Master Career Counselor

In the previous post, the importance of matching your resume to the company culture of your potential employer was heavily emphasized.  In today's post, we will identify the three types of employer cultures most often encountered by jobseekers through resume selection and interviewing.

These are broad classifications and each employer may have pieces and parts of all three. However,  an awareness of the predominant company culture is very important when forming your resume and preparing for the interview.

1. The heritage employer


This employer has been around a long time.  Stability, durability, and tradition are the hallmarks of this culture.  The heritage company will likely:

• Use obsolete words in a job description if they have one
• Be manager-driven in organizational goals
• Appear organized and hierarchical
• All about time and clocking in/out
• Doesn't evaluate regularly and rarely promotes
• Policy and procedure rule workplace behavior
• Disconnected from wider industry network
• Look for general skills that seem vague and "duty" oriented
• Ask illegal interview questions because they don't know better
• Value worker loyalty and longevity above all else
• Not appreciate diverse and young employees
• Resist technology at every turn
• Avoid conflict at all costs
• May not have savvy company website or utilize social media
• Have leadership directives by older executives that don't embrace change

Examples: Federal, local or state government, education, coal or energy companies, law enforcement, military, non-profit organizations, religious entities, some banking and financial institutions and factories

2.  The contemporary employer

This employer has succeeded in several business cycles.  Customer service, profitability, and stakeholders are the critical focus of this culture. The contemporary company will likely:

• Use specific words linked to tangible outcomes in a job description approved by HR
• Be leader-driven in organizational goals
• Silos exist but team collaboration is emphasized
• Evaluates annually and places emphasis on remediating weaknesses
• Professional development and cross-training rule the workplace
• All about time and productivity
• Encourages industry network, partnering opportunities and expertise for the good of the company
• Look for specialized skills related to the result of a job and how it affects the bottom line
• Ask behavioral interview questions because they know past behavior predicts future behavior
• Value worker productivity and goal achievement above all else
• Appreciate diverse and young employees but doesn't intentionally recruit them
• Consider the benefits of technology and shift slowly with painstaking buy-in from everyone
• Addresses conflict only when it rears its ugly head
• Have official company website but is unaware of the power and potential of social media
• Have leadership directives that must be approved by everyone in the chain

Examples include the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies

3.  The progressive employer
 
This newly successful employer is trying to transition out of the incubator stage at a high rate of speed. Employee satisfaction, flexibility, social influence and  the company mission are the critical focus of this culture. The progressive company will likely:

• Use a job description as a platform to harness talented workers and constantly adjusts to the worker's strengths
• All about energy and high productivity
• Employee driven
• Very flat organizational structure
• Gives timely feedback and constructive ways for improvement every few months
• Emphasize family priorities and work/life fit promoted with open spaces, pets and flexibility
• Telework, at home offices and job sharing are workplace options
• Strongly encourage industry network, opportunity and expertise that is good for the individual
• Look for ways to increase employee skills based on adaptation and evolution of technology
• Ask interview questions that appear on the surface to be random and peculiar (but are not)
• Value worker engagement above all else while also making a contribution to society
• Appreciation of diverse and young employees while actively pursuing them through employee connections
• Harness technology as the driver of business
• Train employees to recognize conflict as normal progression of team development
• Have innovative company website, iphone or ipad apps along with brand identity through social media
• Have leadership directives that are informal. quick and at times, not effectively communicated

Examples include tech start-ups, Tom shoes, Starbucks, and Google.

My estimate is today :

• 60% of companies are heritage
• 35% of companies are contemporary
• 5% of companies are progressive

Result: HUGE impact on entrepreneurial spirit of individual workers that must be reversed.

In the next decade:

60% of companies need to be progressive and entreprenuer based
35% of companies will move to contemporary cultural styles
5% of companies will be heritage only because they swallowed competition

Viability, technology and a global economy have redefined organizations.  New job growth must connect to versatile and adaptive workplaces that inspire innovation.

  The question for you is:

How will you let an employer's culture define you? 

Next post:  Resume words attracting each culture and how that affects you.