Tag Archives: Culture

Where Do You Draw The Line?

Overly-Friendly or Sexual Harassment…Where Do You Draw the Line?

With the daily news of high profile cases of sexual harassment since Harvey Weinstein was accused last fall along with many others, clients have asked – how do you determine if someone is over-friendly verses harassment? The line between flirtation and harassment is a very fine, often, blurred one.

There is no disputing that a person’s individual and workplace culture plays a large part in this equation. Understanding what is happening (or not happening) in your organization, is most imperative for executives to take the lead on. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has a clear definition of what is and is not harassment. So perhaps the question should be, what proactive things can I do to tackle this ever growing issue?

Know the facts. Review the EEOC definition and educated yourself.
Know the types of harassment. Sexual, verbal, gender, etc. and how they can play out in your culture.
Have an inclusive work culture that is diverse in ethnicity, social background, and gender.
Review and update policies that relate to harassment of all kinds.
Develop internal communication that outlines standards, a process for reporting abuse, and clear consequences for violating the policy.
Participate in regular scheduled trainings.
Create a supportive work culture where employee’s feel empowered and valued.
Support HR when a concern arises.
Don’t wait for a formal complaint. If you see or hear about it, ACT.
Respond quickly to all allegations.

Be The Solution

While there are no guarantees a company policy or training will be the perfect solution, employers can take proactive steps to address harassment and create solutions that ensure a safe and comfortable work environment for all.

For the skeptics, yes, false accusations have been made and genuine misunderstandings, easily rectified. But don’t let that lessen the seriousness of a complaint. Harassment of all kinds now have a voice and that has given people the courage to speak up, when they may have been too scared to before.

Given how little agreement exists about a clear definition of sexual harassment, employers seeking to create a comfortable work environment may need to be more explicit about the boundaries of acceptable behavior. Consider CorpStrat to help you through that next situation and in developing policies or trainings. Our HR on Demand packages can provide reliable HR support and create solutions. We are here to help.

Company Culture Matters Most

Company Culture: What it is and Why it Matters

It’s those two words you probably hear often if you read articles on business and management but what is it exactly? Company culture is the personality of a company and the environment in which its employees work. Recent studies have revealed that employees highly value company culture in their decision to stay with-or leave-a company. Therefore, companies with strong culture can, in fact, reduce job turnover.

Retaining employees who are happy and productive is not only good for employee morale, but also for the bottom line. Turnover can be extremely expensive for employers when lost productivity and replacement costs are considered.

According to Frances Frei And Anne Morriss at Harvard Business Review:

“Employees make hundreds of decisions on their own every day, and culture is our guide. Culture tells us what to do when the CEO isn’t in the room, which is of course most of the time.”

Since each company is unique, the way in which you create and build your company culture will vary. However, one constant is that all cultures can be classified as being ‘weak’ or ‘strong’.

Weak Company Culture = Employees accept their responsibilities and cultural duties out of fear of their superiors and harsh policies, and they do things out of impulse.

Strong Company Culture = Employees respect, adjust and adhere to their company’s policies. Employees in this type of culture tend to enjoy working, accept their roles and responsibilities willingly, and try to learn as much as possible.

Developing Values for Your Company’s Culture:

Recognize and reward valuable employee contributions. Recent studies have shown that the top 20% of companies with a recognition-based culture have 31% lower turnover. Also, a large majority of workers believe that recognition is a key factor for them.
Flexibility – 51% of workers believe that a flexible schedule is a factor that significantly drives retention. Some popular ideas are telecommuting, flexible scheduling and PTO policies.
Benefits – There are a variety of employer sponsored programs that encourage employee engagement and increase morale and retention. In addition to your core benefit offerings (medical, dental, vision), try implementing a wellness program, paid parking, and/or transportation reimbursements. There are also many voluntary benefits available such as Life, Short Term Disability, and new trendy offerings such as Identity Theft and Pet Insurance.

