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You can’t do it all.

Yes, you read that right, it’s impossible to do it all. I am someone who has felt that my to-do list is virtually impossible to tackle. I am trying to “do it all”, at work and at home. A year or so ago I had the pleasure of reading Tony Crabbe’s book: “How to Thrive in a World of Too Much.” In a world where more work can be done from everywhere, it also means just that, work can be done anywhere, all the time. I sought this book out because I was feeling increasingly overwhelmed by increasing personal and professional demands. I was feeling perpetually stressed by increasing connectivity and information overload. A big takeaway for me was how to engage with what matters and ensuring I had time to really be in the moment with those I care most about. From a professional standpoint, a key component to do this was working for a company where the culture enabled me to disconnect and reconnect with what matters most.

I used to work for a company where it was impossible to take a vacation and actually “disconnect.” Vacation just meant you weren’t physically in the office, but all your demands remained. It was the type of company culture where working on vacation or “off hours” was rewarded. Fast forward to today, I am sitting in an airport coming back from a ten-day trip to Europe where I completely disconnected and don’t feel bad or worried about what I’m coming back to. It’s an amazing feeling and, as a bonus for the company, I’ll be more productive because of it. I sought this out. It was important for me to find a company culture that focused more on long-term career gains than short-term productivity; a culture where respect for employees and trust were at the core of every decision and action. Unfortunately, this is a luxury that not all company cultures support. Seeking out positive company cultures might look different for everyone, but let’s examine how you can assess the company culture of company’s you’re interviewing with.

Defining Culture (And Your Plan To Assess It)

In a previous blog post, I addressed what company culture is. The most basic of definitions would suggest company culture describes the overall environment within an organization. In the most formal sense, it’s a company’s mission, goals, values, and underlying belief system driving their day-to-day work. You might be thinking that’s easy enough to determine, a simple internet search of a company will quickly find these attributes documented quite prominently on a company website; however, there is much more to identifying a good company culture than what is in print. A company’s culture can often be defined by characteristics that are less discernible to an external job seeker such as type of work expected of employees (no, not what’s written in a fancy job description, the actual work expected of employees), leaders who walk the talk (or don’t), leaders who overlook bad behaviors, and acceptance of policy violations/misconduct. The actual experiences and satisfaction within the company are far less likely to be found in a quick internet search, but finding ways to assess these are essential to an effective job search.

There are four simple ways to evaluate if a company is a good culture fit for you:

Seek real reviews.
Check your network. Do you have friends, family, or professional connections who have direct experience or know anyone with direct experience at that organization? Reach out and see if they’re willing to have a quick conversation.
Company review websites resembling Glassdoor or Indeed will offer general reviews from current and past employees. Keep in mind these are only one side of the story, but they generally give a good sense of trends and potential turnover concerns that may raise a red flag.
Evaluate the application and onboarding Process.
When beginning to engage with an organization through applications and initial phone screens, make note of the experience. What is the professionalism of those you’re interacting with? How innovative is the process? Is the overall process smooth and organized? You can begin to get a feel for the culture by evaluating these initial experiences.
Take note of published initiatives and benefits.
An organization’s social media presence or other external communication campaigns may reveal information regarding priorities driving their company culture. Do they advertise incentives that promote work / life balance? Are there public signs of community engagement? Can you find reactions to current events impacting our world today? Dig deep into the internet and other communication mechanisms to get a feel for what values are prioritized.
Ask the right “culture” questions in an interview.
Keep in mind an interview process is just as much you interviewing the company as much as them interviewing you. Ask questions directly pertaining to the culture and what you prioritize.

Let’s expand upon what, in my opinion, is the most fruitful way to gain insight into the real culture of a company – asking questions during the interview process.

Interview Questions To Uncover Company Culture

When preparing for an interview, it’s good to pre-plan specific questions pertaining to culture. In the spirit of asking as many culture fit questions as you can, pre-plan what you really want to probe into. A Harvard Business Review Article focusing on finding the right company culture for you suggests planning granular questions to really understand what lies beneath the surface of an organization. The article quotes Michelle Kim, CEO of Awaken:

“I’m a fan of asking specific questions during interviews. You can use scenarios to get more detailed answers on the culture. Otherwise, people may default to overly generalized descriptions like ‘We’re very collaborative!’ ‘We’re results-oriented.’ or ‘We care about diversity and inclusion.’”

Great starter questions for the culture topic are “Why did you join this company?” or “Why do you stay at this company?” These questions are specific enough that you’ll be able to gauge the interviewer’s enthusiasm and compare their answers to what is important to you. They’re also two questions that solicit more detailed, personal responses. On the flip side, asking questions such as “Why do employees typically leave?” or “What are some challenges current employees face?” allows you to assess the authenticity of the answer and provide food for thought regarding what obstacles you may be willing to (or not willing to) deal with. Every employer has challenges, the interviewer’s willingness to readily provide an answer can show if the company culture lends itself to employee’s speaking their mind and readily bringing up issues. Hesitancy to share the “not so great” sides of things can be a sure sign of a company that doesn’t necessarily have a positive culture.

You can also ask questions to assess if your values align with the company’s value and show up in the day-to-day culture. The ideal company for me is one that values diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Companies that have DEI at the root of their core values tend to also have highly collaborative, respectful team environments that bolster positive company cultures. Asking interviewers particulars about employee resource groups for under-represented groups can be an indicator of how valued DEI is in an organization as well as if employees are encouraged to spend time in that space sharing and learning. When I was interviewing for the company I currently work for, questions around their employee resource groups prompted them to share examples of how actively volunteering and sharing one’s time to progress the DEI initiatives was encouraged. Present-day companies are very quick to share stories on social media regarding DEI events, but soliciting real examples can be an indicator if DEI is front and center for marketing purposes or if it’s actually a core value that is part of the foundation of the company.

