Authentic company culture helps employers stand out

Creating an authentic workplace culture is critical in positioning your company as an Employer of Choice. But what does it mean to be an authentic employer?

It all centers around leadership and building trust with employees. Once this trust is established it will eliminate any doubt and help workers feel secure and confident about their company. If leaders come across as disingenuous it may cause employees not to trust that sound and purposeful business decisions are being made.

Here are three ways you can facilitate an authentic company culture that will help you stand out as an employer.

Define the core values of your company

Identifying what your organization values and expects from its employees is a great first step in promoting authenticity. Having a clear understanding of what sets the tone of the company culture not only helps your workforce embody these values, but it encourages candidates that align with these values to apply.

These applicants are more likely to retain if they know they are joining a company with a culture that they feel they fit into. This helps establish a workforce that will naturally adopt these values, which tends to be represented in their work ethic and team dynamic and helps support an authentic company culture.

Be open and honest with your employees

Promoting an environment of transparency is key to creating a feeling of authenticity. Leaders should openly communicate decisions being made to their employees, and explain why they made them. Was it based on feedback they gathered from employees or did it have to do with global, national, or local situations such as inflation or supply chain disruptions? When leaders are honest with their workforce it helps strengthen trust.

It’s also important to provide opportunities for people to share their concerns, mistakes they’ve made, or differences of opinion with management. Welcoming this openness helps workers feel supported and cultivates this culture of authenticity.

Lead consistently

When someone handles a situation differently every time, it makes you raise an eyebrow about their credibility and sincerity. Leadership within a company is no different.

If decisions are being made inconsistently, employees are going to feel that leaders are being disingenuous. It’s hard to establish trust when your workforce feels blind sighted by actions being taken.

Following these three ideas will develop an authentic company culture and help your organization be seen as a top place to work.

Learn more about how WorkStep can help you build authenticity into your company brand and ultimately be the Employer of Choice. Download our latest eBook to learn more.