Describing Company Culture: How to Build a Winning Work Environment

At its core, company culture drives business decisions and the day-to-day at your company. It affects every decision, from high-level strategy to how interns operate.

When describing company culture, you want to clearly apply those values to all decisions. Good culture stems from leadership, and it should be implemented in hiring practices to ensure new employees uphold it.

Take the time to build a great culture. 46% of job seekers feel company culture is “very important” when choosing whether to apply to a company. 88% of job seekers cite company culture as at least relatively important. What’s more, a third of American employees state they’d pass on the “perfect job” if company culture wasn’t a fit.

Describing company culture accurately and in-depth serves your business. Here’s exactly how to do that. 

Components of Good Organizational Culture

You want to focus on a few main areas when describing company culture.

Component 1: Mission

Your company’s driving force will be its mission. To craft an outstanding company culture, start with your mission.

Take the time to build a mission statement. It should convey:

1. What your company does
2. How it does it
3. Why it does it

Your mission statement should be concise, from a single sentence to a short paragraph.

Component 2: Values & Ethics

Describing company culture means outlining your business’ values and ethics. In conjunction with your mission, this should drive all decisions at your company across all levels.

Examples of ethics companies frequently prioritize include:

• Respect
• Diversity
• Trust
• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Work-life balance
• Impact
• Growth opportunities and mindset
• Communication

Consider the values and ethics your company holds near and the type of culture you’ll create as a result.

Component 3: Interactions Between People

Employees state being 26% more likely to quit a job if there isn’t respect between colleagues. Further, people who view their managers negatively are four times as likely to interview for other positions.

Central to company culture are interactions between colleagues. Once you understand the values and ethics you have, enforce those internally.

For instance, if one of your central values is integrity, reward those who act with integrity and address those who don’t. Enforce this value at all levels and emphasize it during hiring and onboarding.

To build the company culture you want, make sure to recognize employees who exemplify the culture you’re creating.

Describing Company Culture With Words

Looking for adjectives to describe a company? Let’s discuss some of the main ones.

Casual

If your work environment is a tech company that won’t mind flip-flops in the office, try describing company culture with this word.

Flexible

Since the onset of Covid-19 and working from home, employees have sought flexible work environments. If your company values work from anywhere and flexible hours, use this describing word.

Autonomous

If your organization values autonomy and dislikes micromanagement, consider describing company culture as autonomous, independent, self-starting, or individualistic.

Innovative

If your business is looking to disrupt an industry, consider making innovation at the core of your culture.

Collaborative

Are collaboration and cross-functionality a big part of your company? Use collaborative, cooperative, united, or cross-functional to describe your culture.

Challenging

Many employees seek an organization where they can better themselves professionally. A challenging work environment will deliver on that and helps attract the type of mindset you want.

Friendly

Describing company culture as friendly shows that employees value their relationships with one another. Interactions should be positive and supportive. Other adjectives can include sociable, supportive, and warm.

Respectful

A respectful work environment helps everyone perform at their best. Particularly if you’re looking to build a more diverse workforce, emphasize the need to respect one another.

Nurturing

It’s powerful when a company values employee development, and it will ultimately help your business flourish. 

If professional growth is at the forefront of your company, use words such as nurturing, growth-mindset, supportive, and educational. 

According to Gallup, 87% of millennials find professional development to be very important. Unfortunately, only 29% of companies have a well-defined learning and development plan for their workers. If you haven’t already, consider making professional development a priority. 

Company Culture Examples

When describing company culture, you can learn a lot from your peers. Here are some shining company culture examples.

Company 1: ServiceNow

ServiceNow is a relatively small company known for fully embracing new employees. During a new hire’s first week, ServiceNow sponsors team bonding activities such as bowling or karaoke to integrate them fully.

Employees and customers alike are embedded in ServiceNow’s culture. Describing company culture at this organization can be done with adjectives such as supportive, friendly, and uplifting.

Company 2: Hireology

Hireology is known for its mixed workforce, with some employees being local and others remote. 

This company uses empathy and communication to keep people connected. They’ve strongly enforced these values and even do empathy exercises, such as having employees switch jobs for a few hours.

Company 3: Capital One

Recognizing excellent work is how Capital One’s company culture stands out. Describing company culture at Capital One can be done with words such as supportive, rewarding, and grateful. 

Capital One uses “Spot Awards” to recognize employees who go above and beyond or uphold the company’s mission and values. People can use these awards for gifts or cash.

Company 4: NVIDIA

NVIDIA is a company that values mentorship and connectivity. They created “Friend @ NVIDIA”, or the F@N program, to help connect new hires with the organization’s community. 

Consider creating a similar mentorship program to help build a connected company that values learning from others.

Need Help Hiring For Company Culture?

Describing company culture is an excellent first step, but you’ll need to enforce it by hiring people who can build that environment.

Organizational culture starts at the top. If you’re looking for leaders who value what your company does, Jennings Executive will help you find them. Learn more today!

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