In the most successful organizations, company values originate with top leadership and trickle down to the C-suite executives, managers, and so on. Various aspects of company culture, such as management style, best talent acquisition strategies, and how existing employees view the company, are critical reflections of a company’s values. Ensuring those values align with expectations is crucial; however, understanding and evaluating core values is not as simple as visiting a company’s website.
Read on in order to better understand how to research and evaluate a company’s values and to find a job for which you’d be an optimum fit.
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Leverage Online Resources
Leveraging online resources can help you gain a deeper understanding of a company’s culture. Start with exploring the company website to gain a basic understanding of how the company projects itself, and so wishes to be perceived. Look out for poorly managed websites with dated content because they often show a company’s lack of attention to detail.
Follow the company’s social profiles – LinkedIn, as an example. Take note of the frequency and nature of posting from official handles. Observe whether or not they celebrate top management and corporate wins or if they include middle management and employees as well. LinkedIn allows you to research the median tenure of employees and the headcount and growth trends of the company.
Many job posting platforms allow employees to rate the company and their experience working there, often anonymously. You can uncover a lot about company culture through research on these platforms.
Consult Your Network
Leveraging your network is another way to gain valuable market insights. Asking an acquaintance often yields to a frank and reliable source of information. Reach out to people in your circle who are or have been employed by the company in question.
As an example, ask them if the working environment is geared more towards individual responsibilities or collaborative work. Learn about how the management style of the company; Is it micro-managed or are employees empowered to be problem solvers? Ask about the benefits programs in place – all the things you would expect to receive in open enrollment communication.
Within organizations, there are multiple sub-cultures at play. Among two individuals, one working in sales and the other in the engineering department, for example, you might encounter different narratives and feedback. Likewise, the preferences and motivations of people are different; do not base your judgment on a single employee – when possible, consider multiple opinions.
Ask About Company Culture in Interviews
Many people fail to ask about company culture during interviews. Remember that hiring is a two-way process – you and the company are selling to each other. Do not hesitate to ask questions. Your work will affect your well-being and job satisfaction. Accordingly, try to get the most out of the hiring managers during your interactions.
Not knowing enough can potentially result in you ending up in a toxic environment, in which case you must also necessarily deal with the workplace investigation process.
Conclusion
Regardless of whether you have applied for a job directly or through some staffing agency in Pittsburgh, make sure you know enough to feel comfortable. Remember that the more research you do, the more insights you will have, and consequently, you will make better career decisions along the way.
