I do not claim to be an expert on corporate culture assessments, but I believe the following methods are useful in helping to learn about an organization’s culure:
- Research. Good ol’ fashioned research can yield a veritable bevy of useful information about a company, its values, nad how it conducts business. The advent of the internet has made this effort much easier. You can go to a company’s website as well as check out what business periodicals say about the company. Some magazines, journals, and organizations publish survey results suggesting which companies are the best companies for: minorities, women, new professionals, et cetera.
- Networking. If you have become adept at networking, you may have interacted with someone who already works at a company you are considering. If so, you can gain valuable (potentially priceless if the person truly understands the organization) information about the company’s corporate culture. This is particularly useful for two reasons: 1) you can decide if you are a good fit for the organization; and 2) if you are about to interview with this organization, you can tailor your responses to fit better with the culture. (Please do not confuse this with ’storytelling’ during your interview. I am referring to sharing real stories that reflect your skills/attributes that are consistent with the values of the company with which you are interviewing.)
- The Interview. Yes, the interview! And the recruiting process in general! Oftentimes companies send out their ‘best and brightest’ to recruit and interview prospective candidates. Simply by holding a conversation with the company’s representative, you can get a good feel for he type of person who is successful in the company’s culture.
- Mentors / Sponsors. If you are already part of an organization, ‘reading the tea leaves’ regarding corporate culture is even more important. As discussed in Part I, much of your performance assessment and advancement opportunities are based on corporate culture. Said another way, corporate culture has a definitive impact on your success at a company. Mentors and sponsors (key parts of any successful professional’s portfolio of resources that require an entire post — or series of posts — to fully discuss) can provide truly high value insight into the corporate culture, how they were successful in the corporate culture, and most importantly what YOU must do to be as successful as possible in your organization. Obviously, for this input to be of the highest value to you, you have to have mentors & sponsors who have been / currently are successful in your organization or in organizations very similar to yours.
Let Us Endeavor Toward Excellence Together!
This page is an excerpt from Part II of my series entitled “Corporate Culture: It Is What It Is, So What Are You Going To Do?” Please read the series for more information on corporate culture. Feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or suggestions at rex@excellenceendeavor.com!
