THE DAILY WORK ENVIRONMENT MAY BE YOUR STRONGEST -
OR YOUR WEAKEST - RECRUITING TOOL

OKAY, HERE’S TODAY’S POP QUIZ for all
our married readers: Describe your spouse to
a total stranger in 10 words or less.

Was that harder than it seemed? Have you grown
so accustomed to his or her face that you rarely
take a second look?

Now describe your corporate culture in 10 words
or less. Was that equally as hard?

Despite the fact that every organization has its own
distinct culture, chances are that most employees are
so accustomed to functioning within it that they
spend little time reflecting on it. It’s just there, and
everybody adapts as best as they are able.

But once upon a time, each potential hire saw that
culture for the first time and formed – perhaps in
the blink of an eye – an opinion as to whether it
would be the kind of environment that would foster
many years of personal growth and satisfaction.
And while company literature may have painted a
rosy picture of a progressive, worker-friendly organization
that treasures its employees and adores
its customers, close observation may or may not
have led to a similar conclusion.

Culture is the Personality of the
Corporation

IN SIMPLEST TERMS, culture is the personality of the organization.
That personality, however,
consists of many different elements ranging
from the way people behave to the way they dress
and design their place of work.

On a philosophical plane, the institution’s leaders
– by thought, word and deed – create a value system
that influences the way individual employees
behave. Microsoft, for example, states on its web-
site that it values “integrity, honesty, openness,
personal excellence, constructive self-criticism,
continual self-improvement and mutual respect.”
The company further states its commitment to customers
and partners and its “passion” for technology.
It likes to take on “big challenges” and see
them through. Last, Microsoft states its belief in
honoring commitments, delivering results and
striving for the highest quality.
By most accounts, Microsoft’s work environment
reflects those lofty goals. In contrast, look at the
work environments of companies from the go-go
‘90s whose top executives now reside in jail. The
constant push to inflate revenues, drive up stock
prices and create personal wealth created cultures
of duplicity and greed.

Good companies not only encourage high standards
of conduct, they also treat employees well.
An assessment of corporate culture thus includes
attitudes and policies with regard to training and
personal development, reward and recognition,
advancement, flex-time and other worker-friendly
benefits (such as daycare, fitness facilities, take-
home meals, dry-cleaning pickup and the like),
working conditions, work-life balance and civic
participation.

Actions, of course, speak louder than words. If an
employer says it encourages community involvement,
it should not penalize the worker who takes
two hours off from work to do so.


Some behavior systems may not be part of the policy
manual or employee handbook. It is rare to find
official acknowledgment of office politics, risk
aversion, information hoarding and other negative
practices that may exist at various organizational
levels and to various extremes. However, to the
degree that such behaviors are tolerated (if not exactly
encouraged), they can have a debilitating
effect on the work environment.

Culture manifests itself in concrete ways as well,
no pun intended. Architectural design, interior
décor and personal attire all speak volumes about
how the organization views itself – for example,
hip and edgy, conservative and solid, relaxed and
friendly, buttoned-up and secretive, or any other
adjectives one wants to use. A corporate law firm,
of course, may seek to present a different image
from a technology start-up. The problem arises
when the technology outfit looks more like the
conservative law firm.

Last, consider corporate brand-building, through
which the corporation – via advertising, literature,
web presence, public relations and customer service
– becomes the brand. (Southwest Airlines and
Apple Computer are good examples.) In effect, the
company and its products or services become indistinguishable
from each other. You just know
they must be great places to work.

What Inquiring Minds
Want to Know

ANY SAVVY JOB CANDIDATE, upon the
first visit to a potential new employer, will
seek the earliest possible opportunity to ask someone
outside the interviewing chain, “What’s it
really like to work around here?”

It therefore behooves the hiring manager and all in
authority to ask that question first. What is it like
to work here?

Not every organization can be the coolest place on
the planet, and we’re not talking global warming.
In fact, as noted earlier, not every organization
wants to be the coolest, hippest employer on the
planet. That said, what do you want to be?

An important piece of the cultural puzzle is consistency,
because inconsistencies tend to set off mental
alarms. For instance, one expects the art department
to look creative, and the R&D department to be filled
with high-tech gadgets. If the art
department has the same drab furniture and walls
as accounting, and R&D prides itself on a 20-yearold
electron microscope, then the inconsistency
red flag arises. Similarly, a company whose advertising
says it “dares to be different” should not
have a design-by-committee process that stifles
individual innovation.

In short, cultural insight and awareness is much
like emotional intelligence – the ability to see oneself
as others see us. Often, small changes and adjustments
can eliminate the jarring inconsistencies
that make job-seekers have second thoughts. And
if emotional intelligence is too abstract a concept,
think about the “curb appeal” of a house for sale.
What kind of first impression is being made?
What might planting a few bushes do to help?

Although some informal aspects of the work environment
may start from the bottom up, such as getting
together for a drink on Fridays after work, true
corporate culture is driven from the top down. People
tend to do as they see their bosses do – whether
by commission or omission. One of the great challenges
that faced Jeffrey Immelt on taking the reins
at GE, and Alan Mullally at Ford, was to put their
own stamp upon cultures so totally dominated by
their predecessors. There’s no question that new
values drive both organizations today.

Not everyone can be the CEO, but corporate cultures
do extend downward – to individual divisions,
departments, research centers, manufacturing
plants and regional offices. Within whatever
span of control you have, it is therefore possible to
ask what’s it like to work around here and to take
corrective action as needed. Encourage adherence
to the corporation’s values and perhaps improve
upon them. Be worker-friendly and discourage
disruptive behavior. Spruce up the workplace and
re-evaluate the dress code. Promote innovation
and individual responsibility.

Old-timers may be used to things as they are, but
potential new hires are not.

—George Snider



© 2007 SRA International, Inc. All rights reserved, including
electronic reproduction or alteration. This SRA Update
is published six times a year for the clients of Sanford
Rose Associates – now in its 48th year of Finding People
Who Make a Difference®.