“I am a lover of a good podcast; I love podcasts both personally and professionally. When I am travelling for work or social, basically just any excuse I can find, I put on a podcast. (I even loved all things podcasts that much, that I decided to create my own… Follow the links to hear episode one on Spotify and Amazon Music.)”

The Growing Importance of Company Culture

More and more frequently in my professional life and on professional podcasts, I am hearing people talking about, and asking questions relating to the big C, and no I am not talking about COVID anymore (thank goodness), but this time I am referring to ‘culture’. Company culture, the importance of it, how it can be embedded, how it’s reviewed and seen from the most senior positions right through to junior level. The culture that we breed in the workplace is vital to having a successful organisation with invested and driven people. 

But What is Company Culture?

I heard someone on a podcast ask recently, “But what does everyone mean when they talk about company culture? Company culture is all around us and would surely be defined differently by each person you ask?” Now if you were to google the answer to ‘what is workplace culture’, the first answer that pops up from globalisation-partners.com states, ‘company culture is how you do what you do at the workplace.’ It is the sum of your systems, behaviours, and values.

All of this reflects directly on the employee experience and the customer experience. When discussing workplace culture in August 2023, Forbes defined workplace culture as: ‘The shared values, belief systems, attitudes, and the set of assumptions that people in a workplace share.’

One thing that I am sure we would all agree on, however you would personally describe it, is that one of the most important things a business or organisation needs to get right, for their people, for their customers for their operational success is their culture.

The Undeniable Impact of Company Culture

Culture – both positive or negative – can Impact engagement, performance, happiness and business/employee growth and this is why it’s so important that we get it right. A company’s culture can influence an employee’s entire experience, but not only can it impact that individual’s experience. It can then have a negative impact on the company’s overall word-of-mouth reputation and we all know how important word-of-mouth marketing is, especially in the childcare sector.

I think word of mouth is so important in childcare because we are not talking about a company that is making a product that can be fixed, refurbished or replaced, but in fact a company that is proving a service of care to our youngest people. Company culture, when established and embedded, will work positively for a business or organisation and will attract and retain talent.

Company Culture: A Key to Employee Satisfaction

When 3200 individuals from various workplaces and sectors were asked about the importance of culture for them within their workplace, 67% said that the culture within their workplace was more important to them than any strategy plan or operational aspect of their job. A further 47% of individuals that were actively seeking new employment during the time of the survey, said that company culture was the driving reason for seeking new employment (data taken from PWCs global survey titled organisational culture: it’s time to take action).

So again, all the data and research is telling us that company culture is so important to employees and is something that organisations need to get right. ‘Culture is how employees’ hearts and stomachs feel about Monday morning on Sunday night’- Bill Marklein. 

What does your company culture look like? What kind of candidate would your company culture attract? How does your company culture make your employees feel on a day-to-day basis? It’s time to rethink what workplace culture really looks like.