Culture club Are you a good workplace fit?
In 2012, Michael Schultz found himself in a dilemma most workers experience at some point in their career. He joined a company which gave a false impression during the recruitment process of how great its corporate culture was.
Research by recruitment firm Robert Walters, shows 54 per cent of professionals felt they had been misled about a workplace during job interviews.
Of the 1800 workers surveyed, 64 per cent had left an organisation because its values did not match their own.
Schultz said he applied for a claims manager position at an insurance company in Auckland, after a friend recommended the company as a good place to work.
The company culture was sold to him by the friend and the employer as ‘‘revolutionary, family orientated, friendly and progressive’’.
But after starting work at the company, he realised that was not entirely the case.
‘‘Some of those things were true, but one of the things that struck me after a while was there was a lot of internal politics,’’ Schultz said.
Shortly after starting the company underwent a restructure, which resulted in a ‘‘weird’’ culture as managers were demoted to work alongside people they were previously leading.
In order to do well, employees had to invest time in going to social events, and those who became friends with managers were given greater opportunities, he said.
‘‘I was a new father at the time, so I wasn’t really interested in that sort of thing.’’
After 18 months in the role he resigned to pursue a more creative line of work, which he found in photography.
When deciding whether a company’s culture was the right fit, it was important to speak to a range of people at the company, he said.
On the other end of the spectrum is university graduate Hayley Heath, who recently landed a sales role at an international fleet leasing and finance company in Auckland.
Heath studied some human resources papers at university which helped her realise the importance of cultural fit, she said.
‘‘It’s something that’s hugely important to me and I can see the importance of it for the company and the employees,’’ Heath said.
While job hunting, company culture was the main thing she considered.
She bullet-pointed what she was looking for in a company and what would help her grow the most.
‘‘I had to be a bit picky. I was unemployed for a bit longer than I hoped I would be.’’
She was looking for a company with an open door policy - which meant top level management were ‘‘pretty easy going’’ and approachable.
‘‘You never feel like you can’t talk to management.’’
It was nice to feel like a valued part of a company, she said.
‘‘It enhances my productivity and motivation to come to work each day.’’
Robert Walters Wellington director Shay Peters, said when there was a good fit between a candidate and the company culture it was a win-win for everyone.
‘‘It makes no sense to mislead people from either the company or candidate level,’’ Peters said.
Robert Walters Auckland director James Dalrymple, said it was not unusual for people to start a job with expectations of a company’s culture, only to find it’s something different to what was promised.
‘‘If you were sold an item that wasn’t what you thought it was, you’d take it back,’’ Dalrymple said.
‘‘Unfortunately, it’s not so easy to return jobs, so it’s important that everyone is clear from the outset.’’