These are just a few ways that you can attract, retain, and reward employees and grow your company culture. Today’s workplace is vastly different than it was in the past. Employees care about your reputation as a company and are constantly evaluating employers on their corporate culture. In fact, many workers view cultural compatibility just as important as salary! A positive and strong company culture vastly improves retention as employees who identify with and feel a sense of belonging are happier and are more likely to stay.

With that said, if you could describe your corporate culture in three words, what would you say?

References:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2012/06/13/new-research-unlocks-the-secret-of-employee-recognition/#615d82695276

https://qualityincentivecompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/SOAW-2017.pdf

https://hbr.org/2012/05/culture-takes-over-when-the-ce

Lief Organics Leaf Labs

Leave a reply

Lief Organics, is a Valencia-based wholesaler of raw nutrients and ingredients for the natural foods and supplement industry. The company just relocated their manufacturing and distributing to new facilities, with a staff of over 100 and a robust sales team growing to $30 million in sales, Lief needed more space.

Lief Organics has experienced amazing growth by creating an environment that attracts high-level talent, an energetic and amazing workspace, and by delivering high-touch employee benefits through CorpStrat.

Adel Villalobos, The President and CEO was born with a knack for 2 things; science and baseball. He would eventually use baseball as his motivation to attend California State University Northridge, to obtain his degree in Biochemistry and Nutrition. Once enrolled, Adel further realized his passion for science and decided to focus less on his baseball mitt and more on garnering any experience he can get in what was then a relatively new and burgeoning Nutraceutical Industry.

He eventually landed a part-time job as a Customer Service Rep with a company called Natrol. It was at Natrol, where the seed of eventually starting his own company was planted. Adel, was eager to learn and was willing to try his hand in various departments at Natrol, from Customer Service to QC Lab Tech to Marketing, Product Development and even Legal. After moving around all the departments at Natrol, Adel knew what his next step needed to be, and that was to try to make it on his own as a leader in an industry that he has grown to love. In 2008, Adel would eventually go on to start Lief. At the time, equipped with only big dreams and humble beginnings, have now grown into a 140,000 sq. ft. Contract Manufacturing Facility in Valencia California, just 20 minutes north from his home that he shares with his wife and 2 children.

“I love being a part of the professional and personal growth that happens when you are in the Health Sector. Our industry attracts great people. Whether it is our staff or our clients. And I am committed to building great relationships and spreading quality supplements worldwide.”

Lief’s VP, Victor Leyson, has been working with CorpStrat for nearly 11 years, Lief’s employees receive employee benefits, payroll, and communicate with their employer through CorpStratHR robust Human Resource Management System The HR platform that delivers a “hire through fire” cloud-based way for companies to manage their people and their employment lifespan. “CorpStrat has been a key advisor and catalyst for our growth and unusual amazing advocate for our company” says Leyson. “I value CorpStrat as my one stop shop for guidance and honest /sound advice on all our benefits and Insurance needs from a more global level.”

Please contact us for more information or questions regarding your HR needs.

Company Culture That Attracts Talent You’re hiring! The exciting process of adding someone new to your team is in full force except, as the days pass, you notice the right talent just isn’t biting.

You’ve tried multiple job boards, your job description is on point, not to mention that what you’re offering in terms of pay and benefits are fairly competitive. So, what gives?

If despite all your efforts you’re not seeing an improvement in the quantity or quality of applicants received, it may be time to take a long, hard look at your company’s culture to see if your place of work is, well, a place where people want to work.

Company culture is defined as a company’s core values, practices, goals, expectations and processes. All of these components work together in telling your company’s’ story and vision for the future. It also hints at the type of environment future employees can expect to work in as well as the potential challenges they’ll face.

Your company culture can also signal to potential employees whether or not they can expect to enhance or develop their talents, if there is room for growth or advancement, or if the desire to further their education will be encouraged or rewarded.

“But we’re offering a competitive salary”

That may be, but in today’s market most job seekers consider company culture just as important as the salary or benefits offered. Great company culture also leads to higher retention rates and better performance, something salary alone can not provide.

