Cultures that Inspire!

There is no doubt that attracting talented people is one of the latest challenges that business leaders are facing.  Let’s define talented people as those that have options – they have skills and experiences that are viewed as attractive and therefore can command a premium in terms of pay or at least in terms of interest.

We might assume that the most important thing to these people is compensation and while a report titled Talent Wars from Development Counsellors International (DCI) shows that to be true the other factors bear some investigation.  But first, let’s recognize that very few companies are in a position to pay the highest salaries across the board so how do you differentiate yourself from other potential employers?

Let me suggest that several of the items on this list are really Company Culture topics – not just the explicit one.

Work-Life Balance

Work-Life Balance is next on the list and this is something that either exists in a company and aggressively defended by employees and managers or it doesn’t exist and employees want it.  A culture of Work-Life Balance can exist and it doesn’t necessarily cost money.

Company Benefits are often a question of money.  Most people are talking about health benefits, paid time off, retirement plans and things like maternity leave and tuition reimbursement.  These, at the end of the day, cost money and while you have to get them right it is hard to differentiate on these elements without again spending lots of money.

Let me argue that the following items can be seen as Company Culture.  Already mentioned is Work-Life Balance and now add Advancement Opportunities, Meaningful Work, Colleagues and Co-workers and Diversity – these are all Cultural elements.  Workplace Cultures are defined by what is important to the leaders and they show up as what is Valued.  Values when lived regularly drive Culture.  So, when we value hiring from within, or good workplace relations between groups or having diversity in our business these things are subsets of Workplace Culture.  What is wonderful is that these things don’t have to cost any money.  Being different from a major talent competitor takes time and effort but won’t exhaust your expense line.

When you hear about the talent wars in Silicon Valley, what comes to mind is the free lunches or the snacks available in amply stocked kitchens.  These of course cost money but they aren’t the most important things you should be thinking of mimicking.

Top of the list is Work-Life Balance.  What this looks like in the companies we at 1-degree have worked with is clear expectations for everyone and importantly every company can be different.  For some, this is an ability to leave early on Friday if extra hours were added Monday to Thursday.  For others it is the ability to drive a child to gymnastics at 3 in the afternoon and get back online after dinner.  What is possible or practical is really dependant on the type of business you run.  Underneath this is the recognition that people have lives and they aren’t being asked to sacrifice that life for the business.  It is a partnership that requires balancing competing priorities.

Advancement Opportunities

One of my favorite cultural elements is Advancement Opportunities.  When we see workplaces that value advancement we see businesses that put employees in challenging situations that demand that they learn and grow often in advance of what they think is possible.  This doesn’t have to be promotions, but it does have to be challenging work.  Sometimes people don’t rise to the opportunity but when they do it is amazing to see the positive that comes from that.  Think of this as putting people in situations prior to a promotion as a test or trial run – when they deliver it is easy to promote the individual.  Of course, Advancement Opportunities are easier to generate in a growing business but ‘giving people a shot’ is one way to prove that opportunities for promotion are right around the corner.

Without going into each one of the elements that I identify as Cultural let me say that investing in Culture is about being clear about what is important and then making sure that all the managers in a business are singing from the same song sheet.  Confusion is the enemy of clarity.  Clear Cultures make the wanted behaviours from employees and leaders crystal clear.   When we know what is expected ‘around here’ and we can act without being worried about ‘doing it right’ we create speed and momentum but more importantly we reduce cognitive dissonance.  When people are confused they are weak.  When we feel weak we don’t tell our friends how much fun we are having at work.  When passionate people feel like they are tackling important problems surrounded by smart and similarly passionate people they broadcast a positive energy that is incredibly attractive to those talented people with options.

Have you ever visited a business and you could just tell that everything was different the moment you walked in the door?  That is what I am talking about.  The investment in building a culture that inspires the people already working for you is the best way to attract new talent to your organization.

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