Why company culture matters and how it benefits the tech sector

According to Deloitte’s Core Beliefs and Culture Survey, 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a distinct workplace culture is important to business success.

Likewise, a study carried out by Harvard Business School finds that a strong company culture can improve a company’s performance by as much as 30%.

But how do we define company culture exactly, and in what ways does it benefit the tech industry other than by driving performance?

Let’s take a closer look and the importance of understanding business culture how it can be sustained for long-term success.

What is company culture and why is it important?

Company culture can be broadly defined as the values and behaviours associated with a business. In some cases, it can also be a matter of perception. For example, an employee might have a different perception of a company’s culture compared to a customer.

Culture can often go unnoticed in a business, but it does matter. The values that create a culture can impact employee motivation, wellbeing and how they feel about the work they do. According to tech company, Glint, when people feel like they belong at work, they’re six times more likely to be engaged. And when they don’t feel a sense of belonging, they’re twice as likely to search for a new job as their co-workers.

Businesses that strive to develop a positive culture and recruit based on values benefit from having a more engaged workforce with higher job satisfaction.

The importance of values in shaping culture

Behind every company culture is a set of values that are shared by managers, employees, and customers alike. A company’s values act as a guide for where the business is headed. Without clearly defined values, companies struggle to engage with their employees and their customers.

Both candidates and customers judge a company based on how its values align with their own. Essentially, both brand, consumer and employee values must all be in sync for a tech company to be recognised as having a strong culture.

According to Deloitte’s Human Capital Trends Survey, 82% of respondents believe that culture offers a potential competitive advantage. Communicating the founding principles of a company can encourage workers to maintain focus on quality standards and help ensure that cultural changes are embraced.

At the recruitment stage, companies should provide thorough onboarding and training programmes to provide new employees with an insight into a company’s history and vision. By communicating values from the start, companies provide essential context for daily activities. Likewise, communicating values creates accountability and makes workers feel that their contributions are valued.

The difference between culture fit and culture add

Whereas culture fit is about hiring people whose mindset matches what is already working in a company, culture add is about hiring those whose values will enhance the business and make a positive difference.

Culture add challenges the current way of doing things and encourages people to bring new ideas to the table. Over time, businesses can become complacent in how they approach working practices. Having people on board who are passionate about what they believe in, can help a company grow and become a more welcoming place to work.

According to McKinsey’s recent Delivering Through Diversity report, gender diverse teams are 21% more likely to outperform on profitability and 27% more likely to have superior value creation. Likewise, ethnically diverse teams are 33% more likely to have industry-leading profitability.

Diversity is key to driving growth within a company and businesses should look to implement diversity, equality and inclusion practices to ensure valuable candidates aren’t being overlooked. Appointing a diversity manager to review hiring decisions and monitor data is a good starting point, as is sending employee surveys so staff can provide anonymous feedback on DE&I performance.

Tech company Cisco, for example, has an Inclusion and Collaboration Community that provides sponsorship opportunities for people from diverse backgrounds to advance their skills in the company.

Recruiting with culture add in mind

Recruiting for growth and success means sharing business values with potential candidates in recruitment packs and job descriptions. By articulating company culture from the outset, business will attract the type of candidates that will challenge the status quo and bring about lasting change.

In place of unstructured interviews, where bias is more common, hiring managers can use psychometric testing to gauge a candidate’s suitability. Psychometric tests asses emotional intelligence and can help hiring managers gain a deeper insight into a candidate’s values and motivations. Hiring based on emotional IQ and performance data provides a fairer and more accurate overview of a candidate’s suitability.

One technology that can help hiring managers recruit with culture add in mind is Good&Co. This workplace culture platform uses advanced psychometrics and big data to help recruiters make better, data-driven hiring decisions.

After an applicant has completed a series of questions, Good&Co provides recruiters with a psychometric report. The report outlines the candidate’s key traits, which can help recruiters gauge the candidate’s preferred working style. Personalised interview questions are also suggested, so recruiters can create unbiased, structured interviews.

How to adjust to changes in company culture

With many businesses continuing to work remotely following COVID-19, companies are faced with the challenge of sustaining their culture to maintain performance. As companies adjust to hybrid working practices, changes in culture will inevitably follow.

In order to adjust to cultural change, companies need to be able to provide access to information as it’s required. The democratisation of information can provide workers and customers with a consistent, unified experience, ensuring companies continue to operate by their brand values. Open data sharing also encourages transparency, which in turn, fosters innovation and streamlines processes.

An evolving culture also creates new opportunities. When employees have access to training, tools and information, they can pursue their career goals to the benefit of the company. Whereas a stagnant culture focuses on traditional roles and career paths, cultural change encourages company and employee growth and attracts ambitious candidates.

As a company’s culture evolves, so must the way that performance is measured. With staff working both remotely and in the office, communication is key to ensuring standards are met.  Regular, ongoing feedback from management is essential to ensure everyone is kept up to date on projects and to allow employees to thrive in their job.

Regular reviews and check-ins enable companies to measure an employee’s impact more effectively and they ensure that improvements are made on an ongoing basis rather than once a year.

CWJobs’ Equality Boost

Equality Boost is a tool that can help companies set clear objectives to meet their hiring needs. Harnessing a unique blend of data science, Equality Boost pinpoints when, where and how to reach the talent companies need by demographic, location and interest information.

The tool monitors campaign performance with real-time data and insights, and measures its success to improve campaigns over time. The Equality Boost Badge is be displayed on job listings on the CWJobs platform to demonstrate that a company is invested in hiring for culture add.