Flipping Interview Questions To Provide Information About You

If you have had the unfortunate experience of working for a company that doesn’t have a great culture fit for you, it is a great idea to weave what didn’t work for you in the past into the interview process. I mentioned I had worked for a company whose culture was not a fit for me. When interviewing for new jobs, I channeled a past negative experience to form an interview question about culture. I’ve always been the type of person that is not afraid to voice my opinion loudly especially when something unethical is at play. In my previous experience, I had brought to the attention of leadership some very serious things happening and it had a negative impact on my career opportunities with the company after that moment.

When interviewing with my new company, I told this story to share something positive about me as an employee (I’m willing to share and voice the hard-to- talk-about topics) and ask a question at the same time – “Would this happen here?” The interviewers were willing to then share very personal stories of when they had raised issues, how it was handled, and most importantly how it impacted them in a positive way. This type of tactic allowed me to share more about me and how I work, as well as gain perspective on collaboration and communication.

Get the Interviewers Excited

It’s human nature to like to share positive experiences and brag about things that go well. Allowing interviewers to do this can also give you a glimpse into day-to-day work life and the overall company values. Asking questions such as, “What are you most proud of telling your friends about the company you work for?” or “What has been something that has made you excited to talk about working here?” These types of questions typically bring up examples of cultural aspects of the company beyond the day-to-day job responsibilities. I had the awesome experience of working for a food and grocery distributor during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. I was asked a question about what made me proud to work for them when I was interviewing candidates for an open position. I didn’t hesitate to share examples of how we were feeding those less fortunate in the communities we worked in as well as the above and beyond actions we were taking to protect our essential workers during the pandemic. The candidate that ultimately was chosen for the job came to me after they had been working at our company for a couple of months and shared that the enthusiasm and authentic pride I showed in my answer was one of the main reasons they chose us over a competitor.

Assess Workplace Culture Sustainability

Company culture is a hot topic being focused on more and more in recent times. Many companies adopted “popular” career development programs, recognition programs, flexible workplace policies, and other sought-after company benefits and programs in recent years. The company’s willingness to spend resources to support such benefits and programs is great, but are the leaders in the company committed to continuing and supporting these initiatives in the longer-term? Or are they simply a tactic to attract and retain employees in the short-term? A Harvard Business Review investigating what goes wrong when companies are trying to strengthen their culture states: “to drive change, leaders must align what they say, how they behave, and how their companies operate in terms of processes, budgets, and policies.”

Asking questions that gauge the dedication of the organization’s leadership teams can help an interviewee gauge the sustainability of the positive work culture. Examples of these types of questions are:

“How is the longer-term career development of employees supported?”

Indicators of sustainability include answers that show formalized programs or processes that all leaders are expected to partake in, and development programs or initiatives supported across employee skill pools and geographies. Answers that show encouragement of employees to take on challenges outside their comfort zone or to try something new – even if they fail – are great indicators that the employer is very interested in an employee’s long-term growth and success.

Red flags include: answers that are very situation and manager specific. Having a great manager is certainly a positive, but if an employee’s development experience is contingent on one good manager, what is the long-term sustainability for these types of things to be part of the wider-spread employee experience?

“How are employees recognized?”

Indicators of sustainability include foundations of simple appreciation and recognition of work. Organizational structures where work is seen and appreciated at all levels, leaders thank employees privately and publicly. Getting credit for one’s own work as well as monetary and gift awards that encourage work life balance (i.e. dinner for you and your spouse on the company shows an understanding that your hard work is also supported by those you love or an afternoon off to recharge without entering vacation hours)

Red flags include flashy programs with huge monetary awards or recognition programs administered through web programs. Flashy programs and big payouts are not bad, but can also be an indicator that recognition is centered around a handful of big events versus day-to-day appreciation. Websites to aid awarding employees and administer points are not all bad, but signing up for a web-based program to administer recognition is easy. What is the employer doing to really recognize and show appreciation to their employees?

What does work life balance look like?

Indicators of sustainability include flexibility and trust for employees to get their jobs done however and wherever works for them (of course, this answer can vary depending on the field one is interviewing for – certain jobs must be done at certain locations). Answers that show the employer is willing to support different stages of life (caring for an elderly parent, young children at home, spouse that travels for work, family emergencies, etc.)

Red flags include answers that are very manager specific. Again, it’s great to hear about one good manager, but you want to know if work life balance is respected throughout the organization. This question can also show if companies are waffling on their flexibility policies and if flex options that are available to employees now may be in jeopardy for the longer-term.

Assessing culture fit in an interview first starts with introspective questions regarding what works for you. Once you have established the type of company culture you are looking for (or not looking for) pre-plan interview questions, prepare situational examples from your past that will help you verbalize what is important to you, see what gets the interviewers excited, and have a focus on the longer-term viability of what is being discussed and you’ll be on the right path to find a positive culture fit that is right for you.

Need help in your job search?

Assessing culture fit or any other aspects of a job search strategy can be overwhelming, the team at The Wilbanks Consulting Group can help you organize a job search strategy and coach you through important stages of the job search such as interview prep. We offer Career Exploration Coaching to plan your career development and job search strategy. You can schedule a free 30-minute consultation to discuss your individual needs and challenges.

Signs and Indicators of a Positive Workplace Culture