How often do you ask about the culture of the company and what details do you look for in order to fully understand the culture?
What type of questions do you typically ask hiring teams when you are considering their company for your next career move? Most obvious questions include: What will my core responsibilities be? What team will I be on? Who will be my manager? What does work/life balance look like?
Most hiring teams are used to receiving these questions so they may have a response that can give you a general overview. That response is a great starting point for understanding their overall culture.
Company culture plays an important role in your future at a company. It can affect your ability to grow and develop, your work/life balance, your relationships with your manager and fellow employees and the success of those relationships.
Below you will find a list of questions that can give you a better understanding of a company’s culture. This understanding should be heavily integrated into the decision you make when choosing rather this is the right move for you.
-How would you define the culture of the department or team I would be working with? While it’s important to understand the overall company culture; there will be nuisances that are specific to the individual team or department you will be working with the most.
What about the Management within that company?
It is vital that you get an understanding of the company’s management structure as well as their preferred management style.
-What does the Management Structure look like? Would you be reporting to a Department head or one of their direct reports? Would you like to have the opportunity to manage employees at some point in your career? If you would like to be a manager in the near future; you need to understand if that’s feasible under the company’s current management structure.
-What Management Style does the company typically subscribe to? For example, would most managers in the office say that their direct reports have a high level of independence or are managers so heavily integrated into the day to day operations that their direct reports level of autonomy is lower?
-What does Management Accountability look like? Does the company hold managers accountable for regular communications with their direct reports as well as their development plan?
What is the company’s view on work/life integration?
This can have a huge impact on its culture.
-Does the company have a regular performance review cycle and offer training and development opportunities? You may not think about the performance review process and training and development as part of a company’s culture but they are. Without a performance review process; how are promotions typically handle? Does this affect the company’s ability to utilize a “promote from within” model? How will you regularly receive feedback on the things that you need to work on. Without this feedback; how will you develop in your role? While Career Development should ultimately be your responsibility; you need to know if the company provides job development opportunities for that current role and the role that you would want to hold in the future.
-What emphasis does the company place on diversity? In today’s society; it’s imperative to embrace and integrate the opinions, thoughts and life experiences of those with different backgrounds with one another in order to produce the best ideas and therefore solutions to meet the needs of a diverse society. This is a major part of the company’s culture and in order to get a better understanding of how this affects the company culture; ask the hiring team about their efforts and the results of those efforts (e.g. current workforce, initiatives, etc.).
-What does work life balance look like? How does the company value it? How does the company show that they value it e.g.flex time? How many hours do employees typically work?
-What type of life friendly benefits does the company have? This can include their PTO package, benefits package, etc.
-Are there any causes (charitable, community, etc.) that the company focuses on? Maybe this company is very family oriented and they focus on endeavors that revolve around children. Maybe they are passionate about the arts or the environment?
These questions will allow you to have a better understanding of a company’s culture and rather it’s the right move for you and your career.
If you have other suggestions in regards to questions people should ask regarding company culture; I would love to hear them!
87th on Vintage 