Company culture and the importance of a great onboarding experience

We’ve all heard about the importance of a positive company culture but what is it and how can it be nurtured throughout the onboarding experience?

Company culture has been an HR buzzword since 2017 and has changed the way society thinks about work. It refers to a company philosophy, an ethos which helps provide a roadmap for every area of a company, from working practices through to décor choices. Company culture permeates every facet of business; creating the right culture can mean the difference between success and failure. A survey by Deloitte states that 94% of executives and 88% of employees consider a distinct company culture important to the success of a business.

A positive company culture helps provide the optimum working environment where employees feel engaged and happy, improving productivity and driving business growth. However, a bad company culture leads to problems with engagement, staff retention and meeting desired outcomes.

A recent survey by management consultants Gallop found that 51% of the US workforce are not engaged, and indifferent employees are unpredictable. A toxic company culture can also have a negative impact on your brand reputation, which is difficult to recover from. And with 81% of new hire failures caused by lack of cultural fit (Leadership HQ), it is easy to see why companies should share their philosophy throughout the recruitment process and beyond.

Communicating your company culture during onboarding will help ensure that your new staff member is productive from the moment they start work and feeling engaged in their work will encourage loyalty in their position. Meetings with the leadership team and communicating core company values with help give new employees confidence in their new workplace, as a well as a sense of key motivations. Offering continued support in the days and weeks that follow will help cement the right understanding of your company culture, and prevent employees losing enthusiasm.

Onboarding provides an opportunity to set the tone for an employee’s time in this position, sharing expectations while providing support and encouragement. By capitalising on the early enthusiasm of a new hire and placing your company culture at the heart of your onboarding process, you create the foundation for a long and productive working relationship. In addition, making onboarding a two-way street and listening to new hires feedback regarding your onboarding process, can trigger valuable iterations of your onboarding process which will help to further develop company culture going forward.