Earl Nightingale "What is on the inside shows up on the outside." That is the clearest reason I have found for why companies need to start caring about their culture and the employee experience.
What is on the inside of your company? The employees.
What is on the outside of your company? Your products. Your Customer Service. Reviews of your company...
Let me give you an example. Company A was trying to hire engineers and having no luck. Their pipeline of candidates was empty. The first thought was "We aren't visible enough". So Talent Recruitment posted in more places, hired recruiting agencies, and spent a lot of money to fill the pipeline. But even those individuals who eventually applied were not a good match.
So what was happening? I decided to approach it from a perspective applicant's point of view instead of a systems point of view. And what is the first thing most people do when they are interested in applying to a company? They Google it.
This is what I saw when I landed on Glassdoor (a company review site). Do you see what the problem might be? And this wasn't the only negative review, the first page was full of them.
Do you see how what is on the inside shows up on the outside?
And it doesn't just show up with reviews. If you have unhappy, stressed out employees, they will not have the time or energy to innovate on your products. You will consistently receive the same old stuff. But what happens if you have happy, healthy, motivated employees? There is the space for them to be creative. They can build emerging products that help you stay ahead of the competition.
So why should your prioritize the employee experience? Why should you care about building a culture that is employee-centric?
Because what is on the inside will show up on the outside.