In times like these, businesses can’t afford to hire anyone but the absolute best. Studies have shown that rooting out toxic applicants in recruiting can save up to $12,500 in eventual turnover costs, leaving much-needed breathing room in your budget.
Attracting top talent isn’t just about offering high salaries and flashy benefits — it’s about creating a company people want to work for. The first step toward making that a reality is by promoting a healthy office culture. Your employees live in your company’s culture every single day, and applicants will get a taste of it during the interview process.
As important as culture is, it can often be difficult to pin down. To give your company the edge it needs, consider these tips for developing a culture workers will want to join:
1. Keep things flexible.
Now more than ever, candidates need potential employers to be flexible. Social media management platform Buffer reports that 98 percent of employees currently telecommuting want to remain remote forever. If your business can make flexible work an option, it will earn that talent’s attention. As valued as flexibility is, it’s crucial to not let a decentralized office cut down on culture.
As businesses have made the transition out of the office, some have lost aspects of their culture. Look toward companies that have already embraced remote work. Toptal, a fully remote company, has published a remote work playbook to help other businesses make the transition without leaving culture behind. By keeping things integrated, you can allow for flexibility without sacrificing your business’s soul.
2. Put employees first.
Plenty of companies claim to put employees first, but fall behind when it comes to implementing policies that actually privilege their workers. “Employees first” can’t just be a motto — it has to be a core component of your mission. With nearly two-thirds of employees willing to quit if they don’t feel appreciated, your business can’t afford to leave its team behind.
To have a culture that puts employees first, you need to implement policies that do so. The Container Store prides itself on an employee-first culture, and it backs that up by spending 25 times as many hours training its employees compared to the industry average. If a candidate knows during the hiring process that he’ll be entering a culture that takes care of him, he’ll be far more comfortable getting on board.
3. Develop large-scale goals.
Gone are the days when all employees wanted was a steady job. Consulting firm Korn Ferry reports that 63 percent of Millennials believe a business’s primary purpose is not to earn profit, but to improve society. Ninety-four percent also stated they wished to use their skills to benefit causes they believe in. Culture isn’t just team-building exercises and table tennis; it’s creating a mission your employees align with.
Marketing platform HubSpot has created a helpful list of inspiring mission statements to draw inspiration from, but be sure your mission genuinely reflects the goals of your business. Ask your employees about causes they care about, and think of ways your company can help promote them. Overarching goals and ideas for your business create cultural cohesion that can catch any prospect’s attention.
4. Mix culture and leadership.
Employees and job candidates alike look to your leadership for an understanding of what company life looks like. To have a certain type of culture, you need to start by embodying that culture yourself.
In the early days of Amazon, Jeff Bezos met with every interviewee who passed through his office’s doors. He might have wanted to get a sense of the applicants, but this strategy also allowed interviewees to get a taste of what Amazon’s leadership and culture really looked like. If you take an active role in hiring, the top talent you’re recruiting will get a firsthand understanding of what culture looks like at your company.
The best workers have more options than ever. Your company needs to stand out if it wants to make an impact on prospective employees. By focusing on the most important aspects of your culture, you can make positive impressions to give your hiring the boost it needs.
Updated: November 18, 2020
