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The other day, I was talking to one of my good friends who was excitedly telling me about her amazing internship that she got this summer. She talked briefly about what the company does and what she’s gonna do there, then she went into a 10 min rant about how employees are allowed to wear casual clothes to work, how they go to happy hour regularly, and how they have a lax scheduled time of work. It was as if the company didn’t matter, the position didn’t matter, but the only thing that did matter was the environment that she would be working in. She absolutely loved the fact that you could wear casual clothes; she talked about it like it was some sort of revolutionary concept. As we all know, it’s not, and many companies are starting to initiate these little changes in order to attract new talent. And at the end of the day, it’s these little details that will make or break a job opportunity for a Gen Yer.
The fact is that if I want to get into sales, then I can join 1001 different companies. If I want to code java, I can do it at a plethora of companies. If I want to do advertising, I can do it at thousands of different companies. But which one would be I really love working at? Which company has the people that I will love to hang out with outside of work? Where will I feel comfortable and relaxed and yet still feel motivated enough to work hard? It’s these types of questions that are defining the roles that Gen Yers are taking, and not the “what does the company do?”, “What’s my job description?”, and “What’s my career path?” questions.
And personally, I think that this is a much better way of looking at job opportunities than the way it was looked at in the past. Life’s too short to sit in a cubicle (unless you want to) and waste away your life not enjoying what you’re doing or the people that you’re doing it with. That doesn’t mean that the job has to be perfect and the environment has to be amazing, because obviously it won’t be all of the time, but it is something that should be a key focus of any job search. If you think that you wouldn’t fit into an environment and that the culture isn’t in line with what you’re looking for, then don’t waste your time. It’s better to be patient and find a place that you feel comfortable working at then forcing yourself into a situation that isn’t right for you.
Realistically, it’s gotten to the point that most job descriptions read the same anyway and the only way to differentiate between companies is by the culture that they’ve created. If you thrive off competition, then join a company that has a lot of bonuses and incentives. If you thrive off collaboration, then join a company that emphasizes team-work and group effort. If you know yourself and your personality and you focus on finding a company that matches those characteristics, then you will feel that much more satisfied with the company that you decide to go with.
Good post Peter.
When I started working, I was at a Fortune 500. I liked what I was getting paid and there was some great incentives, but I didn't really like the corporate culture at all. I didn't see any real future for me there, so I left and joined a startup. I made less money, didn't have any benefits, and the work was really difficult.
Most people don't make such an enormous leap like that, but the point is that there are tradeoffs. The environment you're going to work in is really important, but so are the benefits you're going to find in the organization you work for. Your company may have a ping pong table and a Nintendo Wii, but make sure they have the important perks like health insurance too.
-RP
Peter this is so true. I pride myself on what my company does (or any company that I have worked for) but a lot of times after I'm doing talking about what WE DO, I talk about our culture, collaboration, and the fun perks. Company culture for Gen Y is very important. I don't know many Gen Y friends that don't care about the culture.
It's definitely a fine line, but it helps to integrate what you do at work and make it more enjoyable. I might still sacrifice positive culture for a stronger position, because sometimes you gotta do, what you gotta do, but in the end, I think it's something I place high on the job totem pole.
I too definitely think the culture and overall feel of the company and your colleagues is definitely something to consider. I worked in a department at a staffing firm that went to happy hour every week, had beers in the office on Fridays but we still maintained the corporate standards. The company I work for now does not encourage that with our young staff and we do have office get togethers but quarterly. Although I liked the happy hours every week, I find myself appreciating the quarterly functions more and having a better time. The drinking sounded great and it was great to tell people but I was not a drinker so I didn't have as much fun as everyone thought. Like you said, you gotta know yourself and what you would feel more comfortable with. Its not the money or the prestige, its the culture.
Great topic, Peter. Of course I can see why your perspective would tend toward generational explanations, but I sense that the emphasis on culture and a comfortable workplace goes hand in hand with the desire for meaningful work at any age. Or put another way, those who desire meaningful work probably favor the kind of relaxed culture you describe because it seems more compatible with passion and idealism.
It's also one big step closer to feeling like an entrepreneurial environment, which is a big plus for people who want to make a difference.
That said, it's entirely possible that those characteristics are common in Gen Y, which would mean, I guess, that we're saying the same thing. :)
Thanks for the comments guys!
