Feb. 16 “Identifying the workplace that works for you”: I
cut out this article by Barbara Moses in the Globe and Mail on Sept. 14, 2012. This is a good
article discussing about instead of what your career is, but what your
workplace is. Some companies are not going to be a fit for you.
I know some people don’t like to work at a big company
because they feel like they are a number instead of a name. Some people
like working for a big company because of job security. Some people have
no preference about the size of the company. Here’s the article:
Many people return to work after a vacation break
dissatisfied and start to ruminate about making a major career change. But all
too often when people are unhappy, they attribute their distress to what they
are doing – their role and the skills they are using – rather than to where
they are doing it.
If you are experiencing career distress, consider the
possibility that you need a change of scenery rather than a major career
change.
Whenever I first visit a company, I am struck by the degree
to which organizations, like people, have their own distinctive personalities –
happy or sour, outgoing or withdrawn, energetic or calm. Just as with people,
there needs to be the right chemistry to make a match with your work
environment.
You can learn a lot about what it feels like to work
somewhere, and whether you will make the right connection, simply by walking
around and observing. Is there a lot of earnest conversation in which people seem
engaged? Do people seem happy? Note the office layout, the kind of art on the
walls, how people dress.
Different industries tend to have their own character, but
within an industry there can be huge differences. On book tours, for example, I
have visited newspaper offices across Canada.
In some offices, employees looked like they had just rolled out of bed and were
miserable; while in others, it seemed staff had put some thought into their
dress and were happy.
Before you leap into a major career reinvention, there are
several factors to consider that will help identify your best workplace
environment, given your values and work style. If you are working for a large
company you might find that the role you are in is a good match – you just need
to switch departments.
Nature of the business
The core work of the company, and the kinds of services or
products it delivers, influence its culture. Consider the personality of an
organization composed of helper types such as human resource professionals,
social workers, nurses. It will tend to be more nurturing because of the values
and motivations associated with helping roles, compared with those in tougher
industries, such as manufacturing or construction. If you are a more sensitive
person, hard-nosed environments will be more difficult for you.
Risk and reward levels
There is significantly more risk involved with a
miscalculation at a hydro utility (a massive blackout, say) than at a hotel
(too many guests for too few rooms). Whether the risks are financial,
environmental or safety-related, in industries where prudence is required,
cautiousness tends to permeate the entire organization. Workers in these types
of companies tend to have strong motivational desires for security.
The size of potential rewards is also important. For
example, investment banking tends to be less risk-averse than life insurance
because the potential payoffs are great. These differences are also reflected
in people’s motivations and work behaviours.
Pace of work
It can be demanding to work in an organization where many
things happen at once without much advance planning – though many people thrive
in such environments. Compare a busy retail environment and a public accounting
firm, for example, in terms of the number of people interactions and the
necessity for backroom analyses.
Staff education
Knowledge workers – those with higher education and more
training – are more expensive to replace than less-educated employees who
engage in routine transactions. As a result, knowledge-work organizations tend
to treat their employees more benevolently, with greater developmental
opportunities, flexible work options and better benefits.
Importance of the function
Is the function of the job (or the department or division)
seen as overhead for the business? Or is it seen as a source of profit?
Consider the role of human resources. For years, HR has lobbied to be seen as
an important player at the management table. But because many companies,
perhaps incorrectly, see HR as overhead – necessary for compensation and
employee relations but not a profit centre – it has often been treated as
inferior.
Want to find an organization where HR is seen as important?
Look to knowledge-worker environments, where managing talent is critical to
attract and motivate staff.
Average tenure
One of my clients complains that whenever he suggests an
alternative way of doing something, he is slapped down by colleagues for not
understanding the company’s culture. The five years he has spent in the company
hardly qualifies him as being new on the block, but relative to the average
18-year tenure of other staffers, he is seen as an upstart.
Companies that employ a lot of long-tenured staffers tend to
more cautious and risk-averse, and can be resistant to new ideas. They tend to
have high needs for security and dislike novelty and change.
Age and gender composition
As a result of Gen Y expectations, organizations that employ
many young educated staffers, such as professional service firms, tend to be
more responsive to concerns about flexibility and work/life balance. Similarly,
female-dominated organizations tend to more concerned about employee
sensitivities and desires than male-dominated companies, because women tend to
be more attuned to others’ feelings.
Barbara
Moses, PhD, is a speaker, organizational career management consultant and
the author of Dish.
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