c



  

Many business professionals (including top executive recruiters, outplacement professionals and executive coaches) say
that if there is a problem with the fit between an individual and a position it usually lies in the match between the person
and the culture of the organization.

We agree. It is easy to screen for particular competencies, but much harder to evaluate how well someone will "fit in."
Obviously if you take a position in which there is a mismatch between you and the culture you stand to lose at least as
much as the organization for which you have gone to work, so it is of the utmost importance that you pay careful attention
to this issue.

Organizational culture can be defined informally as the unspoken rules that an organization has about behaving and
getting things done. Organizational culture is, in fact, a complicated phenomenon that is constantly and imperceptibly
changing. It embraces issues from compensation structure to style of dress.

a  ahe largest circle is that of the industry that an



organization is in. Whole industries have cultural features. Different

manners and mores prevail in the investment banking industry as
compared to the retail Internet commerce industry, and both of these
industries have cultural features that differ from the petroleum industry.

a  

Within the circle of industry is the second circle, the

culture of the organization itself.

a Embedded within the organization is the culture of

a specific business area (the third circle), typically most affected by its
current and most recent leaders.

 
 ahe fourth and smallest circle of culture is the

circle of your relationship with your boss and immediate peers.

Cultural issues exist at each of these four levels. However, in speaking about understanding culture, we will focus on the
second and third circles, the culture of the organization and of the business area within the organization.

Every organization has a "cultural momentum" that has been created by previous leaders, important historical events,
established traditions and larger societal contexts. ahis momentum is subject, year by year, to the influence of current
leaders, current events and changing societal contexts.

Furthermore, there is typically a "cultural perception lag." If you ask a person on the street to tell you about the culture of
IBM or Microsoft, they will probably give you a stereotype that was more accurate two years ago than it is today. If you
asked a reasonably informed employee, they will probably give you a picture that was more accurate a year ago. If you
asked a savvy organizational development consultant who knows the organization well and is currently active with the
company, you might get a reasonable picture of how the culture actually affects people in the present.

Culture is an abstraction that is best understood through the rear-view mirror, but it is a very real force with real day-to-
day effects.
a



  

CareerLeader® assessed you along four aspects of corporate culture. Here are some tips for how you can assess where a
company falls on those same four elements.

!
 ": what to look for in companies

u Do people at this organization frequently use sports metaphors (especially high-contact sport metaphors taken from
football, hockey, etc.) in describing business situations?
u Does this organization have a reputation for being aggressive in its approach generally and for attracting individuals
with an aggressive style?
u Does the office architecture allow for some form of privacy that will let you concentrate on your work?
u How much is success in this culture or role a function of the size (and composition) of your "network" of people?
u What is the ratio of work-done-with-others to work-done-alone?
u How much does "pushing" for things account for success in this culture?
u How much business entertaining goes on in this culture?
u How much time is spent analyzing and thinking vs. discussing and persuading?
u How much is success in this culture dependent on professional training and expertise?

 ! 
#
 : what to look for in companies

u How much time would you have to "polish" your work in this culture, to get it just right?
u How important is "getting it just right" in this culture?
u How much work is done under tight (and unpredictable) deadline pressure?
u How much would you be able to set your own schedule, working at times and rates that suit you best?
u Do decisions often have to be made and actions taken with little time to process all the relevant information?
u How much does this organization seem to plan ahead, anticipating different scenarios and being ready for them?
u How neat and orderly is the work environment generally?





: what to look for in companies

u How much are new ideas and creativity in general valued and rewarded in this culture?
u Is the group you would join charged with keeping something running well that is already successful?
u Is there a lot of variety in the work you would be doing (and are there lots of new things happening)?
u On balance, does this organization have more to lose by trying something new that fails than it does to gain by
trying something that might succeed?
u Does the organization include people who are clearly "free thinkers", creative or unconventional in the way they talk,
dress or express themselves?
u Do people generally tend to "speak up" with their ideas, regardless of their position in the organization?





: what to look for in companies

u How much do people in this culture know about each other at a personal level?
u How much does this culture embody "social Darwinism" (people who succeed do so for good reason, and winnowing
out of the weaker players is a good thing)?
u How "warm" does the place feel overall? As you walk down the hall are people friendly and eager to greet you?
u Do people genuinely seem to care about each other (look not at how they treat you, but how they treat each other --
and especially at how they treat staff assistants and others below them in the hierarchy).
u How much of a role does aggressive internal competition play in who succeeds and who fails in this culture?


