Knowing the Company Culture
The Company Culture, or Company Climate is best explained by taking a definition from How To Understand Your Job Better: Hutar Job and Business Terms, available for sale on our website:
CLIMATE –
The climate of the company is the prevailing mood within the company. Some climates can be described as “status quo,” “don’t rock the boat,” “We’ve always done it that way,” “Let’s try it.”
The climate of the company is determined by top management’s actions and policy. In a company that has a climate of growth, management and employees work in harmony. They work as a team. They are cultivated and dedicated to doing a better job, to productivity, to keeping costs as reasonable as possible. Employees participate in the benefits of growth through improved financial pay in one form or another, through more job satisfaction, through an enrichment which the job creates. Working becomes exciting and challenging.
Top management sets the tone for the company culture. Some companies take a “country club” approach. These are the more relaxed companies that you can coast through. The focus is on employee benefit, and employee convenience. The company exists so that the employees can have an easy day, and enough income to pay their own bills. These companies do not experience prolonged growth. These companies go downhill fast due to the increased cost of doing business. Many times, multiple employees are involved in doing the job of a single person. They experience “business inflation.” As cost of doing business increases, profit remains stagnant or decreases. Soon, the company begins to lose money and employees will have to be let go.
If you’re not moving forward, you’re moving backward. You want a company that has a culture of success and hard work. A company that rewards dedicated, valuable employees. A culture where employees do not take their jobs for granted. A company that values growth and expanding employees’ skillset is a company that is likely to succeed and provide job security to valuable employees. Make sure you value growth, and continue learning new things each week that can help in your job. Remember, success consists of a series of little daily victories.
Questions for Reflection:
How would you describe your company culture?
If you work at a “country club” company, what can you do to help change it?
Think of some of your favorite companies. What do you estimate the culture to be like
