Work Culture
It has been 90 days since I started my new job. It surprises me that it has been such a short time as it feels like I have been there for decades. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the importance of workplace culture.
Finding the right cultural fit is critical to an individual's well-being & happiness in a new work environment. When personal values clash with those of the new workplace, it presents unique challenges to overcome. When interviewing for a new job, it is critical to ensure the new prospective employer aligns with your personal values & expectations of a work environment. One can ask all the right questions in the interview process, but you won't truly understand the work environment until you experience it. Some of the workplace culture values that are important to me are as follows:
- Positivity: Be happy to work toward improving the technical landscape of the organization. Don't be a roadblock to that innovation, but welcome the change. Negativity is a poison that spreads like cancer in the workplace.
- Respect: Communicate respectfully to your team members regardless if a vendor team member, company employee, or contractor. Let people communicate their views & opinions. Stop talking over them. Pronounce their names correctly. Make the effort to learn how to say the new employee's name. Value their skills & talents versus demeaning or downplaying their experiences.
- Professionalism: Project meetings are not therapy sessions to outpour all your unfiltered frustrations in. Be professional & respectful in what you say. Be kind to everyone.
- Accountability: Employees, especially those in management, should focus on getting the work done rather than blaming others. Stop the finger-pointing & internal fighting.
- Fairness: Stop favoritism. Don't favor one employee over another. Stop praising a coworker solely for their efforts when in reality they have no clue how to do their job & need 3+ people to help them accomplish a task.
- Work-Life Balance: When on PTO/vacation time, employees should not call in for meetings. PTO is a time to break away from your job to enjoy life, not extra time to catch up on work. No project or employer is more important than your health & well-being.
No job is perfect. Boundaries are essential to any job to protect what you value most. Life is too short to be working all the time and/or not enjoy your life.