What’s The ROI Of A Strong Culture? It’s More Than You Think.

So what’s the ROI of a strong company culture?

It’s a question I get asked often.

Well, let me share a story from this week.

For the last month I have been working with a client around a comprehensive culture strategy project. This has involved doing an analysis of their current culture with lots of one-on-one conversations with employees.

For the last 15 years this company has done an amazing job of making culture important. They focused on creating an amazing workplace and an environment that shows employees how much they care about them. They invest in their culture and their people because they believe it is there greatest asset.

Sure, it’s added ‘expenses’. Their amazing benefits cost more, they hold lots of culture events, they invest in culture groups, and take time during working hours to get together monthly to bond, connect, and get honest feedback on how to get better. But they do it because they believe it’s important.

This last month has brought massive changes for many companies. Fear, worry, and uncertainty about what the future holds or if their businesses are going to weather this storm.

And yet, I heard some amazing things this week from my client’s employees.

In the face of massive uncertainty, they shared what a strong culture can do for a business.

During my 20 individual calls this week, every employee echoed the same sentiment:

I want to do whatever I can to help.

I heard things like:

‘I want to work harder because I love this company and these people, and I don’t want anyone to lose their job.’

‘Our leadership has always shown how much they appreciate us and value us, I want to do as much as possible to help.’

‘I’m not worried because we have amazing people who will come together to fight our way through this.’

‘For years I’ve seen how much our CEO cares about us, I want do show him how much we care about this company.’

What I have seen this week is that when you intentionally focus on creating a strong culture, you build an environment where people focus on the ‘we’ not ‘I’ when things get tough. You get employees who look out for each other first. You get employees ready to dive in to challenges rather than run away from them. You get employees who truly care.

It’s been an unbelievably powerful thing to see.

So what’s the ROI of a strong culture? For my client it is the greatest asset they have during these new challenges.

So while you may be hard to put a direct dollar amount on it, there is no doubt that it makes all the difference in the world.