What is one role of HR in corporate culture?

To help you best appreciate the role HR plays in shaping corporate culture, we asked CHROs and business leaders this question for their best insights. From supporting the CEO in reflecting corporate culture to helping new employees settle in, there are several roles HR plays in their organization that are important in establishing, reflecting and improving the corporate culture of their workforce and brand.

Here are seven roles these leaders know their HR play in shaping their corporate culture:

• Supports the CEO in Reflecting Corporate Culture
• Maintains Relationships With Employees
• Reviews Policies and Ensures Expectations Align With Behaviors and Norms
• Works to Retain Talents
• Deploys Engagement and Feedback Tools to Enhance the Workplace Culture
• Recruits Teams that Shapes the Company Culture
• Helps New Employees to Start Well and Settle in

Supports the CEO in Reflecting Corporate Culture

The relationship between HR and corporate culture is always a complicated one. HR has a responsibility to reflect corporate culture in the Human Resources and HR-adjacent processes. HR is generally tasked with making sure that company culture is reflected in all aspects of the employee cycle – recruitment, onboarding, policy development, learning and development – and everything else that involves employees. 

However, culture comes from the top down. So, ultimately, the CEO is responsible for not only clearly outlining what they want their corporate culture to look like – they are also responsible for demonstrating it in how they run the business and how they treat employees. Then, working strategically with HR, the CEO can make sure the culture is reflected throughout the employee experience. So, although HR is often responsible for taking action on company culture, it requires buy-in and investment from those at all levels of the organization.

Eric Mochnacz, Red Clover

Maintains Relationships With Employees 

The role of HR in corporate culture is to maintain relationships with employees. They are the ones who know who the employees are and they can help them get a better understanding of what makes their company special. The HR department can also play an important role in helping staff understand their rights and how to use them if they feel they’re being treated unfairly. To sum up, HR’s job is to make sure that everyone in the company feels included and valued.

Piotr Buczynski, PhotoAid

Reviews Policies and Ensures Expectations Align With Behaviors and Norms

This isn’t meant to convey that HR should police employees to ensure that policies are being followed, but rather, HR should review (i.e., “police”) current organizational policies to confirm that they are not counteracting desired behaviors and norms. HR has a critical role to play in establishing that communicated expectations align with desired behaviors and norms.

Melanie Peacock, Double M Training & Consulting

Works to Retain Talents

One of the most essential roles of HR in corporate culture is the hand the department has in talent retention. Talent retention is something that has certainly come into focus with recent events like the Big Resignation. What corporations can take away from the Big Resignation is that employees are taking note of malpractices and mistreatments in the office, and are demanding better policies and representatives who can deliver on them.

This is where HR steps in; HR leads progression and adaptation in company culture, so it is truly up to HR teams to step up and hear what employees are asking for, to find ways to repair broken systems. When HR is successful in creating an inviting and inclusive culture, employees are much more likely to stay at the company, creating a workforce of individuals who truly align with and represent the very best of the company.

Chandler Rogers, Relay

Deploys Engagement and Feedback Tools to Enhance the Workplace Culture

Although HR serves several functions for various organization members, using feedback mechanisms is his primary responsibility for creating a pleasant workplace culture. HR is a forum for employee complaints and suggestions, and is used by leaders to issue orders and rules. The culture is stimulated and managed by HR. They collaborate with leaders to translate the culture vision into observable behaviors and products. They make connections between the actions that characterize culture and how it is expressed through individuals, such as through hiring, promotions, and awards. 

Laurice Constantine, Casadar

Recruits Teams that Shapes the Company Culture

A lot of organizations say things like “our people are our greatest advantage.” In reality, many of these organizations don’t do much to ensure that this is truly the case. It’s essential that HR takes an active role in recruiting teams that shape the company’s culture. They can do that by being intentional about their recruiting strategies and how candidates are screened.

Atta Tarki, ECA Partners

Helps New Employees to Start Well and Settle in

HR is in an excellent position to play a significant part in shaping company culture. The HR department serves as the entry point for new hires in the workplace. During the recruitment and orientation processes, they have the opportunity to convey directly to new hires the company’s values and expectations. By laying the groundwork, they can help employees in getting off to a solid start in building relationships that support and align with the company’s values. Human Resources is responsible for demonstrating the cultural behavior that they wish. They should be a driving force in building and embodying the company’s culture. The fact that employees are monitoring and holding their own People teams accountable makes this a very vital position.

Rameez Usmani, The Stock Dock