Employees who share a business ethos with their employer and have good relationships with their colleagues are more likely to stay with the company longer, work harder, and be happier.  Unfortunately, it isn’t always easy to identify a good cultural fit.  In recent times, remote working has made this even harder.

Here we look at what exactly workplace culture is, and why it’s so crucial.

We will also give you tips to help you develop the skills you need to identify a great cultural fit and how you can approach your job search with cultural fit in mind.

What is Workplace Culture?

Workplace culture is what makes a company unique, its personality, and its values. A positive culture will attract talent, drive employee engagement, and in turn affect team performance.

Once upon a time, a ‘good’ job was one that paid highly, provided a solid pension, and gave job security.  While these things are still important in 2021, they are not the only pillars that makeup job satisfaction.  Workplace culture has succeeded these and is a strong determinant in whether organisations are desirable to top-grade candidates.  Culture is the catalyst for the remuneration package as well as the opportunities you are afforded there.  It is the level of happiness you experience while at your desk, and the decision to stay when you are having a bad day, or even, week.

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How can you identify a good cultural fit?

If you are looking for a new role, these are 7 ways to identify a great cultural fit.

Know your own values before you begin.

De-coding a company culture can be difficult, especially if you only have a corporate website or LinkedIn profile to work from.  Consequently, you must know YOU as you begin the interview process. Understanding yourself and your values on a granular level will help you understand what’s truly important in the job you take. You will then be able to ask the right questions at interview to ensure a great company fit.

To give you some ideas, you should be asking questions that help you discover;

  • what they prioritise
  • how they measure success
  • how they measure accountability
  • how valuable relationships are
  • how they make decisions
  • how they solve problems

Creative business team looking at sticky notes on glass window in office

Do your homework.

Before you apply to a company, you should do 2 things.

1. Conduct background research before you apply.

Head to the company website and find out what they prioritise.  Things to look for are public statements around diversity, sustainability or inclusion.  These are pivotal to the culture of an organisation.

If these are not on the website, this alone is a clear indication that culture is not a priority.

2. Check Glassdoor.

Websites such as Glassdoor can provide prospective employees with an unfiltered and transparent view of company culture.

In an interview, every organisation will claim they are “progressive, flexible, optimistic, trusting etc etc”.   To try and identify a more personalised account, you could try and ask your interviewer what they like about working there?

You will get a “horse’s mouth” response that will be invaluable as you make your decision about cultural fit.

Explore company social activities.

The organisation’s social calendar will reveal a lot about how they reward staff, how well staff bond with one another and whether the company puts time and effort into building team relationships.

You could ask “what do work colleagues do together for fun?”  If the answer is inconclusive, then you can assume that not much weight is placed upon “team”.   Even if the company is very successful, it probably points to a culture which is very much about individual performance.

A company’s social media will also help you investigate this.  Head to their Instagram for evidence of social events, team lunches or ‘welcomes’.

Pay attention to how well they can pivot.

The ability to meet a challenge and pivot is integral to how agile, innovative and collaborative a team is.  If you are looking for these specific characteristics in the fabric of the company you are applying to, then looking for tangible examples of this will help you validate any cultural claims.

Identify workplace culture authenticity.

Authentic workplace culture can be identified by looking into the legacy that a company has built over the years they’ve been active.  When a company culture is genuine, business leaders are more likely to be brave and walk away from situations, deals, or business opportunities that aren’t a good fit for their brand.

Begin with an open mind.

Once you have landed your new job, you should steadily integrate with the new company culture and rid yourself of any baggage associated with your last job.  If you come with a closed mind, this may sound like “that’s not how we did it at my last company”, or “I don’t see why we would do it that way”.

A closed mind, and hanging on to an old culture will make it difficult to make yourself part of a new one.

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Integrating remotely.

Working from home often makes it harder to integrate with a new workplace culture.  Micro-interactions throughout the day are often what makes us feel connected to our new colleagues, and remote working doesn’t facilitate this.

One way to integrate effectively whilst working remotely is to be open to sharing more about yourself than you might normally.  Getting to know each other without the opportunity for small talk around the water cooler requires more effort on everyone’s part.

Takeaways.

  • Workplace Culture is the DNA of an organisation; the values and the principles that make it unique.
  • In 2021, a “good job” is more than remuneration.  Cultural fit is a key determinant in employee success, engagement and longevity in a role.
  • It can be very difficult to identify the culture of an organisation through a website or LinkedIn profile alone.  You need to do your homework and identify exactly what YOU desire from an employer to make sure there is a good fit.
  • Remote working and onboarding has made decoding culture more difficult.

What qualities do you look for in an employer?  Has this changed as your career has progressed? Perhaps the pandemic has made you reassess what is important.

We would love to hear your thoughts on Workplace Culture. Let us know in the comments section below.

About the author: I manage the recruitment for a range of digital roles for my clients on both a retained and contingency basis. I specialise in senior and confidential appointments, always giving a first class representation of a client’s employer brand.

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