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It seems like these days, you literally have to become "the company". The mafia had a similar rule. I once remember having a conversation with a C-level executive for a large company at a bar I used to frequent. I brought this up to him. He told me in the late 90s/early 2000s there was a transition in which companies started pushing this "company culture" thing excessively. Said it was a result of too many Franklin-Covey seminars, or simply trying to outdo the next company with a stronger "company culture" because it looks good on a website.
He said the reason the economy was better in the 90s was because this "company culture" thing wasn't nearly as prevalent (although some would say it was because of Clinton). Basically, in those days, just use common sense. During this transition, it was basically encouraged management to excessively nitpick every little detail, employees should tattle for everything, push excessive herd mentality, & that it made the workplace far more difficult to navigate than it should be.
Also, I've noticed some people just have a lot of perceived courtesy. For instance, I've known people who showed up late, took excessively long lunches, even going as far as to start political debates, but it simply didn't matter. Others, who were nice, one minor mistake, show up a few seconds late, time for a PIP.
I'll use 2 examples from my own life. I remember one of my first real jobs on a sales floor, they would want us to chant weekly as some sort of team-builder since that was part of the "company culture". I've simply never been one to chant, it's just something one of those things I've never been a part of as long as I can remember. Other times I went along with it, but it was obvious that I didn't believe in the chant. I ended up leaving months later, and I know this was the catalyst behind it because they brought it up. I showed up on time, made them a lot of sales, was nice to everyone, but not being into the chant stood out. Meanwhile this other guy (same title as me) was always yelling at people, making stupid sounds, being a jerk, yet he believed in the chant with full enthusiasm, so he could do no wrong.
Another time, there was a "Wear your favorite jersey day". I've never liked such themes, but it's generally better to go along with them, especially if you're new. Almost everyone wore a jersey of the state college football team or professional football team in the region, a few of the employees from neighboring states wore jerseys of rival college teams to intentionally stand out or "troll" the majority (which didn't matter). I wore a soccer jersey of a well-known European team, given soccer has always been my favorite sport & I played it at the collegiate level. I ended up getting stares like I landed from Mars because I did not wear a football jersey. I knew people were gossiping. Football is the main sport in the US (especially in this particular region), but it shouldn't have mattered. They were obviously mad. I don't think this would have mattered back in the 90s.
Maybe social media has played a role as well in pushing the company culture thing too far.
For those of you who worked in the 90s? Is there any truth to this? It seems logical that it was easier to navigate the workplace back then.
Last edited by moonsparkle; 05-30-2017 at 01:40 AM..
It's important to fit in with your teammates and colleagues, but I also think it's overplayed.
I've been on both sides of this. A few years ago I was hired at a satellite office of a larger organization. We started out at I think six people in a Regus office. We were basically on top of each other. Everyone there got along well professionally, and a good number of us remain personal friends. Given the pressure from clients, HQ, and the physical closeness of working together, there is no way we could manage if we didn't "fit" together. We were mostly men of similar ages, all talkative/loud, similar academic backgrounds, etc. There were differences there (race, some politics/religion), but we had more in common than you might think.
I moved on to a retail bank that had won all these accolades as a "best place to work" in the industry. Seemed awesome, on paper. I was hired as an application administrator for the banking software, and the first day I was running ethernet wire. There was no clear division of roles - the CIO was boxing up PCs in an office with no air conditioning on the 20 something floor when those staff were being relocated back to HQ. I did more hooking up monitors and grunt work at that bank as an app admin than I had done since I was in my late teens working at a local PC shop. I hated the job, didn't like the people I worked with, never gelled with the manager (we might have talked once a month, and it was always uncomfortable), etc. I started looking to get out of there and ultimately found something else before I was canned.
I wasn't one of the club there (Southerner in an office full of local Indy residents), didn't care for the job, or the culture, etc. Nothing is going to save you if you're outside the club like that.
There isn't any logic in it. Company Culture is for a company to strive to be a place you want to work. What makes a good company culture? A work/life balance, great benefits and great coworkers.
The extra team building events they do can be fun for some or not others (as you mentioned). However, that has been around since the 90's.
As for the PIP that is more an employer worried about getting sued than the company culture. One does not equate the other.
My company is all about bios and pictures and participation. None of which have anything to do with jobs, REAL benefits or salary. They've held seminars about making your linkedin profile better (um, pretty much everyone uses linkedin to GET jobs, so don't be surprised when a bunch of people are recruited away), told us to post positive reviews on glassdoor (none of us even knew what glassdoor was until we were told to go there), made us contribute to feel good employees videos, etc. Hired a bunch of marketing people and HR people to try to "create" this fake hip and trendy company culture. It's ridiculous.
You know what they have NOT focused on? Helping the people who work there do their jobs better and rewarding them.
