How to Evaluate Your Current Company Culture

Many job seekers are now evaluating prospective employers based on company culture. Candidates want to determine how they will fit in and if the environment is right for them before they’re hired.

As you may know, company culture varies based on several factors. Although some companies don’t focus on the culture within the organization, every company has a culture whether they like it or not. Take a look at the following—each is part of the company culture at your organization:

• Employees
• Company size
• Environment
• Policies
• Procedures
• Mission
• Values
• Attitudes
• Employee commitment
• Communication
• Common behaviors
• Relationships
• Leadership
• Recruiting
• Support

In order to determine whether your culture is working at your organization, you need to first evaluate the current culture. Ask yourself the following:

• How do employees within the organization handle conflict?
• How well do employees work together?
• Are workers encouraged to speak up and identify problems?
• Does the company address problems head on?
• How do the company values play into the culture?
• Are employees rewarded for performance? How?
• What does the company, as a whole, value?
• How does the company deal with new ideas?
• Does the organization encourage employees
• What are the company hiring and firing processes? How do these affect the culture?

Is the culture in at your organization less than satisfactory? There are ways to improve upon it—here’s how:

Decide how you want it to look in the future

What needs to be changed? How do you want your ideal culture to look after these changes occur? Keep in mind that every company will not (and should not) have the same company culture, although you can certainly be inspired by another company’s culture in some ways.

Review the organization’s mission, vision and values

Is the culture aligned with the overall mission? Are company values mirrored in the culture? If not, how can you integrate company mission, vision and values better?

What else can employers do to evaluate (and improve upon) company culture at their organization?

IMAGE VIA Davide Boyle in DC