Most organizations boast of having a culture. And no one is wrong when
they do so, because every organization does have a unique identity and a way
its employees perceive that identity. Organizational Culture, as defined on businessdictionary.com, is “the
values and behaviors that contribute to the unique social and psychological
environment of an organization”.
Removing all the jargon from this definition, what it really boils down
to are some basic questions. What does the organization believe in? How does it
react to employees who may not share the same beliefs? Do the employees feel
proud and happy to work for the organization? Or is it one long dreary engagement
between two unlikely entities?
So much has been written on organizational culture and matching the
employee and the organization and so on and so forth, yet we find a high number
of dissatisfied, disgruntled and positively unhappy employees around us in this
corporate world. So here are some of my yardsticks to evaluate or understand an
organization’s culture – looking in from the outside. Starting from the first
job these yardsticks are valid and have value in every transition made.
1.
The Start
There was
once an interview I attended where the interviewer questioned me for about 45
minutes. When I stepped out I felt like I had just committed a felony and had
been interrogated instead of being tested for my knowledge on the relevant
subjects.
Many
companies approach the interviewee with the idea of stressing them out,
purportedly to understand the individual’s capability. However, my view on this
has always been that jobs in the corporate are not ‘life-endangering’ and
‘constantly under stress’. Compare a job in marketing or finance to one in a
hospital- as a surgeon or a nurse. People quite literally perform under
stressful conditions there! However in business you have time to evaluate your
options to approach a problem in the best way possible, especially jobs at
entry and mid-level. So the concept of stress interviews never has made sense
to me.
2.
The People
When you
walk in through the door, you notice a lot of small little things- the décor of
the office, the arrangement of cubicles, a professional air around the place
and so on. Yet, to me, the most important and palpable vibe comes from the
people. When you sit down and the interviewer asks you if you’d like a glass of
water, you know they think a little beyond themselves. Trivial and obvious as
it may sound, there are many places where the interviewer may dispense with this
or other cursory politeness. This for me is a no-go. The demonstration of care
begins from minute one. Because culture is not something that begins when you
join or stop when you leave – it is the cumulative effect of many such small behaviors.
3.
Scope to Learn
Unless you
are at the point of retirement, every job will have a learning curve. The
biggest challenge for most organizations is to keep this curve steep for as
long as possible. When evaluating a job, I believe, figuring out the organization’s
attitude towards encouraging learning is critical.
If you
choose to pursue a course to improve yourself, would the organization support
the move? Would the job give you enough time at work to read up and research
the latest in your field of work? Would it be viewed as something one should do
on one’s own time? Answers to these questions would help in assessing the organization’s
attitude towards enhancing your learning experience. And this is for me an
integral part of the work culture.
4.
Your Peers
Our
experiences at our workspace are largely defined by our peers. How your
colleague responds to you will essentially make up how you are going to behave
in the organization. When your peers guide you, encourage you, and help you
learn the ropes you know you have the right support system. Additionally if you
can use them as sounding boards for great ideas and they respond to you, you
know you have struck gold! What is important here is the fact that the
organization is an eco-system comprising of you as well as others. The better
you vibe, the better your experiences in the organization.
5.
Your
Boss(es)
This seems
like a no-brainer in the organizational culture context. Statistics say that amongst
the most common reasons people are looking to quit their jobs is the fact that
they are dissatisfied with their bosses. They associate a plethora of problems linked
to poor leadership. You can read some instances here.
So what is seemingly obvious is for some reason not so obvious. When you join a
organization you look for leadership and direction but on a more personal
level, you look for challenging tasks, fulfilling work allocations and
appreciation- all of which the boss will hand out. So often, organizations
invest in building a culture and then fail in maintaining it because of a few
bosses who believe otherwise! Culture is as great or weak as it is in the hands
of your managers.
To some the above points may seem like the makings of an ideal and
perhaps unrealistic work culture. But truly, culture-wise, there are many
organizations today that are consciously investing in giving their employees
the best they have to offer. Some offer work-life balance, while others offer a
great work atmosphere, while still others offer great learning opportunities.
When you see the right mix of some of these aspects; you can be sure that the
organization has taken efforts to build its culture with great care.
If you lead an organization, you may want to relook at some of these
points to take a reality check on what prospective colleagues read about your
culture when they meet you.
Write in to us with your thoughts on building or evaluating culture,
especially in start-ups and growing businesses. We think it is a very important
aspect of building a sustainable organization. Which is why some of this will
be discussed in our People panel on Inception Day on 1st June 2013.
Read more about that here. For Event details click here: http://tinyurl.
About the Author:
Madhumita is a brand marketer known for her exuberance and zeal for getting things done. An MBA grad, Madhu started her marketing career at ITC and has been with IBS since mid-2012. She has contributed immensely to shaping some of our young client brands. She now supports us in her new role as Associate Consultant based in Connecticut, USA. Apart from her passion for brands & marketing, Madhu loves classical Indian dance, travel and writing.
Connect Madhu on LinkedIn.
or
or
Connect with her via email at madhumita@inception.net.in
No comments:
Post a Comment