Developing a sustainable competitive advantage for their company is on the wish list of every CEO and business owner around the world —but is it actually achievable?
Often, competitive advantages which are based on pricing, product, or processes are short-lived. And let’s face it, it’s no easy feat to drive continuous growth AND sustain a competitive edge in your industry. Market conditions can be volatile. Competitors are constantly nipping at your heels with shiny new offerings and technology is evolving at a breakneck pace. Customers are expecting faster, more responsive, and personalized service and employee values and expectations are shifting rapidly. However, one competitive advantage you can leverage consistently—a differentiator that simply cannot be duplicated—is your company culture. Your culture is unique to your organization, helping to shape your organization’s brand identity, improve employee retention, and inspire and motivate your people.
A strong culture boosts commitment and engagement while fostering collaboration, communication, and teamwork—which translates to a positive employee experience and a buoyant bottom line. Culture is what helps organizations achieve significantly higher organizational effectiveness, including increased productivity, employee engagement, financial performance, and customer satisfaction.
An inspiring company culture can nurture creativity and fuel innovation, facilitating team-based problem-solving and decision-making that further business goals. Strong company cultures are also magnets for attracting and retaining top talent. People want to work with people who share their values. They want to feel inspired by the culture and the mission. They want the work that they do to make an impact.
Developing a company culture is more about planting the seeds for an inspiring culture to take root, as opposed to trying to control it with mission statements no one reads, forced team-building exercises, or free pop in the fridge. By aligning your strategies and actions with what your employees’ value—inside and outside of the workplace—you can create a culture that drives innovation, productivity, and growth.
Company culture can be a sustainable competitive advantage for organizations willing to prioritize the values of their people. In fact, supporting the development of a positive workplace culture can play a major role in aligning employees with the organization’s broader goals, encouraging everyone to work toward a shared vision. It’s a winning proposition all around.
Working with Great Place to Work is an easy way to analyze your employee’s perceptions about their workplace and gain in-depth insight into the current state of your company culture and what steps you can take to become a great place to work.
About Great Place to Work®
Great Place to Work® is the Global Authority on Workplace Culture. We make it easy to survey your employees, uncover actionable insights and get recognized for your great company culture. Learn more about Great Place to Work Certification.