Building a Cool Place to Work

eing cool is tough. Ask any teenager. The definition of cool changes every time we change the reference group. Being cool has its payoffs. Everyone wants to be seen around with you. When you look at that happening with an organization, it can be a great talent magnet. Most of the times, the shape of the office building and the recommended distance from the cookie vending machine is seen to make an office cool – at least to the wide eyed newbie. If instead, you focus on these five factors, you can build a CPTW (Cool Place To Work) that can be sustained.

1. Iconic Top Management – Smart people like to work for smart people. How many of your company`s top leaders would get voted by the professional peer group as being among the top five experts of their field? Among the top ten? Of all the factors that add the cool factor to an organization this is the least planned part of the organization. Yet this factor has the greatest impact on the Employer Brand. Why? Everyone wants to work with the thought leaders and stars. So when you decide to put someone in a top job, ask yourself how many of the world`s top talent will sign up simply because of the roll of honor among your top talent. If you have the top thinkers and the thought leaders of the industry on your payroll then automatically the media will be quoting them on issues and challenges that take up everyone`s attention and the cool factor rubs off on other employees too. When Muggles share office space with Wizards, some of that stardust rubs off on them too. Similarly, the companies that are seen to impact CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) projects have an added cool factor thrown in.

2. Informal Culture – I know that most customers no matter how sloppily dressed they are, always expect the employees of the companies they are dealing with, to be impeccably dressed. So if you are in a customer facing job, chances of coming into the workplace dressed like a beach bum is remote. If the dress code is informal, the culture of informality will prevail is the assumption. Yet building an informal culture is a tough thing to do. Especially in today`s multi-generational and diverse workplace creating an informal culture is important so that everyone feels equally included. That is the way to get the best out of a diverse employee group. An informal culture makes it easy to build a crackling and engaging work culture.

3. Healthy Employees – The old world view was that the manager was not expected to supervise you when you took the third helping of dessert. Yet the employer would pick up the cost of insurance that would follow. Somehow that seemed unfair. So the employers started to reward and encourage healthy employees. Many of the companies have gyms or subsidize gym memberships, pay for medical checkups and organize health awareness weeks. Healthy employees mean a healthier pool of employees to choose from during the succession planning discussions. Senior leadership roles often demand punishing travel schedules, long working days that end up in dinner or lunch meetings with employees, partners and clients. Being healthy helps. Being an employer who encourages me to stay healthy is an attraction

4. Technology that Enhances Productivity – One major reason that flex-working hours or work from policies fail is that the technology that organizations introduce these policies without having the technology that supports remote connectivity and gives the employee the option to balance the two major demands that affect majority of employees of the “sandwich generation” – who need to have child care support while also having to support elderly family members. Add to it the challenges of balancing the needs of attending the child`s concert when both parents are managing travel and meetings simultaneously can be a stress creator. Technology can help break this tedium of being tied to the workplace. So as the demographics change, workplaces that leverage tech will be deemed as cool.

5. Careers that Match the Individual’s Aspirations – most exit interviews mention “better career prospects” as the reason to leave an existing role. Career maps in organizations can be a good starting point. The best career discussions are a partnership between the Manager, HR and the employee that focuses on how the person’s strengths and developmental opportunities pan out in creating the next career move for the employee. The employee needs to own the career discussion piece where the role of HR is to provide a wider view of opportunities in the organization based on the strength and development discussion between the manager and the employee.

In summary, while mood lighting in the office with your pet snail crawling on your desk may strike someone as “cool”, it is not what will attract and more importantly, retain top notch talent. As someone said to me once, “I don’t care if I have a choice of chocolate bars if I am not enjoying my work after the novelty factor has worn off. After all I am looking for a career not a meal in a theme restaurant.”