
Perk’s are not Culture or You can fake Culture, but you can’t fake Character.
Truth told any company can fake their culture. The word get’s thrown around so much in the corporate world that it seems to be losing it’s potency. What was once considered an HR Nightmare is now classified as “corporate culture”… So how do you find a company with genuine culture?
This piece is to help shine a light on the importance of not falling for perks masked as “culture”
When considering culture, choosing work culture around cool STUFF is a fleeting choice. Choosing to work within a culture built on strong character is a powerful investment.
Picture this… you’re sitting at your laptop gazing at a job search page of whatever placement website you favor.
The 5 star rated companies speak to you: “We are an exciting team to be a part of”, “our office atmosphere is AMAZING” “We pride ourselves on our culture and we are very protective of that”. You read about Keg-erators, Ping-Pong tables, and all you can eat buffet’s with non-stop Topo Chico inside stainless steel fridge’s. Not to mention UNLIMITED PTO!!! WHHAAAAAT?!
It’s enough to make you quit your boring job to take that lesser role for the perks!
But what are you sacrificing in order to have a beer… everyday… at your desk?
The truth behind cultural perks is they entice and keep top talent. They are there to help people feel less like they are working and more like they are in a world that isn’t work. This has now been defined as “culture”.
When a company boasts, and posts, about their incredible culture you have to ask yourself…
Does the “culture” match the “character” of the company?
The companies values presented to the public should hold true behind the closed doors of it’s executive meetings. They should also reflect in the everyday choices of the management team and the staff they empower. That is a culture defined by good character.
So how do you determine what is genuine culture and what is lip stick on a corporate culture pig? I would encourage you to ask questions like these:
- If you take away all the fluff do your career goals align with that of the founders? what about with the CEO?
- Does the management team treat people with respect? is that something that is important to you?
- Are the current employee’s driven to create? or driven into the ground.
- What are the short term and long term visions for the company?
- What is the TRUE corporate turnover like? why do people leave? why do they stay?
- Does the company invest in the success of their people as much as they invest in stocking Topo Chico?
- Are the cool things in the office designed to improve your productivity? Or are they just cool things… in an office.
Pull back the curtain and dig deeper to unveil the character of the culture. Is it a set of short term distractions, or is the heartbeat of the company genuine and real. In some cases the many surface level perks are just a curtain to cover up a culture that is chaotic, unsupported, and lacking long term vision.
Maya Angelou once said:
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Invest your time in a place that you will never forget how it made you feel to work there. It’s not going to be the perks that make you love the job, it’s going to be how the job made you feel.
Genuine culture is not the perks in the office, it’s the character of the people who designed that culture and how they honor it’s core.
Choose to be passionate and powerful somewhere that is not based on the culture of perks but on the character of the company.
Writers note: this piece is for all the hard working C-Level Executive’s, VP’s, Director’s and Managers who work tirelessly to make their culture thrive ethically, honest and meaningful. They say what they mean and they execute on what they say.
