Looking from the outside in, candidates only get a glimpse of a company’s “fun culture.” They don’t see how a company interacts daily with their employees nor do they get to see how a company responds to workplace politics or dealing with employee conflict. In order to recruit the best, fully engage a workforce, and decrease turnover it’s important that companies are showcasing their real culture instead of their “fun culture.”
This means instead of just showing your fully stocked break room and foosball tables, try incorporating employee stories on how daily life within the company is. It’s okay to sugarcoat (because who doesn’t love to paint a pretty picture), but at the same time give candidates a better sense of the day in and day out lifestyle of an employee at your company. A smart candidate is already searching and asking tons of questions about the culture they’re about to walk into so be smarter and be completely transparent in how you work.
Needing help? Here are three ways that companies can be transparent and showcase their real company culture:
Be transparent through video: Candidates who are looking to gain a sense of what it looks like to work for your company can do so by reading reviews, contacting past employees, and even seeing what you’re sharing on social media. Each of these methods have a specific point of view, whether it be from a company ambassador throwing out legal-approved content or a disgruntled employee who wants to burn your company to the ground, the candidates aren’t getting a full sense of what your real culture looks like. PayScale has a Facebook page specifically to display Life at PayScale so people can get an idea of what it’s like to work here and also so employees can keep tabs on what everyone else is up to.
Promote different employees, follow them around and give candidates a true sense of what their routine looks like. Don’t hide the tasks that are mundane or boring tasks because that shows how employees really interact on a daily basis.
Highlight the “everyday worker”: What does this mean? Highlight those who make the company wheels turn. Highlight those who are working at entry-level positions and not necessarily your directors and managers. If you want to showcase the culture in the eyes of your everyday employee it’s important to let candidates see how they work, what their routine looks like, and how they feel about the company. There are going to be struggles for each employee that doesn’t necessarily have to be shown, but it’s important to be real and transparent.
Show off your community: Companies like CarMax are a prime example of showing off their community. Not only are they involved in the communities that they’re located in, but their employees are turned into brand ambassadors through the organizations they’re apart of. One of the best programs that CarMax touts is the fact that they’ll match any type of fundraising done by a CarMax employee. This shows that no matter the cause, they’ll support it if it’s important to their employees.
A company’s culture doesn’t have to be all about the parties and cocktail hours. Showing your real culture will allow you to hire employees with a better mindset of what their everyday work life will be.
Another way to create an appealing culture in your workplace is to create a culture of learning. Download this free whitepaper to get some help: Creating a Culture of Learning
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