invite your employees to help establish them? Clarity is your firm’s accountability and is crucial, especially since new hires can easily sniff out disorganization and mistrust. Here are three employee engagement strategies to get started:
- Conduct an eNPS survey.
- You may be familiar with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey measuring customer satisfaction. An eNPS assesses your employees based on a single question. The survey cannot provide a complete picture of your employees’ experience but is an effective and simple way to capture a baseline to compare progress in subsequent years.
- Hold group and one-on-one meetings.
- Share a pre-meeting agenda outlining the purpose, prompts, and questions you’ll cover, such as “What is your favorite part about working here?” and “How do you think we can improve?” Ensure the meeting is a collaborative, open forum that remains on track and allows each team member to express their views.
- Schedule ongoing meetings to gauge employee satisfaction, share company updates, and gain employee buy-in about the firm’s vision and direction.
- Establish core values.
- As a team or among a key group of leaders, drill down into what makes your firm and culture unique. For example, one of Uber’s core values is “Diversity makes us stronger.” Document and share the values with your team and explain expectations for how you will demonstrate and uphold them.
- Keep cultural norms top of mind by integrating core values into your processes, communications, and meetings. A simple exercise is to conclude discussions with how the team sees them in action and areas that need work.
#2 Share Your Culture Online
Prospective talent is scrolling your social media and website to gauge cultural fit. Leverage these platforms to showcase what makes your firm unique and attractive. Here are four ways to promote your culture online:
- Weave it into your social media marketing strategy. Your social feeds are highly effective in highlighting cultural aspects that make your firm a desirable place to work. Regularly integrating the following types of cultural posts in your social calendar demonstrates your firm’s ethos and commitment to longevity and team engagement:
- New hires and work anniversaries
- Peeks into a day-in-the-life or behind-the-scenes of your firm
- “Best Places to Work"-esque awards
- Team outings like happy hours and holiday gatherings
- Community involvement, including volunteering and giving back together
- Make your team page human. Don’t be afraid to add flair to your “Meet the Team” page. This part of your website is a chance for your employees to shine and reflect the fun, diversity of skills and people, and other characteristics your culture embodies. Consider the following approaches:
- Headshots that are less stuffy and show each team member’s distinct character
- Personal anecdotes, including fun facts or life mottos
- Quotes or videos that share the employee’s favorite part of working with your firm
- Liven up your job descriptions and profiles. Legal and role specifics are essential to setting up potential hires for success. However, job descriptions and company profiles on sites like LinkedIn and Indeed are other opportunities to use your company culture to win over prospects. Here’s how you can help them stand out:
- Produce a branded welcome video introducing your firm, team, and quirks.
- Avoid overused, outdated jargon and language, crafting job descriptions and company profiles with conversational, relatable messaging.
- Include a range of photos full of personality that capture happy, valued, and real employees.
- Outline benefits that resonate with the type of applicants you wish to attract, incentives such as flexible or remote hours, career path opportunities, paid parental leave, wellness perks, “take your dog to work” days, and more— anything that makes your firm enticing.
- Develop a New Hire Toolkit. A new member guide is handy for sales teams and staff out in the community to consistently represent your brand. The kit can include promotional materials, such as:
- Social media post templates that employees can share on their networks, e.g., “I'm thrilled to share that I've joined the (@FIRMNAME) team, where (FIRM TAGLINE).”
- Style-approved social media profile pictures, banners, email signatures, and logos
- Branded polos and other items your team can sport to raise firm visibility
#3 Be Consistent (Yet Open)
A thriving company culture is consistent at every touchpoint. Firms are responsible for preserving and representing their established culture, systems, and standards. For example, team members and clients should have similar experiences online, over the phone, and in person. Without order and consistency, alignment and trust may crumble.
When a firm grows, continuity becomes the cornerstone of investing in its people and long-term success. Employees value consistency and stability, knowing they can rely on standards to solve problems, advance in their careers, and communicate and gain feedback from leaders. As a result, employees have the peace of mind to perform better, which reflects in client service and loyalty.
It is equally important to ensure your culture is flexible enough to accommodate new perspectives and innovations. Prospective hires seek broad-minded workplaces that value team members’ opinions, concerns, and changing needs.
You may have already established a positive and supportive workplace culture. But top-tier talent will only notice your firm on their job hunt if you promote it strategically and intentionally. Now is the time to use these tips to showcase your unique culture and get applicants and clients excited to partner with you.