Thankfully , a raft of recent data shared by the Society for Human Resource Management ( SHRM ) provides clarity about exactly how culture can and does affect workers and their behavior in 2021 . SHRM ’ s survey asked executives , people managers , HR professionals and working Americans to share their feedback on the role culture plays in their workplaces , and the results offer powerful evidence of its significance , both today and going forward .
No Doubt : Culture is Crucial Exactly how important is workplace culture to job seekers ? According to Rocki Basel , PhD , a senior researcher at SHRM , the answer is simple : very .“ We asked working Americans what the three most important factors were when accepting a job ( excluding salary and benefits ), and the top three answers were stability of the company ,
long-term potential for career growth and organizational culture fit ,” she says .“ So , we know workplace culture is something that candidates are considering when selecting a workplace .”
As Basel notes , employers seem to be catching up to those priorities , seemingly spurred on by the growing emphasis workers are placing on culture . “ Prior to the pandemic , 38 percent of working Americans used the word ‘ adaptable ’ as one of the top three words to describe their organization . Fifteen months into the pandemic , 45 percent rank it as one of their top three adjectives ,” she says . This shift may be unsurprising due to the pressure that the pandemic put on organizations to become more flexible , but for job seekers , it ’ s a welcome change nonetheless .
It ’ s difficult to overstate how critical these kinds of improvements to culture can be , especially in the spa industry , where staffing is already a significant challenge . The so-called great resignation that has seen millions leave their jobs during the pandemic in search of greater flexibility , better pay or a more attractive work-life balance , and a huge portion of them work in the leisure and hospitality industry , which includes spas and other related businesses . In April 2021 alone , nearly three-quarters of a million people who quit their jobs worked in leisure and hospitality .
Though not every employee who leaves their job does so because of a bad workplace culture , Basel notes that a bad culture significantly increases the likelihood that good employees will seek out other opportunities : “ We found that over half of working Americans ( 52 percent ), have thought about leaving their organization ,” she said , “ and , when we focus on working Amer-
“ Eighty-five percent of HR professionals agree that workplace cultural fit is an integral part of their hiring strategy and 95 % agree that it is important to choose a candidate who shares the company ’ s values .”
— ROCKI BASEL , PhD , Senior Researcher , Society for Human Resource Management ( SHRM )
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2021 n PULSE 39