Culture Shocked
Throughout my job search, a recurring theme among potential employers has been company culture. It’s viewed as a major point of differentiation, but even this seemingly universal emphasis does little to define it. Instead, it has become either a nebulous bucket for fun and friendly-sounding adjectives or a circular non-definition.
“This is a wonderful place to work because of the culture…that makes it wonderful.”
Thanks for clearing that up.
While it is true that no simple definition for “culture” exists since it varies — sometimes slightly and sometimes drastically — by organization, but there are a few necessary components that apply across the board.
Consistency
First and foremost, for a company to establish a particular trait as a cornerstone of its culture, it has to be deemed valuable throughout the entire organization. Only then will be it be articulated consistently and recognized externally. In other words, unless everyone in the organization recognizes it as part of the company culture, it isn’t.
Many organizations set out to build their cultures around the philosophy of the management team, but unless company values are 1. practiced by management every day and 2. articulated clearly to everyone within the organization, they are nothing more than lip service.
One of the greatest thinkers of all time once famously said:
Character is what you really are, while reputation is merely what others think you are.
John Wooden happened to lead one of the most successful basketball programs in NCAA history, but the lessons we can learn from his career transcend industry. Had he been a CEO instead of a coach, his organization would likely have experienced similar success because he possessed a truly unique combination of heavy influence and light touch.
Above all, though, he was a relentlessly consistent man of character. His program’s reputation never mattered to him because it wasn’t real. It was an external construct. He concerned himself only with what he could control, and that was character.
Just as it did for Wooden’s program that produced numerous national championship teams, culture drives success. However, without the proper foundation of shared values, it won’t be based on character. It will be more akin to reputation — a construct.
Uniqueness
No matter its source, culture is something that is so “personal” to an organization that no two will be the same. Leadership, size, competitive position and geography all differentiate organizations, so it follows that they all impact culture as well. Back within the example of my current job search, I’ve spoken with a number of different public relations agencies throughout the process. All of them focus on business-to-business tech, but they all position themselves differently.
Every interview also included at least a short discussion about culture, so these agencies clearly — and universally — recognize its importance. These discussions have been varying levels of direct, but sometimes what isn’t said is an even greater indication of values than what is verbalized.
For example, all of these potential employers have depicted a collaborative, team-oriented environment. It’s music to the ears of a former athlete and coach, but unless the company puts tangible actions to that goal, the words are empty. Anyone who has worked in a PR agency understands that sometimes it’s all hands on deck, and unless the environment is utterly toxic, the dynamic spans all levels. Merely acknowledging this reality does not constitute embracing collaboration, and therefore, is indicative that it’s not really a part of the company culture.
Instead, when conversations focus solely on actions like racking up media hits, cranking out content or evaluating metrics, they produce more information about an agency’s culture than a vague statement about teamwork. These are tangible examples that demonstrate where agency leadership places the greatest emphasis and gives a much clearer indication of the values foundational to the organization’s culture. When probed with follow-up questions, an interviewer mentioning these examples will be able to discuss them in greater detail, rather than simply giving the verbal equivalent of a blank stare.
Relevance
We’ve now established that an effective company culture must be consistent and unique, but it must also be at least tangentially relevant to the business. The best (and my favorite) example of irrelevant “values” that have no actual value being cited as a part of culture is free food. Sometimes it’s catered lunch. Sometimes it’s snacks. Sometimes it’s coffee. Whatever form it comes in, though, these are perks — something many companies seem to struggle with distinguishing from actual values that build culture.
This misunderstanding is so prevalent the Wall Street Journal has even written about it.
Other than perhaps saving employees a few dollars, these perks have no tangible value, and they’re certainly not relevant to anyone’s job. While no one is going to be upset about having access to these types of simple conveniences throughout the course of the day, they aren’t going to play a crucial role in reaching organizational goals. They fall into the “nice to have” category. Job seekers shouldn’t be making decisions based on “nice to haves.”
Culture is a need to have.
Even though no two will be exactly the same, whatever an individual company’s culture may be must be clearly and plainly visible. Only then do job seekers know they’ve encountered a strong, values-founded organization and can evaluate the opportunity accordingly.
