When attracting the best supply chain
talent, be it at graduate level and right through the management ranks to
C-suite, it’s imperative that a company is able to define and leverage their
“culture”.
What defines a company culture?
Having worked on many recruitment
assignments for a multitude of businesses both in the UK and Australia, one
question that will always form part of a client briefing and more often than
not, is asked by candidates during the selection process– “What is the company
culture like?”
Indeed, this question is becoming more and
more important as it ranks highly amongst the reasons why the candidate may be
seeking a move to new pastures – an incompatibility between their own values
and the culture of their current business.
Now one mistake in defining company culture
is to confuse “culture” with “benefits”. For instance, many employees
strive to achieve a better work-life balance and a company may demonstrate
their commitment to sustaining this through the provision of “benefits” and
well thought out company policies. An on-site (free of charge or subsidized)
gym is a way a company may promote and foster a culture of health and wellbeing
in addition to improving work-life balance for employees who find it difficult
to fit in exercise before and after work.
So when a company professes to invest in
professional development, they may achieve this through offering financial
support and study leave (a clearly defined benefit) and/or mentorship and
broadening of skillset where employees are actively encouraged to diversify,
and add to their existing competencies and minimize possible skills gaps.
A company culture doesn’t necessarily need
to be limited to the way in which they treat their employees, it could also
encompass the way in which they go about business and ultimately treat the
customer. Does the business promote a team based culture with dynamic decision making
through consensus or is it one of consistent red tape where significant time
and energy can be spent changing current ideals to achieve a truly progressive
organization?
For a candidate searching their next career
opportunity, it could be a good idea to list all the important factors that you
feel contribute to a strong company culture and ultimately align with your own
values and will motivate you to build a successful career with the
organization. When an employer attempts to articulate the type of culture that
exists within the organization, you can look for cues as to whether or not they
are “talking the talk” or “walking the walk”.
Some pointers for unearthing the true
company culture at an organization could be:
·
What is the company approach to
decision making?
·
How do you foster a progressive
organization and develop and promote talent from within? Do your research on
this point – for instance if you are interviewing for a role of Supply Chain
Manager reporting through to the Supply Chain Director of a company and you
find that the current and previous Supply Chain Directors of the business have
been hired externally then this would indicate a potential skills gap within
the organization at lower levels and you may wish to understand how this is
being addressed.
·
How does the company achieve a
positive work-life balance for employees?
·
If the interviewer finds it difficult
to articulate the company culture then this is a red flag that the business may
not have a clear mission statement and vision on how the employees form part of
achieving their goals.
·
Indicators of a company culture
being driven from the top down come with evidence that the CEO is actively
engaged in promoting a positive work culture.
·
Sometimes it’s the little
things that can really help to drive a positive work culture within both a
team/department and the entire organization. Look for ways in which a business
engages with employees and looks after and rewards them for active
participation in the work place.
·
A really good litmus test of
the level of energy within a workplace can be ascertained whilst waiting for
your interview in reception. Observe how staff members interact, how visitors
are greeted by reception – look at the body language of employees! What does it
tell you?
·
Most well established
organisations have careers sites/company pages on Linkedin where you can watch
videos of employees championing the work culture. Look for the mission
statement and read any Q & As with employees in the careers page
(especially those working in your desired department).
·
What is the company approach to
customer service? This is great from a supply chain perspective as you can
discuss metrics to discover current fulfillment rates.
·
Views expressed on websites
such as Glassdoor should be taken with a pinch of salt as its hard to
establish the credibility of anonymous contributors.
·
If you have a good relationship
with an existing employee of the target organization, seek out their honest
point of view.
Many operations are 24/7 environments, so
there can be increased difficulty in scheduling professional development
initiatives for site line managers. Whereas head office based employees may
enjoy on-site training and access to a whole suite of benefits, site based
professionals may not enjoy the same level of developmental opportunities.
Following the points outlined will help you to
understand the true culture of a business, whether you will be working at head
office or at an off-site location.
