Does your company culture reflect your brand?

How Company Culture Can Empower Your Brand

The average full-time employee spends around 2,080 hours at the office each year. Most people spend that time one of two ways: happily going about their business or fuming about how much they hate their job. Those polar employee outlooks boil down to one fact—company culture can either empower your brand or cause your business some serious problems.

Many brands that have put an outstanding corporate culture in place are seeing dramatic results; not just in the forms of high fives or “thank yous”, but increased stock prices and higher profits. Before you dismiss those results as a coincidence, take a few factors into consideration.

Studies show that company culture has a significant effect on productivity and job satisfaction. Happy employees are much more likely to work efficiently and concern themselves with saving the company money. In other words, they genuinely care about the future of their employer’s brand. Companies that practice a very positive culture can testify to that fact.

According to a CEI Survey, 86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience. A very easy way to improve that experience is by implementing a positive company culture. It trickles down to the customer in more ways than you might think.

As expected, consumers’ first interaction with a brand often involves some sort of customer service rep. Which potential customer do you think would have a better experience: the one dealing with an employee that likes their job or the one talking to a rep that scours the employment pages on their break? Based on those interactions, which customer seems more likely to spend their money?

Company culture plays a significant role in how your brand is publicly perceived. Whether someone loves or hates their employer, they’re quick to spread the word. Many of today’s consumers are much more educated about the products they buy and are quick to reward companies who treat their employees well. The opposite is also true—some very well known brands have seen major losses, due in large part to their treatment of workers.

A worthwhile company culture creates a very dedicated crop of brand advocates—both internal and external. Company culture can inspire employees to become brand advocates, a group that positively represents your brand and gushes about how well they’re treated. That outpouring of goodwill encourages their friends and family to interact with your brand more often. External brand advocates may be customers or industry experts that recognize what you’re doing and praise it publicly. Both circles can empower your brand and grant your business excellent exposure.