By
Dan Sikora
April 21, 2011
Many wonder what is the magic bullet needed to retain good employees? In my mind, it all comes down to the company culture. Here are some basic tenets that we follow at Seco Tools Inc. to help protect and sustain our corporate culture. This has lead to a workforce that understands their role in the corporation and where all are heading in the same direction.
1. Discover, define and live your company values –a corporation must first understand who they are; why they do what they do and the way they do it. This set of beliefs should then be clearly defined in value statements. All corporate strategies and company operations must then be evaluated through this set of values. It can’t just be words in the lobby, but an actionable way of doing business. In Seco’s case, our value statements include 1. Passion for the customer, 2. Family spirit, and 3. Personal commitment. These Values are visible within our everyday workplace and we do not put any strategies into place without making sure they reflect these beliefs.
2. Assess new hires for cultural fit – At Seco, when we recruit, cultural fit is primary for us. We use a values-based behavioral interview partnered with assessments. When faced with skills/experience or cultural fit, we’re going to select the better cultural fit. We believe it’s not just about what you do, but how you do it, and our employee reviews are based upon this same ideology.
3. Challenge your employees — Although there is no doubt that salary is extremely important in employee retention, research has shown time and again that the strongest drivers of attracting and retention are development and opportunities to be challenged.