While a healthy paycheck is certainly an interest to many employees, companies need to focus on other areas beyond compensation to retain employees. Forbes reports there is a greater emphasis on organizational alignment with personal values as well as positive work environment and culture among perspective employees. This makes company culture not just a perk, but integral for success.
At the Florida Building Material Association's (FMBA) annual convention, culture was highlighted almost as much as compensation in the discussion about attracting employees amidst the labor shortage. The Misura Group president Tony Misura indicated at the conference that many younger workers make corporate culture a prerequisite for signing on and older employees will leave if company culture begins to sour. BlueLinx president and CEO Mitch Lewis and chief operating officer of Great Southern Wood Preserving Mark Callender echoed these thoughts at the FBMA conference, suggesting the LBM industry employers should make culture a point of emphasis.
Forbes offers several strategies for building a company culture that, regardless of industry, will make employees want to work--and stay-- at a company. Clarifying and communicating the company culture is paramount, according to Forbes.
Start by defining your company values, beliefs, purpose, mission, and standards. Then communicate these through your verbal words, written words, and actions. You cannot expect that employees will engage, understand, and implement your company values and mission if they have only heard you talk about them on a few occasions.
Those in charge need to embody the values and culture of a company and lead by example. Business leaders who talk about meaningful relationships and do not prioritize that in their own schedules project the wrong message about the culture of a company, both internally and externally. While compensation will still remain an important factor in recruiting employees and there is not an excess of workers available, creating a strong corporate culture can help attract the right people despite the labor shortage.
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