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How can you tell whether a workplace will be a good culture fit?
How can you tell whether a workplace will be a good culture fit?
Recently a colleague asked me, "How can you tell whether a workplace is a good culture fit before you work there?"
It's a good question–and an important one because if you're considering changing jobs, you want to choose a new employer that satisfies your needs, culturally speaking.
An extremely basic definition of workplace culture, by the way, is simply, 'how we do things around here.' Figuring out how employers do things around here—namely, how they treat people—is critically important before you take a leap and join them.
A company's recruiting and marketing efforts will convey information about the organization – but, as is true with all advertising, it may not match the reality of the employee experience. How can you uncover the real deal?
Start by defining your preferences
A good place to start is by taking an inventory of what you are looking for in your next workplace. What would you consider to be a good culture fit for you? For example:
- Do you prefer to be led by a hands-on leader, or do you favor more room to do your thing independently?
- How do you prefer to communicate and be communicated with?
- Do you thrive in a collaborative environment or a competitive one?
- How do you prefer conflict is addressed (or avoided)?
- How much structure feels good to you? Example: are you a fan of frequent meetings and check-ins or not?
- How important is balancing work and personal life?
- What's your relationship with technology? Are you an eager early adopter, happy with 'the way we've always done things,' or somewhere in between?
- How important are opportunities for learning and growth?
- How important is it to you to be active in the industry, such as participating in apartment associations and attending conferences?
- What are your 2-, 5-, and 10-year professional aspirations?
Do some detective work
Once you have a good sense of what you're looking for in your next work home, you're in a better position to find a position that will satisfy you. Here are some methods for uncovering what an organization's workplace is like during your job hunt.
Look at the company's public social media profiles.
- Do their posts align with their stated mission and values?
- Do people appear to be having fun?
- Is there evidence of investment in development, growth, and promotions?
- Are employees giving back to the industry and/or the community via service?
- Are team members participating in conferences and other learning opportunities?
- Is there a concerning number of "we're hiring" posts that could indicate a high staff churn?
Now dig deeper:
- Look at the social media accounts of people who work there, from executives to front-line team members. What do their posts tell you about the work environment?
Talk to your network
- Those in leadership roles in the markets in which the company has a presence will be able to tell you the reputation of the organization, such as:
...Whether or not employees participate in industry education, events
...The level of perceived employee tenure and turnover
- Supplier partners see it all:
...They may have insights into the financial stability of the organization based on contract and payment history
We know how important reputation management is for renters. It's equally important for job seekers. Visit Indeed, Glassdoor, and other job sites and read what employees and former employees say about the company.
Also important: how the company responds to those reviews. Pay close attention to the responses—or lack of responses.
Ask questions during the interview process
Use the job interview process to discover what you can about the aspects of workplace culture that matter most to you. Examples:
- Tell me about the tenure of your team.
- Have the executive leaders grown up in the organization or come from other companies?
- Which roles experience the greatest turnover?
- When people move on, what are the reasons?
- How do you keep teams informed and connected?
- What is the cadence of company meetings in which I will participate?
- What recognition programs do you have in place?
- Tell me about a successful project, policy, or initiative that began as an idea from someone in the field.
- How do you ensure individuals and teams have the tools and resources they need to do their job?
- What's your outlook on new technology?
- Tell me about the most recent technology rollout and how that went.
- Talk to me about how you manage dissent here. Are people encouraged to speak up when they see room for improvement with a process or policy? What's the preferred method of doing so?
- What is your onboarding process like? When should I expect to be fully trained?
- What learning and development opportunities are available?
- Do you have clearly defined career paths, and if so, can you tell me about them?
- How do you prepare associates for future promotion?
- What does it take for someone in my position to be promoted to the next level?
- Are your associates and leaders involved in their local apartment associations? Tell me more about that.
- Which industry conferences can I expect to participate in? How about my team?
Finally, if possible, it can be helpful to speak not only with a hiring supervisor but with as many potential future colleagues as you can during the interview process. You can learn so much by hearing from different members of the team at all levels of the organization. The more you know, the more confident you can be in your decision to say yes or no to a job offer when it arrives.
I hope these suggestions are useful. Please feel free to reply in the comments and let me know any additional ideas you have for determining culture fit during a job search. I'd love to learn what has worked well for you in the past.
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