For those who may be afraid of change, it should be said that having a great company culture is not just some passing fad. In fact, as more and more job seekers (especially talented, tech savvy Millennials and Gen Z) dive into the workforce they do so seeking purpose, value, and leadership from their employers, not just a paycheck.

That is why the company’s who’ve built a great culture (Google, Zappos, and Twitter to name a few) have not only continued to thrive, but why they have so many talented individuals constantly applying to work with them.

Google for example has received 75,000 applications in just one week (Yikes!) While those numbers probably well exceed what your business is hoping to bring in, it does showcase just how important a company’s culture is when it comes to attracting applicants.

If you’re finding it difficult to attract or retain top talent now, it will only become more difficult in the years to come. So if you’re looking to make changes, act fast. You can start by opening a dialogue between leadership and employees. Once you get started down the right path, together you can revisit what’s important, and what your vision is going forward. Once this is done, be sure to get with your marketing team and discuss how you can project your culture online to gain interest and increase your talent pool.

While not every company culture is the same, you can always learn from those who do it right. With that said, here are three companies (other than Google, Zappos, and Twitter) who’ve built a fantastic culture and leveraged it to attract (and retain) top talent.

Beepi

Founded: 2013

Headquarters: Los Altos, CA

Notable Culture Traits: Honesty, Transparency, Equality.

Company Culture That Attracts Talent

If you thought buying groceries from your cell phone was neat, wait until you what you see what you can buy on your phone with Beepi. Established in 2013, Beepi is really shaking up the car world by making it possible to shop for, sell, buy in cash, finance, or lease a car in real time, 100% online. Yes, even from your mobile phone.

Part of what makes the team at Beepi so great is how brutally and refreshingly honest they are. They’re a no-holds-barred style start-up that is completely transparent when it comes to what they expect from their employees and what employees can expect from them. They value each employee as an individual while also encouraging them to work as a team by promoting open and honest communication between all staff members (including executive staff.)

Each employee is encouraged to share and contribute their thoughts and ideas, which gives everyone at Beepi a voice. Beepi is not only inclusive but forthcoming about everything from the work environment potential hires can expect, their vision for the future, but most importantly, how determined they are to keep that atmosphere alive no matter what.

Warby Parker

Founded: 2010

Headquarters: New York, NY

Notable Culture Traits: Community, Creativity, Eco-Friendly

Warby Parker Has A Culture That Attracts Talent

Who would have imagined the eye-wear industry could be so fun?! The founders of Warby Parker did, and that imagination has not stopped. Since their foundation in 2010 they have not only kept their company culture alive, but they’ve kept it fresh by revisiting and expanding upon it in 2015.

Aside from offering boutique-quality glasses for just $95, they’ve also partnered with local non-profits, meaning that for every pair they sell, they’ll also donate a pair to a person in need (how great is that?) Their stores help stir a sense of community too by offering a great selection of books to purchase and by inviting local artists to come in and serenade customers.

Between employee “class trips” and newly formed holidays such as “Wear Your Sunglasses to Work Day” it’s no wonder their employees are all smiles, or why so many applicants are itching to come aboard.

Riverbed Technologies

Founded: 2002

Headquarters: San Francisco, CA

Notable Culture Traits: Persistence, Intelligence, Integrity,

The Company Culture at Riverbed Tech Attracts Talent

Information Technology (IT) companies are notorious for their terrible retention rates, especially when compared to other industries, but not Riverbed Technologies. Most of their engineers have been there 10+ years (allowing them serious bragging rights in the tech world)

Employees describe their fellow techies at Riverbed as “smart, innovative, respectful, and progressive.” Traits that they say have encouraged them to remain focused at work, while also encouraging them to ask questions and continue learning so they can keep up with the pace.

Leadership is said to always be on the move, seeking and acquiring new projects, companies, products and more so the company or those employed never feel stagnant. They really know their talent too, since the majority of their intelligent yet introverted techies are allowed to work remotely.