Dr. Dobb's Journal Fall 1999
Jerome Freeman was elated when he was offered a job as an applications developer at a promising startup that designs web sites devoted to e-commerce. But a month into the job, Freeman, a disciplined and independent self-starter, realized that the company wasn't meeting his expectations. While coworkers routinely worked 11-hour days, much of that time was spent in personal discussions in the coffee room while deadlines loomed. Meanwhile, Freeman was spending more and more time attending day-long meetings that consisted primarily of colleagues attempting to ingratiate themselves with senior management. Lacking a taste for office politics, he found these sessions even more frustrating since they left little time for him to spend actually designing applications.
It soon became apparent to Freeman that he had made a mistake in accepting the job. Worse, he wasn't precisely sure how he had so completely misread what it would be like to work for the firm. Reluctantly, he began to look for another job.
While Freeman's needs and preferences may not coincide with your own, they are reflective of concerns shared by a growing number of information technology professionals today as they assess their career options. A decade or two ago, technology professionals might have based their decision to sign on with a firm almost entirely on salary. But today, employees at all levels recognize that job satisfaction involves more than just a paycheck and an attractive benefits package. They realize their ultimate job satisfaction is also dependent on the unique set of values and attitudes displayed, sometimes subtly, sometimes not, by their employer. And, increasingly, they're able to get what they want.
Today's IT job candidates are in the driver's seat. And one of the factors they're using to evaluate a prospective employer is the organization's corporate values. The challenge, as Freeman learned firsthand, lies in accurately "reading" a firm and its work environment prior to making a full-time commitment.
How do you make sure your values are closely aligned with the personality of your future employer? You can start by recognizing that there are many aspects to a company's culture. Just as an individual has a distinct personality he or she shows to the world, every business is imbued with its own unique set of values. For true job satisfaction, your task is to determine which values are most important to you and then find the firm that offers the closest match.
Of all the corporate values held by U.S. businesses across all industries, probably the most widely publicized and most often cited by employees as important to them is a concern for workers' ability to reconcile the demands of their jobs with their personal lives.
Accommodations for telecommuting, flexible schedules, and dependent care are increasingly important as workers try to achieve a satisfying work/life balance, and a growing number of firms are now offering these benefits. A North Carolina manufacturer I work with, for example, arranges for school counselors to meet on-site with parents during regular working hours and gives employees time off to attend special events at the company's day care center. In a similar vein, an Oregon-based computer company recently extended its day care to include kindergarten and first grade.
Most IT professionals are aware of the need to keep their software and hardware skills current to maintain their marketability. In fact, a number of consultants come to me seeking contract work rather than full-time employment because the diverse assignments enable them to stay on top of a rapidly evolving industry. Technology professionals, in particular, view continuing education as a prerequisite to their career survival, an observation that was confirmed by a recent study conducted by RHI Consulting (the company I work for). When CIOs participating in the study were asked to choose the single factor, other than compensation, that helped managers retain IT talent, they placed ongoing technical skills training at the top of the list.
If learning is a priority for you, look for organizations that encourage their managers to solicit new ideas from employees at all levels. Firms that value intellectual growth are typically supportive of people who experiment with different approaches, and they tend to reward prudent risk taking. They invest generously in their staff by providing opportunities to learn on the job, including company mentoring programs and tuition reimbursement for outside training. Is it important for your future employer to offer you the chance to expand your skills and the freedom to move from project to project?
Most people would agree that the most effective leaders have a talent for building enthusiasm for an organization's goals and inspiring employees to put forth their best efforts. There is far less agreement, however, on what leadership means to each individual employee.
Some favor clear direction in their work, seeking well-defined, unambiguous tasks, for example, while others find this structure confining and prefer more autonomy. Then again, some employees may view too much autonomy as an abdication of leadership responsibilities.
Yet another group of employees, albeit a smaller group in today's fast-paced business environment, finds comfort in a traditional, hierarchical management model in which each position is defined explicitly. Their counterparts, on the other hand, look for leaders who will serve more as coaches than bosses, favoring project-driven collaboration over a chain of command. It's important to determine in which environment you feel most comfortable. In his case, Jerome Freeman realized too late that the culture at his new job was not a match for his personality and work ethic.
As you evaluate a prospective employer, consider its leadership. What are the characteristics of those in senior management? Try to identify the kind of behavior that is typically rewarded. A company's compensation program can also help you identify the predominant management style, with some companies tying bonuses to the success of departments or teams, and others basing them primarily on individual contributions.
Is it meaningful to you for your firm to be seen as a good corporate citizen in the communities in which it does business? Grant-making programs and support for employee volunteer activities are powerful magnets for those who want to be associated with a company that is an active contributor to causes important to them. Such policies can also extend the reach of individual employees who want to support the work of specific organizations or to call attention to socially relevant issues. Employees at one Northern California network systems firm, for instance, have formed a special company-supported committee to organize activities such as weekend cleanups of local creeks and beaches, video conferences on environmental issues, and fund raising for environmental organizations.
Likewise, one Midwest clothing retailer offers employees up to 35 hours of paid time off per year to engage in community activities related to education or health and social services. Do any of these types of support reflect values you'd like your future employer to hold?
There are a number of ways to get an accurate feel for a business's values prior to signing on. While the job interview is the most obvious, there are steps you can take both before and after the interview to assess the underlying philosophy driving the policies of a potential employer.
For starters, the Internet is full of information about both large and small companies. Conduct a search to learn as much as you can about the firm before the interview, particularly as it relates to its business goals and industry reputation. The look and content of its web site can also give you a sense of the company's values and prevailing culture. Is the site cutting-edge and animated or subdued and sophisticated? This speaks volumes about the image they wish to convey to the business community and the public.
If you're called in for an interview, arrive a few minutes early so that you can observe how employees dress, how they interact, and what the physical workspace is like. Sometimes you'll have to look past the superficial to properly interpret the real messages an organization is sending. An offering of substantial on-premises services could reflect either a company eager to please its employees, or a corporate culture focused on maximizing the time employees spend on the job. One Silicon Valley firm, for example, provides such on-site services as dry cleaning, film developing, and dinners-to-go.
To get a further glimpse into an organization's values, speak with current and former employees. Professional trade association meetings can also provide an opportunity to connect with others who have knowledge of the company in which you are interested. In addition, you may want to speak with recruiting or consulting firms, which typically have strong ties within the business community and are familiar with the work environment and culture at local firms. If you're not successful obtaining enough information from these sources to make your decision, consider working as a contract or temporary employee before committing yourself to a full-time position.
You never really know a city until you've lived there. You never really know a neighborhood until you've moved in. So too with an employer. It's impossible to anticipate all of the subtle attitudes and policies that contribute to a company's culture. At the same time, by seeking to understand the firm's core values -- then comparing them to your own -- you can, at the very least, curtail any surprises and, at most, find yourself working for a company whose work environment and management style are ideally suited to your own personal and professional ambitions.
DDJ