This week will be full of new opportunities and challenges. Here is my thought for the week: Your success in the workplace depends heavily on your ability to assimilate into its culture.
“Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you’ve got.” -Peter F. Drucker
Once I was super excited about an offer I was about to accept from a company I had interviewed with a few days prior. I ended up attending a gala the afternoon I received the great news. I ran into an old colleague and was eager to share the great news. We embraced and shook hands—happy to see one another after such a long time. After exchanging pleasantries, I expressed the good news, “You’ll never guess what happened today.” “Really, what’s that?” He said, excitedly. “I received a job offer.” After telling him where, almost immediately, the gleam of excitement began to dissipate from his eyes. I tried to read his emotion. On first thought, I took it to be a momentary flash of envy. But it quickly turned into a slight look of concern. I was confused. He released a deep sigh, placed his hand on my shoulder, looked me square in the eye, and said, “As your friend, I want you to know that you have so much potential; more so than I’ve seen in anyone. You are going to do fantastic work there. I am happy for you, just remember this: Do not become jaded.” I told him that I would try. Those words echoed in my mind for the next few days as I pondered the decision. Finally, I accepted the offer after considering two additional offers. Onboarding scheduled. My paperwork was in order! I was ready.
On day one, I was ready to quit. Not a good sign. My onboarding was a complete disaster. It was super disorganized. I was given an incorrectly spelled name badge written in black permanent marker by an employee who appeared to have been pulled from her cubicle last minute to fill in for the person who was suppose to be there. She was not a people person. We were asked to keep silent when entering the poorly lit office, tightly packed with other newly hired employees. The orientation leader must have been new as his teammate kept on ‘correcting the record’ and confusing us even more. When it was the teammates turn, she went into a list of company rules as though she was talking to a room full of disobedient children. Some people were becoming increasingly uncomfortable, but they needed the job, so they figured they would just smile and nod in agreement. Others appearing to act engaged, continuing to ask questions about the answer that was given to a prior question, that in my estimation was answered the first time. But I had just let two other offers go, so I figured I’d smile and nod too.
We watched a video that seemed to not have been updated since the early ‘90s. The picture quality was horrible and grainy, but I began to regain as sense of excitement as we were about to play a ‘get to know your neighbor’ type game. Quickly, the light was snuffed out as it was obvious that my ‘neighbor’ had chosen this ‘neighborhood’ as a last resort. She did not want to be here. I wanted so bad to raise my hand and ask to change partners, but I didn’t. I stuck it out.
The rest of the session was boring—completing paperwork that could have been completed electronically. Everyone was quiet, except that occasional person who did not bring all of their I-9 documentation, wondering what to do next. Just unprepared. Needless to say, my experience did not get off to a great start. But it was a premonition into what was to come in the months ahead.
Four years later…I sit at my desk composing my fourth resignation later. I had to keep up my annual resignation letter tradition. I was going to let them have it this time! I detailed how the company was not innovative at all and really did not care about the clients whatsoever; they did not seek quality projects, but whatever the wind brought; how people who had not produced results miraculously ascended to the throne of management; how departments with low budgets magically found funds to create a new position for the ones they did not promote; how the don’t’ talk to higher-ups’ policy was dumb; how the employees just walk about like drones doing their simple repetitive tasks daring not to suggest any changes for improvement, yet incessantly complain behind closed office doors; and most importantly, how I felt that my talent was going to waste as I could not list one new thing I had learned in the past quarter.
I was expecting the company to have a wake-up call with MY resignation letter. It was be the spark needed to change the course of the organization for time eternal. I furiously pounded out evidence to support my premises. I arrived at the last paragraph, and my inner self said, “What are you doing? The time it has taken to write this, is the same time you could have spent reaching out to former colleagues or filling out another job application.” I attempted to justify my rationale internally until the reality it me. This is stupid. I deleted all 3 pages, and simply wrote:
“While it is unfortunate, I must submit my two-week resignation to this position effective immediately. I wish you, the team and the company well. Please let me know what I must do to support your transition efforts.”
For some reason, I felt this said more in 3 sentences than the 3-page masters’ thesis I had written.
Company culture is not something people give much thought to when seeking employment. Many times, when we seek employment, it is out of urgency. Someone may find themselves laid-off, fired or asked to resign. So, one may end up accepting the best of bad options. One may even just accept the first thing that comes their way. Before they know it, their career death spiral begins anew.
A company’s culture is made up of is values, relationships, goals, processes that set them apart from another company. There important aspects to remember about company culture. Business is hierarchical and culture is slow to change. Your success comes from your ability to assimilate to the company’s way of doing business. As many millennials in the workforce are aware, having one or two jobs for the duration of our working career is fairy tale. Frequent career transitions will require quick adaptation to different company cultures.
Think about your own company objectively for a second. What would it take to be “successful” there? As you think of your list, try not to attach positive or negative emotions to the behavior. Think of what that behavior has to do with the mission and values of the organization. Now think about where you fit in that context and which of these unspoken behavioral requirements would you find the need to sacrifice your core values to assimilate into the company and ascend the ladder of promotion.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when evaluating a company’s culture.
- When possible seek new opportunities long before the need to do so. Emergency breeds complacency.
- Understand that company culture is not always what is published. What you typically see is a reinforcement of the values the company wishes instill into its employees and display to the community. You may need to dig deeper, or simply experience it for yourself.
- Before you begin at a company, I suggest reaching out to two or three people you know who work there. Ask questions about the company. A person who knows you are more likely to be more forthcoming.
- Connect with current or former employees using LinkedIn. Some may express their love or disdain for the organization.
- Check the social media pages. Are employees commenting with the content posted? How are they interacting with one another in the public forums? Do you get a sense that the company has built a strong tribe?
- During your interview, ask your interviewer or panel to describe what led them to their current roles. I believe you can learn much from the way they respond. Are they agitated or taken aback that one would ask such as question? Do they display passion for the work they do? Do they discuss their achievements that lead to their promotion into their current role? If hired these people will potentially be your starting place in building mentorship network. What can you learn from them now?
In concluding, I later learned that my former colleague mentor had served on the company’s board for several years and was intimately familiar with the company’s inner workings. He neither spoke negatively of the company nor dissuade me from joining. I have come to respect that he did not allow his subjective suppositions get the best of his tongue. I came to find out that you can learn something everywhere, and sometimes one must experience it personally. Not all people will like, respect, or admire your work ethic. Some may even envy your results and make attempts to sabotage you. But you are growing even still—learning more and more how to handle and deal with tough situations that arise. By aggregating the knowledge you’ve gained about your own companies’ culture, you will be best positioned to readily speak on methods of improvement and best practices you’d implement wherever you end up in the future. Let me re-focus your attention back to the famous words of Peter Drucker, the father the modern management: “Company cultures are like country cultures. Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you’ve got.
