While remote and flexible working were becoming more common pre-Covid, the cat’s now firmly out the bag and clawing the sofa with aplomb. Here our partners, JobLookUp, share their thoughts on why being able to communicate your culture is essential right now.
The concept of company culture was initially explored in the 1950s by Elliot Jaques, a Canadian psychotherapist. Jaques studied the social developments of factory workers, with a view to documenting and describing the idea of corporate group behaviours.
Today, the idea of company culture is an important one. Much like a good candidate experience, it can be a deal-breaker for attracting and retaining the top talent. Given the huge changes that have been forced upon the world due to Covid, now is also the perfect time for companies to not only refine their culture, but to make sure that their culture is clearly communicated to candidates.
This is also where recruiters come in. They can help clients to understand how to showcase a fantastic culture that could be the difference between a successful recruitment drive, or drawn-out candidate search. Not only that, recruiters can help to push that culture to potential applicants from day one of the hiring process.
Why Company Culture Matters to Candidates
Just in case there’s any doubt out there about the importance of company culture, here are some interesting stats from a Robert Walters Group whitepaper on culture. Around 90% of employers want a candidate that is a good cultural fit, but on the flip side over 80% of professionals have worked at companies where they didn’t like the culture. We can already see a disconnect here, and that disconnect is in how culture is communicated.
This is the key thing the hiring process and job advert can help to rectify, by getting the benefits and core of culture across to potential candidates early and effectively.
So, what are the quantifiable benefits for employers and employees? Good culture and culture fits can mean:
- Improved job performance from staff
- Better staff retention
- Higher job satisfaction
- Increased respect for the organisation
Defining Company Culture
What’s interesting about company cultures overall is that again, there is a slight disconnect between what candidates want and what employers think they want. And, once again, recruiters are in a great position to be able to mediate these expectations for both parties.
Generally, employers think that candidates want a culture that promotes collaboration, measures and rewards their performance, and offers progression. The reality, according to the Robert Walters report, is that candidates want a culture with collaboration, yes, but also one that offered transparent decision making from management, and good remuneration for their work. One out of three isn’t bad, but any employer that takes note of what candidates are asking for will already be halfway there when it comes to attracting the right talent.
As of today, of course, things are even more nuanced. Thanks to Covid, many candidates are now expecting a lot more adaptability, flexibility, and support from employers as part of a company culture.
The massive shift to remote work has exposed the need for companies to handle issues like burn out and employee mental health head-on. This isn’t a bad thing at all, but it does certainly mean that now is the perfect time to rethink, improve, and clearly define company culture.
Not only that, it’s the perfect time for both recruiters and organisations to work together to leverage the benefits of culture as the job market picks up.
Clear and Engaging Communication
A company can have the best culture in the world, but if candidates aren’t hearing about it, it’s not going to be useful in any recruitment drive. There are two ways of making sure that potential candidates know who a company is and what they stand for.
The first is a long-term strategy, and requires equally long-term planning and execution. Many candidates search for articles and other media online when researching a company they are considering applying to. Making sure this kind of content is out there for them to find is a great way to make it easy to learn about what it’s like at a company, as well as generating some high quality promotional and marketing material in the process. Any kind of interviews or testimonials from existing staff members are always a valuable place to start for this kind of thing.
Secondly, as we touched upon briefly earlier, the job advert itself can be an excellent way of communicating the benefits of a company’s culture to potential candidates. Recruiters that take the time to craft the benefits of a client’s culture into their job ad (as well as easy sell benefits like hybrid working, a clear salary package, and so on) are likely to see a much better engagement rate. Having these details up front is an excellent way of making a connection with candidates who share similar values.
One thing for both recruiters and organisations to keep in mind is that it’s not always best to simply try and find a culture fit – it can often be more beneficial to find candidates that will enhance or add to a culture, rather than just simply fit into it. This helps to drive development and innovation in the culture.
Overall then, recruiters can be a fundamental part of helping their clients to communicate a fantastic culture. While it’s only one part of the puzzle, and any organisation should properly invest in long term visibility of their culture, communicating it clearly at the initial steps of the hiring process can go a long way to attracting the kind of candidates that will shine.
Author biography: 
