Pay Attention to These 5 Aspects of Company Culture When You Start a New Job

Take time to understand the culture so that you succeed within its bounds rather than derail your future prospects.

- Allan Church & Jay Conger

When you join an organisation, you have a short window of time to adapt to its culture. Too many talented individuals stumble in their new company because they fail to read the cultural tea-leaves. This happens because most organisations don’t explain the cultural rules to newcomers, and new hires are so focused on the job and the new boss that they overlook the rules’ profound influence. Yet understanding the culture plays a big role in your initial success. Being cognisant of not just what your colleagues do but how they work matters if you want to be effective and well-perceived. There are five dimensions of culture that have a big impact on your ability to navigate a new job: how your organisation values and cultivates relationships, how people tend to communicate, how people make decisions, whether individuals or groups are valued, and how accepting people are of change.

FIVE DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE

In our work, we have noticed that these five dimensions of culture have the greatest impact on your ability to navigate a new job:

1 RELATIONSHIPS

Companies differ in how they cultivate relationships, in how much they value collaboration, and in how much face time is required to get work done and make important decisions. In some organisations, the only way to influence others is by spending time with them in person. In others, emailing, texting, and video conferencing are preferred over in-person meetings. When you arrive in your new organisation, ask insiders how you should approach relationships. For example, do you need to spend time building a relationship with someone before asking them for help or input on a project? Or is it acceptable to gather a list of ‘go-to’ individuals whom you can simply email for assistance when you need them?