Tying "Data" To "Company Culture"

Could it ever be truly done?

The importance of culture

Culture has become increasingly important, even to execs, in the past decade. Some of the notable findings around culture tying back to the business include:

• 94% of executives believe that a distinct workplace culture is important to their business.

• Strong cultures are associated with 20% higher productivity and significantly less turnover.

• 13 companies have appeared on every edition of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies To Work For, and those 13 companies outperform the market by 495% annually.

• 88% of job seekers consider the culture a top priority in their search.

• An average employee is 26% more likely to leave their job as the result of a bad culture. (That percentage has been shown in some studies to be higher for executive talent, who often have more options.)

• 32% of job-seekers would take a $10,000 pay cut on compensation package for a perceived great culture.

• 38% of American employees define culture and a purpose within the culture as key to their work and retention.

We know culture is a big deal, and a defining feature of modern organizations.

But, um, what exactly is it?

Deloitte has long been a leader in the research space for culture and engagement, and even they admit that only 28% of executives understand what “culture” means, and only 12% believe their company has a strong culture that’s aligned with getting the best talent.

We talk about it a lot, and it seems important, but we also don’t seem to know exactly what it is.

Can we fix this?