How to identify company culture

What is "good" company culture? 

And how do you identify it?

Great questions. These were asked of me last week in a transitioning-military mentoring session. I'd never had to answer it before - and there's no easy answer. I'd love your feedback as well. 

Here's how I answered it – with a bit of elaboration as I’ve had some time to really think about it. 

Company culture are the behavior and values of an organization and the people within. Behaviors and values are things how employees and customers are treated, team camaraderie, core values, dress code, what perks exist, how the people conduct themselves on a daily basis, what guides that conduct.

Strong culture is not always good company culture, so don’t assume that a company that claims a strong culture, is a good culture. There are many historical examples of strong culture in terrible organizations. Just the same, the culture may not fit your needs, so a “good” culture may not be “good” for you. Just the same, "bad" culture could be great for others. I'd say that there are organizations with strong, weak or no culture.

Generally, a strong culture is one that is deep-rooted, ingrained and well thought out. Weak is one where perhaps the organization hasn't really thought out who or how it wants to be; often times leaders have been the subject of piecemeal from other places and communication is loose; the vision is there, but the company isn't sure how to embrace it. None, simply means that an organization doesn't know who it is or wants to be, there's no order of operations and people don't share a similar vision.

Think about a sports team. They likely share a culture. Most of them likely have a similar culture. They have goals, principles, core values, a dress code and behaviors that are similar. These are strong cultural traits.

Finally, it can be a term that organizations throw around sometimes without fully understanding the meaning. But one thing is true, company culture is one of the most important building blocks of a strong workforce; guiding the values of how people “show up” to work, and what motivates them to be the best.

So how do you identify a compatible company culture? 

This was another question that I had to really thing deep about. So my answer was in multiple parts. First, you must identify the culture you think you’d enjoy. The conversation revolves around what they want from this point forward; where do you want to start?

You may be seeking an organization that has a buttoned-up culture, very professional, and exceptionally well established – this type of culture may be conservative in nature (not politically), or lend itself to a traditional military professionalism, hierarchy and defined.

Or, you may be seeking an organization that has a casual setting, with a start-up feel and very laid back feeling of leadership. May be more liberal in nature (again, not politically), but dependent on personality and professional needs.

I saw a conversation the other day in LinkedIn, a veteran asking if a specific city was “good for veterans”. My response was immediate in saying that “every veteran is different, and we each have our own needs and wants”.

But how do we figure these things out? Well, after a few of my own career decisions and interviews, I learned how I uncover cultural nuances and how I can understand what’s going on in the company, before I get there. 

I’ve been at places who claimed great culture, but didn’t always understand what was meant by it. And others whose legacy was built around a great system of management and immensely strong, positive culture. 

Further, team members at a place with great or defined culture can typically explain it to you with ease and on demand. A team member who doesn’t feel a strong culture, or perhaps the organization doesn’t have a defined culture, will have trouble explaining things to you…and will default to random perks like “we have video games in the office”, which doesn’t equal strong culture, and instead may be in place of missing cultural items. 

Things to ask of an experienced interviewer (don’t ask the entry level recruiter):

What are the strongest traits of your company’s culture? You are looking for easily identifiable answers here. The ones that are easy for the employee to talk about, and don’t sound like gimmicks.

What are the biggest daily challenges internally (what causes hurdles inside of the company?) Look for answers that identify actual struggles, internal things that the company can do better. You’re also identifying if there are problems there that can be fixed, but aren’t. 

How approachable are the company’s leaders? Open door is a great answer – not all companies will value this. But a strong cultured organization should have leaders who are readily available to give LEADERSHIP to anyone.

Who is involved in the process for making new or significant decisions? Are these decisions all top-down, or does the company and its employees have some say in how the company operates?

I'd love to hear additional items on the topic. Leave your comments here.