This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of MetLife Small Business for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
It is tempting to believe that corporate culture is something that only big companies need to think about. In fact, corporate culture is incredibly important for small businesses, and founders might want to start thinking about it from Day One (even before you have employees).
I would like to suggest that inoculating your business with the culture you want – and one that will serve your clients well – can be a key component for growth.
Let’s think about it. As a small business, your employees will need to work closely together. Many small businesses will be bootstrapping, and trying to do more with fewer people to contain costs.
Doing whatever you can to ensure that your employees are “on the same page” and are compatible with each other will make them more productive, and probably happier, too. The more explicitly you can define your culture, the easier it will be to attract and retain the right people. And here’s the bonus: The people who aren’t a good fit will self-select out.
What do you want to be known for? Are you the company that is a great place to work? Are you the company that serves your community? Are you the innovation company? Are you the company that goes the extra mile for your customers?
Not only does this tie into your recruiting and retention, it should be carried through in your marketing materials, and pretty much everything you do. It’s the string that ties everything together in your business.
MetLife recently published a whitepaper on this topic:
Culture Happens: How to Ensure It’s What You Want
Create a culture that benefits your employees, customers and small business.
When you think about great company culture, you may think of giants such as Google, Starbucks or Southwest Airlines. These industry heavyweights are regularly included on lists of best places to work, lauded for their happy workers and healthy work environments. But many small business owners are also succeeding at making the workplace enjoyable, building cultures that will help them grow well into the future.
In fact, culture and employee engagement have become increasingly relevant to businesses of all sizes as their leaders recognize the direct impact on company performance. Companies with highly engaged employees have an easier time finding new hires, better customer service, less turnover and are more profitable in the long run, according to a recent study published by Deloitte University Press. The same study revealed that 87 percent of organizations cited culture as one of their main challenges, and 50 percent called the topic “very important.”
There’s a lot of great information in this whitepaper, so you should definitely check it out. You can continue reading on MetLife.
There are many ways that you can let people know what your company culture is, including taglines, mission and vision statements, client success stories, employee awards, social or sport events, etc.
Combine a great culture with comprehensive benefits, and you may successfully compete against bigger companies for the best talent.
Create a winning culture that makes your small business one that the right people want to work for: You’ll be happy – and so will your employees.
For more information on MetLife Benefit Trends and using benefits to build a culture, visit MetLife Small Business.
