Culture or Context?

Culture is one of those buzz words that candidates ask about and employers try to articulate, but in my opinion - you really don't fully know the culture until you are breathing it, living it and judging it for yourself.

Sure employers want to identify culture and use or spin it in a positive light for purposes of branding, attraction and retention. Why not use every arsenal possible?? However, the reality is that often times the way an employer describes their culture is not actually how being in the culture is. If you had an opportunity while investigating whether the company was right for you, wouldn't you like to ask several people of different levels how they would describe the culture of the company? Objective people that have no care for whether you get the job or not? The answers vary sometimes and don't always line up....but when they do, that is also something to pay attention to. I've experienced many cultures in my staffing days and then also as an employee for several.

I have defined a few below (but I am sure there are many other definitions my blogger friends have too):

Brainwashed: This is where the employee brand, mission, vision and values are drilled into the minds of all employees (over and over again) in an attempt to have a uniform voice. Makes sense strategically, but what happens when you start the job and you are subjected to said brainwashing only to find yourself in the job 3 months later going...this is well....Bologna!

Severed Voices: This is where there is no real message and no actual work done on defining the culture. When you ask multiple people, you get varying of answers. One says something cliche' like "we work hard, play hard", while another spouts off some canned response like "our culture is one of collaboration and innovation". These are meaningless to a job seeker because they do not actually represent the culture.

Real Transparent: Very rare, but sometimes employers are open enough to allow a candidate to shadow for the day or attend a company event with the hopes of allowing the candidate to define the culture for themselves. This is unique and it takes a level of confidence on the part of the organization to say, "Who am I to define it? Define it for yourself!"

Foundational: This is usually found in organizations that have the money to actually pull off the whole culture branding thing. There is a person in a desk that owns accountability for this and probably a team of deployment peeps as well. From the website, to the office and through on boarding - you see consistency and the culture is representative even when the honeymoon phase  is over. This is a hard fete and some big companies can't get there because their vision and corporate politics clash.

My advise to a candidate is this: Ask the culture question, hear the answers but know that you will never really know the culture until you experience it for yourself. Each person's experience and definition will vary inevitably. Even the company with the best plan for cultural immersion and employment branding still has the office gossip, the negative nancy, the company champion, the canned responder and the blank stare person.

When on the interview - take in your surroundings. Are people smiling? Are people working together? Or are they whispering by the water cooler? When deciding on the offer - visit the companies facebook and social media pages and look at their pictures and posts! Scope out the LinkedIn profiles of their employees and past employees too. If you see a ton of people who came and went - maybe that is a red flag, but maybe it's not. Be careful with sites like Glassdoor.com, because people typically review a company when they are pissed off. Very rarely do people go.... I love my company culture so much I think I will post a review on Glassdoor! What I think is the most telling is when a company has a high percentage of employee referrals!

So maybe the right questions are:

What percentage of your hires come through employee referrals?
What is the average tenure of your employees?
What do your people like most about the culture?
How can I get a better feel for what it will be like to work for your company?

Interview Debrief Debates

In Recruiting and HR we handle a multitude of head scratching debates after the candidate leaves the office. Here are a few recent ones that I thought were useful, funny and that happen fairly often.

Case of "No Tie"

So he didn't wear a tie...so what?! Does that make him less qualified? Less interested? Lazy even?

My personal opinion is that you should dress your utmost professional best for an interview. However, some cultural environments are less conservative and sometimes down right relaxed. You can never go wrong with dressing up. But what about a jacket without the tie? That seemed to be the debate that was had. True competence for the job is what is most important. In the end, if you really want to land the job, dress up and be prepared to communicate and prove your competence. In the end being competent won him the job.

Cell Phone Veto

Nothing is more off putting to a recruiter or hiring manager then when the applicant pulls out their cell phone. Am I not talking here?! Are you done participating? Do you even notice your doing this?! What is so dang important?

Please leave your cell phone in the car or silenced in your pocket. If you think you are unconscious about it and uber-connected - leave the temptation in the car. It is disrespectful and the person that you do it to will and can veto the decision to hire you.

He said WHAT?!

Talk about foot-in-mouth! Oh, the awkward moment when you say the exact thing the employer doesn't want to hear - and its like a movie of your life being played in slow motion in front of you... cringe.

You need to prepare. It's the companies job to make sure your motivations meet the business needs. Telling the employer you desire a job that is in a different industry/profession is a for-sure interview killer. Telling the employer that when you face difficult situations in the work place... you quit, also not a good idea.

What is your most recent head scratching hiring debate?