We've all heard the joke online that if someone puts on their job listing that “we'll treat you like family,” you should walk away—that's the last thing a company is really going to do. To be completely transparent, I once consulted a friend who worked with a company that said this, and they had an extremely high turnover rate.

Employees of this company were calling and sending Slack messages at all hours of the day. The manager expected employees to be available 24/7, even though the company itself normally operated from 9 to 5. The manager would hold a team meeting every month where they would call every single person on the team to tell them what they've been doing wrong all month – in front of everyone else. Achievements were never recognized at these team meetings.

On the other hand, my friend also worked with another company whose employees absolutely adored the work culture. If you've made a mistake, the business owner has acknowledged it and helped you figure out ways to improve in the future. There was never a punishment or rebuke. She encouraged everyone to use it as a learning experience.

She too recognize people's strengths and will actively approach them for other opportunities. For example, she noticed that an employee who was originally hired to answer the phone had a knack for numbers and liked budgeting. With a lot of encouragement from the team and a little training, that receptionist moved into inventory management.

All jokes and internet memes aside, culture in your company can make or break your business.

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The cost of bad company culture

According to Society for Human Resource Management, it can take up to 6-9 months of an employee's salary to find their replacement. That means losing a $60,000 employee could cost you up to $45,000 to try find their replacement. To put this in perspective, that aforementioned company with the terrible work culture had an average six-month turnover rate for a team of 15 people. Let's say they were all salaried at $60,000. That means every six months the company was essentially burning through $675,000 – which adds up to $1.35 million a year. As you might have guessed, that company went out of business.

Of course, company culture is much more than money. Morale, performance and finding the best talent are all hit with a poor workplace atmosphere. Without positivity and recognition of successes, employees feel like they can never get anything right, which leads to low morale and, in turn, low innovation and enthusiasm for work. If someone does not care about their work, they will not do it well, leading to external problems for the company, such as poor customer service and missed deadlines. And if the company is unable to innovate in our rapidly evolving world, the business will not survive.

This then leads to employment issues. Companies with a negative reputation will have a hard time hiring top talent because no one wants to work in a place where they are not valued. According to an estimate published by Gettysburg College, the average person will spend 90,000 hours of their life at work – that's about a third of a person's life. People don't want to spend that time in a place that causes them stress or pushes them to the edge. This includes current employees; people do not want to work in a place where they are constantly afraid of losing their job; thus, many people (once they realize the toxicity of the workplace culture) will quit. This leads to an endless and vicious cycle of talent coming and going, leaving the business without a way to grow.

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Create a culture that retains talent

Recently there has been a shift where people are not staying at work as long as they used to. You've probably heard of people who have worked at the same company for 50 years or more. Nowadays, it's more common than not to hear of someone who has worked for multiple businesses in a span of just a few years. This is due to the type of work, the benefits involved and – you guessed it – the company culture. Working for nearly two decades in the recruitment industry, here are ways to create a company culture that will happen maintain your high talentsave money and help your business grow:

1. To be present. Many people want to own companies without having to To be present to direct them. If you don't want to work there, why would your employees want to work there?
2. Lead by example. Everyone is human, even AI tools make mistakes. Use a bug or problem as one teaching exampleand you may even be able to turn it into a marketing opportunity.
3. Empower employees. Give your employees opportunities to advance their careers with training, certifications, etc. If someone wants to improve, help them!
4. Celebrate achievements. Recognize successes and create goals that drive your team to reap rewards.
5. Communicate openly. If something goes wrong, it should be pointed out. Do this in a professional manner so that the team can address the issue.
6. Promote a work-life balance. Especially in a remote workforce, people are attached to their devices. Make them take a vacation and holidays and set a set of working hours that encourage this balance.
7. Offer incentives as part of the job package. benefit play a big role in potential entry talent as well. See what your company can offer to entice employees to join your workforce.

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If you're not sure what to change about your workplace culture, go to the source and ask your employees. Their invaluable feedback will help you create a culture that encourages employee retention and encourages the best talent to grow with the business.