Corporate Culture, the “Burbs” or the “Ghetto”?

How do you feel about your work environment?  Is the corporate culture one that fits your values and work ethics? 

You may be at ABC Company in a dark windowless space with old, mismatched furniture.  In this environment, you may find that many people hate their jobs and show it everyday. Your senior managers may not show any concern for the employees and everyone is looking out for himself or herself.  

Or, you may be in at XYZ Company, which is bright and open, with coordinated furniture and your senior managers have made sure that the benefits programs reflects their desire to reward employees.  In this environment, employees may be very competitive and “counting ceiling tiles” may be the norm.    

A corporation is a community with it’s own social, legal and economic values and pressures which dictate it’s overall culture.  We have all stumbled into great corporate cultures, but many of us are working in a corporate culture that, given the choice, we would choose something different. 

Do you work in the “Burbs” or the “Ghetto”? 

Some corporations, like ABC Company, are really like a “Ghetto” where you find yourself at a disadvantage due to a mismatch in your values and beliefs verses that of the mainstream corporate culture.

My experience in this environment was to bring a sense of strength and integrity that allowed my team to develop pride about the organization and a place of security from the cultural pressures through open communication, clear expectations and rewards. With my colleagues, this provided me with the reputation of being a strategic partner who provided consistent and reliable information and support. 

If you find yourself at XYZ Company, which I call the “Burbs”, you have a different set of issues and cultural dynamics.  Snobbery and intense competition are a few of the challenges that I have found in this corporate environment.  

Some of the ways that I was able to manage through this culture was to focus on being authentic. Focusing on honesty and collaboration had a diffusing effect and allowed my team to break away from the overarching “Burbs” culture and establish a subculture that thrived.  It also allowed me to work with my colleagues in a non-competitive way, which provided me with positive working relationships across the company.

You can get information about a corporation’s culture by researching the company on the internet, looking at their website, calling on some of the employees who are currently working there and many other ways.

Today there are many types of corporate cultures out there.  I have identified two cultures that exist in corporate and some of the ways that I survived them.  Hopefully, I have provided some strategies to help you as well. 

Let me know how you feel about your culture and what you are doing to fit in.  What name would you use to describe your culture?