Rachel Spielman
Rachel Spielman

Every one of us has superpowers, whether we are working parents who can hit Six Sigma from 9-5 and then make dinner for the family when we get home, whether we are musicians or writers or artists who bring our creativity to work and then somehow get back up again in the evenings to do our own creative things, or whether we are just out of college and forging a new path on our own. However, most people don’t learn how to harness their strengths right away. A great company culture can help us develop our talents, find our purpose, and create meaningful moments of fun and fulfillment that help us with the most important task of all, figuring out who we want to be.

A Great Culture Helps us Develop our Talents

You’ve probably heard of Albert Einstein’s belief that genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work. In a company with a satisfying and productive culture, staff at every level are given opportunities to step up and work hard, so they can learn and grow. Relegating staff to a hierarchy of responsibilities is counterproductive. We don’t want to get good at things and stay there. Especially in today’s tech-evolving world, we can never expect to stop learning. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has coined a phrase to describe his company’s culture as “learn-it-all” vs. "know-it-all”. We can all aspire to that. Many companies are making significant investments in talent development and reskilling. AT&T for example has invested billions in upskilling employees. A recent BCG survey stated that leading companies spend up to 1.5% of their annual budgets on learning and skill building. Most companies, even small ones, have professional development allotments. It’s in the best interest of leaders to make sure their staff at every level are developing their talents so that they can deliver the best results.

A Great Culture Helps us Find our Purpose

According to Indeed research, workers report that the top three factors that impact belonging are feeling valued as a whole person (53%), being recognized for their work (49%) and working collaboratively with team members (45%). When our managers and colleagues really articulate our merit and help direct us to where we can make a difference and continue to find fulfilling projects to immerse ourselves in, then we start to feel valued and we start to value certain things about ourselves, and that is how we start to come into our own. We find our purpose not only from personal life experiences but also when we engage in interesting professional experiences and when we strive toward a common goal with our teams. Purpose can be found through networking and talking with people who can mentor us, either those senior to us who share their life lessons, or even reverse mentoring from younger staff. A recent McKinsey survey found that 70 percent of employees said their sense of purpose is defined by their work, and a recent Harvard Business Review Analytic Services report stated that 89% of leaders said a strong sense of collective purpose drives employee satisfaction, so a great company culture really is critical in helping us navigate the journey toward individual purpose.

A Great Culture Helps us Discover who we Want to Be

Work is, well… work! And if we’re in a positive workplace with a culture that reinforces learning and growing, then we experience that work presents new challenges on a daily basis – and we rise to these challenges! Therefore, we are on a cycle of continuous self-improvement whether we are working in person or in a remote or hybrid setting. As the beloved children’s book, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt singsongingly proclaims: “We can't go over it. We can't go under it… We've got to go through it!” Similarly, professional challenges require us to “go through it.” Accomplishing goals, learning, and doing well at work all make us feel proud of ourselves and fulfilled, and help us reinforce our identity and be the role model we want to be for others. According to Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Report, “work remains key to Gen Zs’ and, even more so to millennials’, sense of identity, with their jobs coming second only to friends and family.”

It's hard to believe but not all workplaces value their people, or maybe more accurately not all people value their workplace. A May 2024 Gallup poll found that only 32% of U.S. employees feel engaged with their work while 81.9% of employees agree that recognition for their contributions improves their engagement. This seems like easy math. That’s why at Ruder Finn where I work, culture is of the utmost importance for us and for the work we do with our clients. In order to help employees reinforce a positive work environment, we need to reinforce what’s positive about each employee and help them continue to grow and contribute.

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Rachel Spielman is executive VP-marketing at Ruder Finn.