Company Culture: The Secret to Successful Recruitment

Posted by Niche Recruitment
31st August 2023

Company Culture: The Secret to Successful Recruitment

Your company requires a multitude of elements in order to be successful. But at the centre of it all are the employees, the faces, voices and advocates of your organisation. The talent market is tough and with growth in UK employees’ average regular pay reaching 7.2% in April 2023 (the largest growth seen post Covid-19), not all companies can compete in a salary driven market.

However, every business can use company culture to attract and retain top talent, as data suggests a positive and supportive working environment, means as much as salary to the modern job seeker. Here’s why company culture is one of the secrets to ensuring successful recruitment.

What is company culture?

Your vision and purpose are the bricks of the organisation and company culture is the cement that holds the structure together.

Made up of your company’s, values, attitudes, behaviours, and standards; work culture is all about the environment and experience that the employees feel part of each day. More than just the odd pizza order, a good company allows employees to feel valued, and have clear expectations which means that each team and employee is valued and respected.

Company culture requires there to be a clear alignment between the company vision (its purpose) and its core values (Standards of how work gets done).

Why is Company Culture Important?

Company culture is the human factor of the business, it helps to retain current employees and is a massive contributor to attaining new ones. In a post-pandemic world, the need for a strong work/life balance has never been higher on the list of employee desires. In 2023, candidates want to be happy at home and fulfilled at work.

In 2019 a Glassdoor survey, that polled over 5,000 workers for the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany found that 77% would ‘consider company culture’ before seeking a job there. Proving values are more than words on a poster, 73% of respondents said they ‘would not apply for a company unless its values aligned with [their] own personal values’.

Post-pandemic, these stats still reflect the wants of employees in 2023, recent data from Glassdoor, found that 68% of millennials visit an employer’s social media to evaluate the company culture.

Employee Retention

Did you know that hiring a new employee can cost more than it does to keep one? To be specific, it is estimated that to replace a salaried employee can cost, on average, between 6-9 months’ salary. This would cover recruitment costs, training expenses and new employee’s salary. For low-paying jobs, employers can pay 16% of the employee’s salary to replace them.

In short, you want to keep your employees. According to research by BetterUp, employees who feel a sense of belonging at work showed a 50% decrease in leaving their roles. That sense of belonging and value stems from the company culture the business adopts.

Employee Well-being

2020 data found that the most common cause of stress is work-related stress, with 79% saying they ‘frequently felt it’. In 2023, 76% of UK employees reported ‘moderate-to-high stress levels’, with 33% of UK employees reporting that high levels of stress impact their productivity.

According to Westfield Health research, 85% of employees feel there is a link between workplace culture and well-being.

A poor company culture can put unnecessary pressure on employees, which will only harm business in the long run. If you want to retain and attract top employees in 2023, investing in their well-being is key.

Attracting Gen-Z

With Gen Z entering the workforce, company culture has never been more important. 2022 data suggests ‘a good manager’ and ‘work-life balance.’ trumps salary in the generation’s priorities, when seeking a job.

For context, Gen Z will make up 27% of the world’s workforce by 2025. According to Deloitte’s Global 2022 Gen-Z and Millennial survey, only 23% of Gen Z-ers plan to stay in their jobs ‘beyond five years’, and 40% want to leave ‘within two years’. Once you’ve attracted Gen Z, salary isn’t enough to keep them there. Improving company culture and routes to job progression is the answer.

Key Takeaways

Overall, in today’s employment climate, companies need to get creative to allure and keep employees. Putting ‘competitive salary’ on the job advert will no longer cut the mustard. The happier your employees are, the better your company will do, and the more people you’ll attract in. This all starts with a company culture that employees enjoy being part of.

Looking for recruitment solutions tailored to you? Let’s chat!