What is the first thing you look for in a job advert?
LinkedIn News has recently opened up the discussion of what is more important to candidates: job perks or salary.
It’s likely that if you are job seeking, most ads you peruse are going to be largely the same – same roles and responsibilities, same key criteria. Your stand out difference is going to be salary, company and benefits and location. However, according to LinkedIn, companies are increasingly turning to non-financial benefits like flexible hours and wellness programs to attract new talent. Similarly, the often unspoken and under represented difference you MUST be looking for however, is a company’s cultural compass!
What is a company’s cultural compass?
A company’s culture encompasses the shared values, beliefs, and behaviors that guide the way people work together. It includes everything from the physical work environment to the way employees are treated and the level of communication and collaboration among team members. A positive company culture fosters a sense of community and belonging, where employees feel valued and supported, leading to higher engagement, job satisfaction, and retention rates.
As with any company, there are various facets which keep the gears of the company running smoothly. There are strong contenders to this: the available budget to spend on growth initiatives and learning and development opportunities; flexible workplaces and work options; strong leadership and direction; clear goals and objectives. But, a company’s culture is the dark horse behind all of this.
Recent research found flexible work schedules (60%), mental health programs (55%), remote work options (52%), extra paid parental leave (50%) and wellness programs (48%) were the most common employee benefits, and that 2/3 of candidates accept job offers because of these factors rather than the salary.
Imagine this:
Walking into your workplace each day, your greeted with smiles and energetic atmosphere. You are surrounded by genuine and friendly colleagues who uplift the 8 hours you spend at work. You attend regular events in your company where you get the opportunity to rub shoulders with your leaders, network and expand your collegial network. You have a mentor within the company who guides you professionally and is helping you achieve the steps for career progression. Imagine where everyone’s success is celebrated and you never feel like your efforts go unrecognised. Imagine, where you might make a mistake because you have a large workload but your team quickly supports you and manages it as a team instead of letting you become overrun and stressed? Imagine then leaving work for the day and coming home with not a full briefcase of work but a full glass of satisfaction and happiness. These are the hands which turn a company’s cultural compass.
Now imagine, walking into your workplace where before you turn on your computer, your desk is piled with work, your teammates are off but you know they wouldn’t help anyway. Your manager is never in office to answer your questions but expects the work on their desk COB. You barely have time for lunch and even though you work through it, its severely frowned upon to catch the train 10 minutes earlier than normal so you can make it home earlier! You collapse after each day, dreading the next – but you have a full bank account!
Don’t get us wrong, there are jobs which will have a mix of these scenarios, and any job will require a different level of adaptability and agility to have a healthy balance of work satisfaction. The key takeaway however, is just that – a healthy balance.
When you weigh all of this up against a figure which comes in your pay check, it’s a pretty big contender to your job satisfaction, right?
As TeamStage reports, 88% of job candidates consider a healthy culture to be a critical part of success, while 94% of managers say that a healthy work culture creates resilient teams. Considering the importance of a functional culture should be high up the priority list whether you’re a job seeker or a hiring manager.
As a job seeker, your first perception of the work interaction which you could expect to encounter should be a preliminary deciding factor, particularly if you are only searching to replace where you currently are. If you think about the factors which might make you consider changing roles, besides a higher salary – what would be the decider? If you can’t overly gauge a company’s cultural compass within a job ad, you might need to continue your search. Or, if the job is desirable, investigate their cultural compass through questions if you are invited to an interview.
Any all-rounded and successful company understands that their values and vision for the company’s future must be reflected through their staff, as well as the way they treat their clients. Employees are the workforce behind any company – without them, the system fails miserably. This is why more and more companies are investing in learning and development opportunities, recognition schemes and workplace environment. So where one company is advertising a high salary, consider that the company who is asking less has well made the difference of the salary in their employee wellness schemes and initiatives.
While it isn’t money in your pocket, you can be rest assured it will show up in your daily output and workplace satisfaction and overall wellbeing.