Corporate Culture
Corporate culture is one of those terms that seems like it belongs ina psychology handbook. It’s something that we may not always be awareof, but it really defines our entire work experience.
Similar to investing in a quality mattress because, as they say, “Youspend half of your life on it,” the prudent businesswoman occasionallyexamines their corporate culture because they spend the majority of herwaking hours at the office.
Of course, part of the corporate culture involves legal preparations:making sure that the business has the appropriate policies in place.These take the form of employee handbooks, antidiscrimination policies,sexual harassment policies and the like. Generally, these are used byeither human resources departments in hiring and firing or legaldepartments in navigating a crisis.
Of course, we frequently take calls from clients who wish that theypreviously had these policies in place. Sometimes because a lawsuitalleged that they didn’t exist, other times because a clear procedure tofollow in navigating a crisis would have been helpful. You may want toinstitute your own policies and procedures. As per anything in life, theimportance of being prepared cannot be overstated.
On the other side of the equation is employee satisfaction. Happy employees can mean a happy life for a business owner.
With respect to the physical health of employees, we are seeing morecompanies include gym memberships as part of their benefit package. Thisis helpful to the corporation as healthy employees generally results infewer sick days. It also allows the employees to tap into a new socialnetwork and potentially make important business connections.
We are also seeing an increase in companies attempting to improvetheir employee’s mental health. This takes the form of telecommutingoptions, extended maternity leave, flexible hours or even yoga retreats.
Finally, there is also a wonderful movement of corporate giving thatis continuing to grow. It has become popular for Fortune 500 companiesand small businesses alike to match their employees’ charitablecontributions.
On the Fortune 500 side of things, General Electric and BritishPetroleum made headlines for their policy of matching charitablecontributions on a 1:1 basis up to $5,000 per employee. ExxonMobilmatches on a 3:1 basis up to $22,500, according toDoubleTheDonation.com. Of course this easily can be, and frequently is,implemented at a smaller level.
Similar to a 401(k) employer match, the corporation sets the ratioand the maximum limit. The corporation may decide upon a list of itsfavorite charitable organizations or allow the employees to choose theirown. In order to qualify for tax deductions, both the corporation’sstructure and the structure of the charity must be considered. While thefinancial benefits are certainly valuable, the knowledge that thecorporation is genuinely invested in helping others and making the worlda better place is certainly one that would improve corporate culture.
With respect to corporate culture, a prudent businesswoman evaluatesher employee happiness and policies and procedures regularly.Preparation and job satisfaction will pay off in spades.