- On May 19, 2016
- By Michael
Attracting and Retaining Top Talent with a Growth Culture
Having trouble attracting and retaining top talent? The key may lie in your corporate culture. To hire and hold onto talented employees, you first have to know where your culture currently stands and where it needs to be.
A recent article from cultural assessment company Align to Thrive found that company culture is essential for employee retention and engagement. Through cultural assessments, you can gather anonymous opinions across your entire workforce on all the moving parts that affect your culture. These opinions can illustrate your current culture and be used to create a map for establishing the “growth culture” your employees believe would make them happiest and most productive.
While no two growth cultures look exactly the same, Align to Thrive identified some of the most important elements to successfully attract and retain the best talent.
A Strong Foundation
When it comes to attracting and retaining top talent, it’s important to remember that your people are your foundation, your identity and your brand. It is essential to understand how they view your company and what influences their success on the job.
In many organizations, people may not always feel comfortable opening up to colleagues in the same way they would with someone from outside of the company. Anonymous assessments can facilitate more honest feedback on current beliefs, assumptions, behaviors, and what really motivates and discourages your employees. The results of these assessments will provide you with a set of foundational principles that drives the individual and group pride your employees need to do great work.
A Clear, Concise Mission
Many companies confuse their mission with their vision. Your vision is the desired future outcome for your company, while your mission is the reason for being in business, the meaningful path your company is pursuing. Google, a leading growth culture, says its mission is “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”
By creating a truly compelling mission and aligning everyone to that one path, you can energize your employees with a feeling of being part of something bigger than themselves. Not only will a clear, concise mission inspire your entire organization and increase employee retention, it’ll help communicate the important role your company plays to the rest of the business world.
Defined Company Values
Company values demonstrate which behaviors are rewarded and recognized within your organization. They communicate to employees how they can be most successful in their roles, which is an important element of growth cultures. Cultural assessments can help identify the values that are important to your employees. These insights can help you take the steps to ensure that individual values align with organizational values.
It is vital to ensure that your values are clearly defined, concise, memorable and easy to grasp for the entire workforce. When every employee is driven by a clear and concise set of values, attracting and retaining top talent becomes significantly easier.
By establishing a strong foundation, promoting desired behaviors, defining your company values, refocusing your leadership and identifying a clear, concise mission, attracting and retaining top talent becomes much, much easier. For more employee retention tips and strategies, check out Align to Thrive’s “Retaining Top Talent” article here.
