Generally speaking, your company culture reflects how your employees feel at work. It encompasses workers’ thoughts on your organization, their career goals, the practices they follow, and more. And as the job market becomes more competitive, more candidates will examine your culture to ensure compatibility and a sense of belonging. This is especially true in the tech sector, where the war for talent is incredibly tight.
With an abundance of opportunities available, tech candidates worry less about landing jobs and more about finding the right fit.
They want to ensure they’re benefitting from the experience and not just being squeezed for every resource and ability. At a human level, people want to feel fulfilled. They want to know that the work they do has a purpose and that they’re contributing alongside like-minded peers. If you aren’t fostering and advertising your company’s culture strategically, you’ll wind up with an inefficient tech recruiting process.
What Does a Good Company Culture Look Like?
Too often, organizations’ cultures are driven by the question, “What have you done for me lately?” They become performance-based, where only those who succeed are rewarded. These cultures won’t appeal to modern workers who prioritize purpose, personal development, and flexibility.
As a tech employer, you must be clear about the types of people who succeed in your organization and create an inclusive environment where everyone can do their best work. You should also consider what future business initiatives you can invest in to retain current employees and attract future generations.
The Makings of a Unique Culture
It’s important to note that every company’s culture will look different depending on its goals and values. However, to attract top tech talent, you must make employees feel valued and motivated. Here are a few other key characteristics of a good culture:
· Clear communication and transparency
· Respect and inclusion for all employees
· Recognition and appreciation for hard work
· Openness to feedback and continuous improvement
· Support for professional and personal development
· A sense of community and collaboration among employees
· A balance between work and personal life
· Ethical and responsible behavior
Transparent Is Critical
Want an example? Google has consistently ranked as one of the best places to work for 15 years. It has made a sustained effort to foster innovation and growth, and its culture is a key factor in its overall success. Creating an environment where employees can thrive helps attract the best and brightest to your organization.
Just be upfront about any challenging aspects of your culture. You don’t want to paint an unrealistic picture of your company.
To retain employees, it’s essential to ensure their experiences match the expectations set during the interview and onboarding process.
If you “bait and switch” new tech hires, you’ll encounter more obstacles down the line, such as poor engagement and turnover. After all, employees must prioritize their life goals.
How Can Your Market Your Company Culture?
Now that you know what top tech talent is looking for, you might wonder how to attract people. Here are three ways you can promote your company culture and find the right employees:
1. Use Social Media as an Ambassador.
Videos, especially videos highlighting your employees or day-to-day workflows can give talent a glimpse of your company’s culture. Share this content on your social pages during the hiring process to demonstrate transparency and show off your strengths. Additionally, monitoring and responding to feedback about your company on platforms such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn is also important. A gracious response will reflect better on your culture even if the feedback is negative. You can also ask current, engaged employees to leave their own reviews.
2. Identify Your Culture Champions.
What is your next step? Identify and select personal culture champions (aka employees who are enthusiastic about promoting the company culture). Not all employees have the same commitment level, but there should be a few individuals who care deeply about your organization.
At Vector Marketing, we tap into our alumni network. These folks aren’t incentivized to say nice things about our company because they no longer work for us, so their praise holds more weight. So our strategy is to find these champions and tap into their willingness to promote our culture instead of trying to manage them.
3. Promote Your Culture Using Stories.
Share culture legends about your company, including its origin story, your CEO’s story, and the stories of other notable events that have occurred. These stories establish your company’s identity.
Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest during a televised game in January 2023. After this tragic event, people flocked to GoFundMe to support his toy drive, exceeding the original $2,500 goal by over $8 million. GoFundMe shared this campaign on social media to bring the community together in a time of need.
It can topple quite easily if your company culture isn’t a primary focus. Learning what it takes to foster a good culture and promote it to top tech talent is crucial for success in today’s job market.
Featured Image Credit: Provided by the Author; Photo by Priscilla du Preez; Unsplash; Thank you!