  
$



ahere is always a tension between an organizational culture and the personality of an individual entering that organization.
If the individual acquires power and assumes a leadership role, he or she may actually change some aspect of culture,
either at a local business unit level or, if the power attained is more extensive, at the level of the organization itself. ahis
tension, however, between "my way of doing it" and "the way it is done around here" is always present.

Organizational culture, like the wider social culture itself, wants to pass on what has been learned in the past. Like a
person, an organization naturally wants to avoid unsuccessful outcomes, and so tends to rely on what has succeeded in the
past. Paradoxically, the organization also wants original and creative contribution -- it wants to be safe but it also wants
innovation and creative change and growth.

In some ways this is a mixed message to an individual in the organization, but actually this friction, or gap, can be a
source of energy for change. New people in an organization add their knowledge, their perspective, and their way of doing
things. ahese new perspectives modify culture, even if the change is quite small and restricted to the local environment of
a particular business area within the organization.

If the gap is too great, however, it is more likely that the individual will be rendered ineffectual. It does not necessarily
follow that if an individual has highly valued functional skill, or if they were very effective in a previous organization, that
they will necessarily be effective in a new organization. Business history is filled with examples of highly accomplished
senior managers who failed dramatically when they could not adapt to the culture of a new organization. ahe most
successful business professional will bring his or her individuality to the organization in a way that will add new energy and
new perspective while still respecting the outer bounds of the existing culture.

We are always playing "in the gap" between our way of working and what is the accepted norm for the company. If this
friction is going to be creative rather than destructive, two things are necessary.

u an accurate perception and understanding of the culture in which you work

u insight into your own personality and how it differs from the "personality" of the organizational culture

It is not necessary that your style be a perfect match with your company in order to be effective. It | necessary to be
conscious of the differences and to be honest and realistic about the adjustments and compromises that will be required if
you are going to be effective in the organization.

You must be aware of the dimensions on which you are at risk for being too far from the cultural expectation of the
organization. If you know these limits, then you can improvise within them and allow your creativity free play. If you do
not know the limits, then you are likely to cross boundaries that damage your credibility.

‰
 $



Reading culture is difficult. You can study a company's annual report or recent fillings with the SEC and learn a lot about its
financial status, but no such documents exist that address what it is actually like to work there.

We offer two tools to help you understand the practical elements of corporate culture. CultureMatch (see "Corporate
Culture and ë
" below) presents four main themes to consider, and the additional cultural dimensions (also below)
discuss four variables of organizational culture.

ahe intent of these tools is not to be exhaustive or to present a comprehensive theory but rather to provide a list of
important factors that affect the actual experience of day-to-day work in a particular company. With each we will suggest
ways of observing and gathering data on that particular aspect of culture. CultureMatch will offer you specific guidelines on
how you fit into the four categories discussed there, and we will help you assess your fit with each of the four cultural
dimensions as well. ahe implications of good or poor matches will be considered in all cases.

Of course, there are aspects of organizational culture other than what we discuss in detail, that are also important. Worthy
of additional consideration are:

u how meritocratic (pay and promote for performance) an organization is

u organizational integrity (how honest people are with each other and with customers)
u openness to diversity (racial, gender, sexual orientation, social class, etc.)
If any of these issues are important to you, you must do your homework to find out how an organization approaches them.
Sometimes the best source of information is former employees of the firm, or current employees who are willing to be
open about their experiences.

% $



Adjusting to a particular culture is like swimming in the ocean. You can use many different strokes but you must
understand how the local currents flow. If you do not, exhaustion and frustration are likely outcomes.

You need to think specifically about the match between your personality and your organizational culture along the themes
discussed in CultureMatch, and in each of the additional dimensions of culture that we discuss. ahere may be a very close
match on some factors, and a significant gap on others. ahese larger gaps demand the closest attention. A large gap is not
necessarily a recipe for disaster, but it is a call for a clearly thought-out action plan on how you will address the gap.

For example, suppose you are a high variety, high change-oriented person interested in a firm which you have diagnosed
as having a moderate or low pace of change culture. Otherwise, you think the firm is a good fit for you. You need
not
 your innovative tendencies, but you will need to learn to become diplomatic and skillful in choosing the timing
and venue for proposing changes in business processes (more so than you might consider "normal"). Compared to being in
a high pace of change culture, you will have to do extra |
| 

  before introducing a new plan or idea.

