- Career vs. Job
- Developing Job Roles
- SOC Job Roles
- NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework
- Role Tiers
- SOC Services and Associated Job Roles
- Soft Skills
- Security Clearance Requirements
- Pre-Interviewing
- Interviewing
- Onboarding Employees
- Managing People
- Job Retention
- Training
- Certifications
- Evaluating Training Providers
- Company Culture
- Summary
- References
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Company Culture
One key factor that is outside of the power of an employee’s manager that will encourage or discourage an employee to stay within a role is the company culture. Company culture is the personality of a company. Company culture is a mix of various ingredients including the work environment, company mission, ethics, and values. Some organizations operate in a very casual manner, while others enforce strict rules and regulations. The Balance Careers (https://www.thebalancecareers.com), a service covering career advice, points out that employees enjoy work when their needs and values are consistent with those in the workplace. This leads to employees developing better relationships with coworkers and being even more productive. The Balance Careers also points out that if you don’t fit in with company culture, you are likely to take far less pleasure from your work. Forcing an employee that prefers to work independently to work in a team environment will not yield a happy employee.
I have seen organizations attempt to create, and sometimes force employee participation in, what leadership believes would be considered “fun and desired” exercises, which sometimes works very well but often has the opposite effect. For example, an organization might invest in team-building events rather than training, or offer free lunch rather than more paid time off. Some organizations might attempt to push the concept of work culture by changing the language used about the work being done. An example is labeling a call center a “customer satisfaction center.” Some organizations might develop sales or service contests such as having the sales team perform customer sales pitches to team members for a chance to win the best sales pitch award. All of these processes are designed to impact people with hopes of improving the organization’s culture. I highly recommend any of these actions as long as they align with a business goal that can be measured. If running a team-building exercise or sales contest, make sure to also establish a goal that can be measured following the event. If free lunch is going to be provided, what is the return on this investment and, more importantly, does this have the impact intended and, if so, is it the best option to obtain that impact? Make sure to use a combination of the business strategy alignment techniques covered earlier in this book along with employee surveys to develop processes and other activities that will lead to a great culture. Don’t force events for the sake of culture or you will upset some employees as well as waste time and money on efforts that do not positively impact the organization.