It seems like these days, you literally have to become "the company". The mafia had a similar rule. I once remember having a conversation with a C-level executive for a large company at a bar I used to frequent. I brought this up to him. He told me in the late 90s/early 2000s there was a transition in which companies started pushing this "company culture" thing excessively. Said it was a result of too many Franklin-Covey seminars, or simply trying to outdo the next company with a stronger "company culture" because it looks good on a website.
He said the reason the economy was better in the 90s was because this "company culture" thing wasn't nearly as prevalent (although some would say it was because of Clinton). Basically, in those days, just use common sense. During this transition, it was basically encouraged management to excessively nitpick every little detail, employees should tattle for everything, push excessive herd mentality, & that it made the workplace far more difficult to navigate than it should be.
Also, I've noticed some people just have a lot of perceived courtesy. For instance, I've known people who showed up late, took excessively long lunches, even going as far as to start political debates, but it simply didn't matter. Others, who were nice, one minor mistake, show up a few seconds late, time for a PIP.
I'll use 2 examples from my own life. I remember one of my first real jobs on a sales floor, they would want us to chant weekly as some sort of team-builder since that was part of the "company culture". I've simply never been one to chant, it's just something one of those things I've never been a part of as long as I can remember. Other times I went along with it, but it was obvious that I didn't believe in the chant. I ended up leaving months later, and I know this was the catalyst behind it because they brought it up. I showed up on time, made them a lot of sales, was nice to everyone, but not being into the chant stood out. Meanwhile this other guy (same title as me) was always yelling at people, making stupid sounds, being a jerk, yet he believed in the chant with full enthusiasm, so he could do no wrong.
Another time, there was a "Wear your favorite jersey day". I've never liked such themes, but it's generally better to go along with them, especially if you're new. Almost everyone wore a jersey of the state college football team or professional football team in the region, a few of the employees from neighboring states wore jerseys of rival college teams to intentionally stand out or "troll" the majority (which didn't matter). I wore a soccer jersey of a well-known European team, given soccer has always been my favorite sport & I played it at the collegiate level. I ended up getting stares like I landed from Mars because I did not wear a football jersey. I knew people were gossiping. Football is the main sport in the US (especially in this particular region), but it shouldn't have mattered. They were obviously mad. I don't think this would have mattered back in the 90s.
Maybe social media has played a role as well in pushing the company culture thing too far.
For those of you who worked in the 90s? Is there any truth to this? It seems logical that it was easier to navigate the workplace back then.
Hmmmm....nah, I don't really see it. I worked during the dot.com boom of the 1990s and it seemed like companies were even more cultish than they are now.
Most people I've known at most companies I've worked for roll their eyes at "company culture" e-mails and other rah-rah crap sent out by their company's "Chief People Officer." They see that stuff for what it really is...and ignore it.
How many of you are counseled if you turn down overtime?
How many are expected to be on 24 hour call?
If in management, are you expected to join the local country club and have regular golf dates both with people at your level and superiors?
Again in management, are you expected to entertain colleagues in your home every few weeks on a rotating basis?
How many of you are penalized, very quietly, for not participating enough in Friday Happy Hours?
That's what "company culture" was not so long ago.
How many of you are counseled if you turn down overtime?
How many are expected to be on 24 hour call?
If in management, are you expected to join the local country club and have regular golf dates both with people at your level and superiors?
Again in management, are you expected to entertain colleagues in your home every few weeks on a rotating basis?
How many of you are penalized, very quietly, for not participating enough in Friday Happy Hours?
That's what "company culture" was not so long ago.
It seems like now that X-gen and Millennial small businesses have the same "corporate culture" oppressiveness for all their employees that is reserved for management in larger businesses.
It seems like these days, you literally have to become "the company". The mafia had a similar rule.
Sure, sometimes you get experiences which seem messed up and childish, feel exhausted, and might walk away thinking "the system doesn't work. We need something else!"
One time some stupid call center wanted the whole department to dance the Conga line around the office and sing Mexican songs while a bunch of marketing guys took pictures. I was a grumpy-guts and didn't get involved.
A side hobby of mine is reading about Communism. I even went to a Communist meeting once. Right now, I am reading about the fall of Communism in the Baltic States.
Do you know what happens if you don't dance their "Conga line" in their world? They kill you. There's no trial. They don't waste time. They just straight up kill you.
Company culture is superficial and tiresome at times, but it allows choices. Communists hate it because it allows people to have them.
So while there is "Wear your favorite sweater day", there is also "Wear your favorite sweater while you dig your own grave and a thug points their gun to your head day". Would you like to debate which existence is superior?
Civil disobedience of company culture isn't as dangerous as disobeying communism under Stalin...? Is that what you're getting at?
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