Knowing about this cultural gap in advance, and planning your adjustments accordingly, will mean that you are less likely
to become frustrated and discouraged when things do not move quickly enough for you.


#&


  

In this section, we present four continuums which help you to think about and evaluate corporate culture.

Where do you fall for each element? What about the company you are thinking about working for? For those areas where
there is a mismatch, you might want to review how to think about these cultural gaps, how to understand them, and how
to adjust to them.

Œ" &!


In some organizations people tend to communicate with each other a great deal, with rapid transmission of new
information from higher to lower levels of the organization (and vice versa) being the norm. Communication in other
organizations takes place more formally, mostly between immediately adjacent levels of hierarchy.

Obviously the size of an organization will be a significant factor in the rate of information flow. Even small companies,
however, can adopt a managerial style of keeping the discussion of key issues at high levels until very late in the
implementation process.

ahis is a dimension that is more difficult to assess. Addressing the issue directly with people at all levels of the organization
is about the only method of assessment. Do employees feel "part of the team" and in on new initiatives from the
beginning? Do they feel left out? Are they comfortable asking questions of senior managers? Does the office have an "open
door" feel to it?

Even within a lower communication culture there may be some positions that involve a higher level of communication, and
vice versa. Remember that culture is best considered at the most "micro" level, so you should think about the actual role
you will be playing and the group you will by surrounded by.

Œ& 

Some industries, companies, and positions demand more from their employees than others. ahis may come in three
forms:

u how many hours you are expected to devote to your work;

u who controls those hours (are you likely to be told at a moment's notice that you need to work late or come in over
the weekend, or do you have some control over when you put in your time); and
 u how much travel the work requires.

Other important aspects of lifestyle include company attitudes toward the demands of working parents (is it OK to miss a
meeting for an important soccer game or teacher conference?) and the availability of quality childcare.

Some people are drawn to the high pressure/high work atmosphere of a very demanding company or industry, others will
be miserable in this kind of culture. ahe best source of information on the lifestyle aspects of organizational culture is
former company employees. Next best is current employees who are willing to be open about their experience and
perception of the organization's attitudes.

Even within a culture that has an "easier" lifestyle there may be some positions that involve more lifestyle sacrifices, and
vice versa. Remember that culture is best considered at the most "micro" level, so you should think about the actual role
you will be playing and the group you will be surrounded by.


!&


In some organizations, especially (but not only) those in high growth industries and small startup businesses, things are
constantly changing, and if you like stability you are not going to be happy. In other organizations, a profitable business
has led to a steady-state operating environment with firmly established policies and procedures. In such an environment
you may miss the opportunity for innovation.

ahere are a number of markers to consider when evaluating pace of change in an organization. Some of these are more
easily quantifiable, such as:

u recent growth in sales, revenues, profits and customer base

u rate of new product or service introduction

Others are more subjective, but just as important, including:

u general level of activity in the office

u ambitious goal-setting by leaders
u compensation designed to provide incentive for innovation
u level of employee turnover, and
u opportunities for rapid advancement based on exceptional performance

Research the quantifiable data, and then prepare your questions about the latter elements for when you speak with
organization representatives.

Even within a slower pace of change culture there may be some positions that involve a faster pace of change, and vice
versa. Remember that culture is best considered at the most "micro" level, so you should think about the actual role you
will be playing and the group you will by surrounded by.

6
 a
"'  


Some organizations value and reward individual contributions, others seek to foster team contributions. "Star" cultures and
"team" cultures are very different, and people who prefer the former are likely not just to be unhappy in the latter but to
fail -- and vice versa.

All companies have individual performance reviews and most companies have a group or team organizational structure at
some level, but there is a clear difference between organizations that encourage, promote, and reward stars, and those
that see teamwork as the key to their success and orient their compensation structures toward building strong teams to
address their business problems.

aeam-oriented cultures are typically self-identifying and point out the importance of team performance more or less
immediately to new members. Star-oriented cultures are less likely to spell out this aspect of their culture but it is not hard
to identify. Support resources are organized around key performers who typically have a significant degree of autonomy.
Compensation is often heavily weighted to a bonus that is based exclusively or very heavily on individual performance.
Star cultures typically have "heroes and legends" about which a new member is informed in short order (if they have not
already been introduced through official company public relations efforts).
Even within team cultures there may be some positions (such as sales) that are individual contributor/star roles, and are
rewarded as such. Remember that culture is best considered at the most "micro" level, so you should think about the
actual role you will be playing and the group you will by surrounded by.