Darshitha
Why is the concept of corporate culture important to job-seekers — and how do I go about understanding it?
for my life
#teaching
3 answers
Nathaniel Kujawski
Nathaniel’s Answer
For me the reason corporate culture is so important is that you'll spend most of your day/week at work and it's the atmosphere that you'll be spending that time in. The combination of people/personalities, rules (written and assumed), and overall 'feel' of where you work. Since you're going to be spending a lot of your time at your job, you can choose what best suits you in terms of your own personal preferences.
For me, I've worked in companies which had 100% flex time. Come in when you want, leave when you want, no questions asked. But, your work was expected to be done on time, you were expected to be there SOME of the time when everyone else was in order to collaborate or if there's an important meeting but the feel was very 'open'. They were very hands-off and would give me a project or several tasks to manage with little direction and it was mine to own.
In my current workplace, I can't leave when I want to but they give the option to work from home and generally have very good benefits. I feel very supported in what I do and if there's anything I need to get my job done I just have to ask.
To understand what a company's culture is like, just ask! If you know someone that works there then that's probably one of the best ways to find out. You could also try to contact someone at the company using their website. When you're in your interview you can ask open ended questions like "what is the company's culture like?" "What do you like best about working here?" Or, you can ask more specific questions such as "Does your company have flexible work options?"
Good luck, hope that helps!
Aime Velasco-Bernard PMP
Aime’s Answer
Personally, I look for an alignment between my personal values and those of the company I work for. The way I see it, if I am going to spend a large part of my time in a job, I want to ensure I am comfortable with the corporate culture and that there is no clash between my personal and my professional goals.
Aime recommends the following next steps:
Shwetha B Swamy
Shwetha B’s Answer
Corporate's culture defines a way to behave within the organization which helps us how to align our professional and personal goals to the organization goals.
Some things you could try to understand the corporate's culture:
Inquire about company culture and ask the right questions A better approach is to ask or listen to the stories of people who succeeded within the boundaries of the organization. Try to understand what it was they did that made them rising stars in the organization.
If you want to better understand your culture, look at your company’s priorities. These goals and initiatives reveal what your organization values and what it does not
Look to your Leaders. A good leader correlates to corporate's culture. Leaders show employees how to incorporate values that contribute to organizational culture by communicating the company's mission, goals and core values through their actions.