Before accepting a job offer, it is essential to first consider the company’s culture and how it aligns with your own traits as an employee.
Company culture is the shared values, attitudes, behaviours, and standards that make up a work environment. It is about the experience people have at work and how that experience aligns with the external brand and messaging of the company.
Good Company Culture: What to Look For
One of the most important considerations when applying for a job is the company’s culture. A good culture can make a fulfilling work experience.
1. High Employee Retention
Staff turnover is a good indication of company culture. When employees are paid fairly, given the right tools to manage their workload, encouraged to strike a better work-life balance, offered development opportunities, and recognized for their work, they’ll stick around. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for some companies
Here are 10 top reasons why employees leave their jobs:
Unsatisfactory pay.
Stress or an unmanageable workload.
No advancement opportunities.
Employers’ values do not align with their own.
Interest in a different industry or career path.
Poor work/life balance.
Unsatisfactory benefits.
Lack of employee recognition.
Their employer's ability to address health and safety concerns.
No options for remote work or having a flexible schedule.
2. Regular and Transparent Communication
Regular, honest, and transparent two-way communication is vital for great company culture.
Effective internal communication strategies that strive to inspire, teach, drive action, and collaborate with employees have a better work culture than others.
3. A Diverse Workplace
Companies that cultivate different skills, perspectives, passions, insights, and personalities open the door to more creativity and innovation – not only puts their business at a competitive advantage but also gives employees room to express themselves, creating higher work satisfaction.
4. Ongoing Professional Development
A great workplace culture recognizes the importance of providing employees with ongoing professional development that’s not only relevant to their roles and passions but to the future of the business.
5. Clear Vision and Values
A company can build an effective culture with a clear vision and set values. It needs to identify talent that is aligned with those values and is committed to working towards the overarching mission.
A company’s mission statement, vision, and core values aren’t just for customers. Neither are they just an opportunity to create an inspirational social media post. They are the glue that holds their road map together that guides employees. They build motivation for employees to show up to work every day.
6. A Good Benefit Package for Employees
Benefits actually do signal a great corporate culture when they are done right. The benefits need to align with the company’s core values and be assessable to employees.
7. Positive Working Relationships
Positive relationships and interactions are among the biggest signs of a great workplace culture. These can range from the basics, like saying “Good Morning” to your employees, to the boundaries and expectations that are set.
Positive working relationships are a crucial component of a great company culture if they are founded on mutual respect and understanding.
8. A Healthy Approach to Employee’s Well-Being
Great company cultures revolve around creating a supportive and psychologically safe environment for employees. Employee assistance programs, mental health, and well-being training, and flexible working schedules are just a few aspects that indicate a company is committed to supporting its employees.
9. Fosters Innovation
If leaders don’t trust their workforce to work autonomously towards a common goal, they can’t expect innovation from them. A culture built on trust that empowers employees is one that encourages and incites innovation.
10. Accessible and Approachable Leadership
Leaders who actively seek out their employees to engage them in conversation and learn about what’s happening are signs of a good culture. If leaders have an “open door policy” that encourages employees to ask questions and run ideas past, they are more likely to build positive working relationships.
11. Less Blame and More Accountability
While powerful, accountability starts at the top; if a business is enforcing a certain level of expectation, it should apply it to everyone, and leaders should set an example by owning their mistakes and taking responsibility for their actions. When this trickles down in a workplace culture and employees are equipped with a growth mindset, there’s less finger-pointing. Instead, everyone works together to find solutions to problems and forges ahead toward a common goal.
12. Empowered Employees
When people are kept in the loop, are comfortable sharing their ideas, and have a good work-life balance, they can work with more autonomy and take responsibility for their own work. This is what we all want, right? Not only will employees be happier, but they will feel more engaged, committed, productive, motivated, and happy to get up in the morning to go to work. This is another sign of great company culture.
Learning About the Company's Culture
A company’s culture can have an enormous impact on its employees. So how do you learn about a potential employer’s culture? The good news is that there are steps you can take to learn about the company’s culture before accepting a job offer.
1. Determine Your Preferences
First, you need to determine your work style and priorities. Is having a fun and casual workplace important to you? Do you work best in teams or alone? Are you irritated when micromanaged by your boss, or do you welcome the structure? Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment or perform best when working on your own timeline?
Make a list to determine exactly what type of company culture you want. This can guide you through your decision-making process.
2. Research the Company
Make sure to do your research beforehand, starting with the company’s website. Check out the tone of the website. Is it personal or straightforward, and professional? Read through the company’s vision, mission statement and values to see if you agree with them or not.
Sometimes you can learn about the company’s benefits if it is listed. Does the company offer competitive benefits? What is their policy on flexible work schedules? These can be major clues into the company’s culture that can help you decide if you want to work there.
3. Evaluate the Company’s Online Presence
Search the organization’s social media to get a better picture of its engagement with consumers, clients, and employees. Check out their posts for insight into the company’s values and see how they’re portrayed in the media from an “outside” perspective.
However, as you’re perusing a company’s online profiles, don’t forget that just because a company says that it values something doesn’t mean it does. Businesses want to put their best foot forward on social media and may not paint the whole picture. It can be helpful to check out employee reviews on sites like Glassdoor. Assess these reviews carefully, though. A few poor reviews might not be a true reflection of the company.
If you have any contacts who are current or former employees, a quick phone call can give you insight. Find out what they like best and least about the company, and ask specific questions about your priorities and how they might fit into the culture.
4. Observe the Work Environment
A company's dress code, office layout, perks and social calendar are all examples of how aesthetics and atmosphere can influence company culture. Although these qualities are not all visual, they help employees. Learn how a company treats its employees and what they can expect from life in their workplace.
Be observant whether you’re in an actual office or conducting your job interview remotely. Are workers dressed in business or casual attire? Is the office divided into cubicles, or is there more of an open concept? Is the office organized, and does it portray a professional image, or is it cluttered and looking dingy?
5. Ask Questions
Once you’ve done your research and are sitting in front of your potential employer during your job interview, ask questions based on your cultural priorities.
Depending on how you feel the interview is going, you may want to come right out and ask what the culture is like and evaluate the reaction you get. Ask for real-life examples of the company culture in action. Try a few of these questions based on who you’re talking to:
How is performance evaluated?
How are employees developed?
How does the company view flexible work arrangements?
Are there defined career paths?
How are employees evaluated for promotion?
Once you assess a company’s culture and have a good picture of what it’ll be like to work there, you can decide if it’s an environment you want to work in.
Conclusion
With over 15 years of experience in management and leadership, I provide career counselling services in Vancouver for professional women. If you are currently job searching and struggling to find a company that fits your work preferences and lifestyle, let me help you find your perfect fit.
Contact me today at 604-818-7626 or kimhempler@careersyncservices.com for a FREE consultation!
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