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Technology-fueled people power has come of age and is quickly transforming the old saw “Buyer beware” into “Seller take care.” And this has very real implications for you and your future livelihood (more on that in a moment). But first, a little background. What do Netflix, Bank of America, and Verizon all have in common? The answer – the wrath of their customers and the public at large.
All businesses aren’t created equal. What may be normal for a small company could be strange for a large one. But when deciding where to work, those distinctions matter. “There are a number of differences,” says Kathleen Downs, a recruiting manager at Robert Half International. “I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, but they are certainly different.” From culture to job function, here’s a look at ten differences between working for a small firm and its larger brethren.
I’ve talked before about personality-culture fit on Glassdoor, and it hit a nerve with the community. Now that 2012 is here and hints of economic recovery are in the air, I’d like to look at five culture ‘musts’ organizations should adopt to attract job seekers as the market slowly improves.
Most people spend at least 40 hours a week with their co-workers, so it is significant to have positive relationships with the people around them. According to a 2010 Randstad Work Watch Survey, 66 percent of working adults believe company culture is very important to the success of their organization.
The perceived shortcomings of Millennials are well documented: we’re know-it-alls, arrogant, pushy, and want to get hired higher up the ladder than the bottom rung we deserve. There’s a perception that social media is the silver bullet for reaching Gen Y candidates and consumers, but paradoxically, these online networks seem to be the launching pad for perpetuating these myths and stereotypes.
Who would you rather do business with – a company that is good to its employees and customers, contributes positively to the communities in which it does business, and is a good steward of the planet – or a company less than worthy on one or more of these fronts? For most of us, the answer is clear. We’d rather do business with a good company, as opposed to one of the “bad guys.”
Hiring managers and recruiters may not spend too much time thinking about workplace culture and brand. Typically brand and culture come up when a recruitment team is scrambling to put together an employment ad or job description. In an effort to attract the right candidates, the team gets together and works feverishly to craft a brand statement, or debates a way to define the culture of the company in a way that makes the company appealing to candidates.
I have an alternate view: defining workplace culture and corporate brand is really the front end of the recruitment process. Waiting to think about workplace culture and brand until you need to recruit is like closing the barn door after the horses have left.
As I’ve written elsewhere, creating and maintaining a brand-based corporate culture can help businesses recruit and retain the very best talent. Here are a few of my thoughts about workplace culture branding, taken from the world of marketing and now infused right into your workplace culture.
A comment I hear frequently from job seekers and management alike is ‘the workplace culture just doesn’t seem right.” Inevitably, management and employees are engaging in finger pointing and not taking responsibility (or is it ownership?) for their role in making a workplace culture livable or even better – memorable.
Let‘s define workplace culture in one sentence. Workplace culture is not just the personality of the workplace and its unique employer brand, but also (at its deepest core) is about the people who work in a company, from the CEO to the employees (people hire people, right?) and how they collectively experience their colleagues and the place in which they all work.
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The past few years the job market has been great for hiring authorities and decision makers responsible for hiring. There’s been plenty of applicants, and the ability to choose the cream of the crop. It’s been, “We have an offer – take it or else!” Well it’s time to say that easy times are on their way out – the ability to hire the right candidate just got harder.
The reasons are straightforward – increased demand and limited supply. It doesn’t take too many companies seeking technical talent to interrupt an easy supply flow. Especially when…
Culture is one very important way in which employees describe where they work. It underlies their understanding of the employer’s business and helps employees orient themselves in the organization. I see plenty of company leaders who don’t think that building a differentiated company culture will lead to success and eventual talent retention. Nevertheless, from the recruiter’s side of the desk, a company’s culture attracts talent, and talent is what separates winning companies from also-rans.
A ‘culture audit’ will help you assess the culture that exists in a prospective employer’s company. A culture audit not only helps companies learn what keeps employees at the company, it can help job seekers decide where to move next.
Do a ‘culture audit’ on your prospect company – much can be done here at Glassdoor – using the following questions…
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