Why Employees Stay: Workplace Culture and Staff Retention

In a world full of possibilities for employment, what are the key factors influencing staff retention and the kinds of workplace cultures that support these?

A company attracts people for various reasons, from its reputation, industry importance or even the way in which it contributes to the working life of a city, country or community. While the necessity of a job might get people in the door in the first place, what makes them stay where they are is something to consider in a highly competitive marketplace.

To find out more about why people remain loyal to a certain companies, here are just a few of the companies all over the world that are being recognised for the way they keep their staff happy, by creating a workplace culture they don’t not want to be a part of:

1. Google

At the top of many workplace culture winner lists online, Google is known for being a company with a collaborative work environment, where everyone is encouraged to share their ideas, and successful projects can be conceived of anywhere from at your desk to in line at the cafeteria. As a company focused on managing the exponentially growing amount of global data, Google employees are constantly faced with new challenges on how best to support their global services.

While there are many articles about the cutting edge design of Google’s various international offices, what really attracts and keep people working there is attributed to a variety of factors. Outlined in their “Ten things we know to be true” list, Google’s company culture is focused on constant improvement and development, with unlimited scope and an unparalleled international presence.

In the interview below, Laszlo Bock, SVP of People Operations at Google talks more about workplace culture and staff retention:

2. Salesforce

The increase in the importance of collaborative software shows how the nature of work is becoming more geared towards shared resources, and being able to communicate important sales and other analytical data on a shared platform that prevents any loss of productivity through unnecessary meetings or emails.

As a company that provides this kind of service, it makes sense that their company culture would be focused on creating a workplace that values collaboration and support. With their concept of a #dreamjob, Salesforce’s mission is to do “Work that matters”, by transforming the way in which businesses interact with their customers.

Another reason for Salesforce being recognised for their workplace culture is their approach to philanthropy, which includes involving all employees in community outreach work, based on their 1% model, which advocates the cumulative effect of devoting just 1% of every employee’s working day to doing something charitable.

3. HubSpot

A marketing company that prides itself on its holistic online marketing offering, Hubspot is also confident about its integrity as a business and place to work. By focusing on the customer, and creating online marketing solutions that don’t interfere with a customer’s daily activities, Hubspot aligns itself with its own code of practice, or Hubspot Culture Code.

The Hubspot Culture Code is seen as a live document, and outlines the many core values of the business. By creating a culture that people will love, Hubspot attracts employees who are the right fit for the organisation from the inside out, which means that staff retention is maintained by just hiring the right people in the first place.

With failure and learning entrenched in their workplace culture, Hubspot also creates an environment where success is measured by the result, not when or how it was achieved. With this kind of culture in place, growing and learning is an accepted part of working life, something which is integral to moving forward in a competitive and fast-paced global workplace.