What Is My Company's Corporate Culture?

Q: How do I determine what my company´s corporate culture is? 

A: I recently consulted with a company where a senior manager said, "The culture here is one where we eat our young and shoot our old." At another company they said, "This is an up-or-out place."Both of these comments provide big clues to these companies' corporate cultures — desirable or not. But defining corporate culture can be a tricky business because the spoken and unspoken culture can vary widely. A company can brag about its employees being "empowered," and yet these same "powerful" employees can't get a box of paper clips without filling out a form.
The easiest way to get an idea about an organization's culture is to listen to what people inside (and outside) say about the company. Corporate culture is created by what people say, how people treat each other and their customers, and the basis on which managers make decisions.
To get a sense of your company's culture, ask these questions:

• Does the company place emphasis on following established processes to complete a task or does it just care about results?
• Is management hands-on or hands-off?
• What is the company's attitude toward technology?
• Are flextime and telecommuting acceptable?
• Do managers work side by side with their staff or do they work in offices?

 

[Source: AllBusiness.com]