Something that all of you mentioned is the fact that there are tradeoffs. I think that at the end of the day finding a job is a complete package and it all comes down to what you value. There's the job, the company, the environment, the benefits, the growth-opportunity, and on and on. Not everyone will have the same balance of values. To some, like Ryan suggests, it might be other benefits (i.e. health insurance). To others, like Grace, if the culture is alright, but the position is amazing, then it still might be worth it. But I just think that Gen Y as a whole has put a much larger emphasis on environment and culture than generations past. And Kate you're right, it's possible that it's not only a Gen Y thing and that it's just an ageless desire to have meaningful work, but I just think that it particularly falls in line with the mentality of Gen Y.
This is a great post Peter!
It's something I've pondered time and time again, as I struggle to find my true passion in the career world. I still find myself at content and motivated for the time being almost entirely because of the company culture that I'm surrounded with at my current job. I work for a major media corporation, however it is very "uncorporate" in all the right ways: great social interaction, a feeling of family in the building, relatively casual atmosphere, planned happy hours and birthday celebrations. All of these elements are important to me because even if I haven't found my exact profession of choice, I look forward to being around the people I work with, I know there is a support system where I can honestly voice my opinions and concerns, and I feel comfortable truly being myself at work. Not to mention, I am confident that as I am trying to find my niche, I am receiving the best possible training, support, and experience that there is to offer in this field.
This concept of choosing a career based on company culture seems to be a pretty new one. And I think it's imperative that companies acknowledge this or they may miss out on some of the top employees entering the workforce in our generation. Although I do not think it should be a decision making priority, I do think when multiple companies offer similar options the one with the better company culture will win out.
I agree with Kate that this is less a generational thing and more an overall work satisfaction thing. I don't think people truly understand how important a strong employee culture is to motivating them in the workplace until they've experienced both good and bad.
A lot of us Gen Y'ers are still feeling out the work world and are just now beginning to see that corporate culture contributes largely to our success and overall happiness. But, unlike other generations (and I guess this is where your generational observations come into play), we've made corporate culture a huge deciding factor in whether we take a job or not, and I think that's an awesome thing.
We have to find happiness wherever we are, and a lot of that happiness will come from our work. It's important to like the company you work for, the people you work with, and the atmosphere you work in.
Nice post!
I could see how culture would matter more when you're younger (Gen Y) because it's easier to adjust to your salary and benefits. It's just you, tolerance for homemade furniture and ramen noodles is higher, etc. When you get older, you need the salary and benefits to support the family, and your futon starts to hurt your back.
I switched jobs to a company that pays less per position (but it was a promotion so I moved up the food chain) because of culture, specificially senior leadership. The noun to describe the CEO of my old company was usually @ss in term of @sshole or @sskicker and his senior leadership was insane with the attention span and bladder control of 5 year old.
At my new company, the CEO looks like Cosmo Kramer and runs a wonderful relaxed organization. He often says, "If you can do your job, I don't care if you have green hair and nose rings (for non-customer facing positins). Senior leaders have been here decades and are very stable.
@Dani Thanks! It seems like you've found yourself a great situation (at least as far as culture goes). You make a good point about companies though. If they offer a great working atmosphere, then they will be able to attract and retain some of the best younger talent. And I don't think people should pick a job based solely on culture, but a great culture can and will make a huge difference.
@Teresa Great point. I'm not saying that other generations don't care about culture now, but when they were entering the job market and when they were in the early stages of their careers, they didn't. That fact, at least in my opinion, makes it very much a generational thing. 20 years ago, there was much less talk about the culture and environment of the place that you're working at. The question then becomes, has Gen Y led this trend, or was the trend already there and Gen Y just followed along? That's a different question for a different time. Either way, the fact still remains that culture and environment are very important to Gen y.
@Dead Hedge I think the age thing adds to it, but it's much more of a mentality rather than purely an age thing. Like I mention to Teresa above, when other generations were at this same stage of their careers, culture and environment weren't as large of factors as they are now. Company security, job growth, reputation, etc were much larger then. They are obviously still factors now, but they're not as large as they used to be. This makes it much more of an overall mentality rather than just the fact that we're younger.
I have a fairly simple litmus test for any job i take...would I tolerate this behavior in a friendship or a relationship? and if the answer is yes then I find I'm enjoying myself and doing well at my job. When or if the answer becomes no, then it's time to find other opportunities. Examples of this include unpaid overtime(sometimes you have to do heavy lifting but if you're appreciated for it and it doesn't become the norm that's fine), bosses and coworkers in bad moods(needing space and being a little grumpy is understandable, being a literal or figurtive punching bag is not) and so on. It's easy to be swayed by awesome perks and a great salary but if your workplace can't meet your baseline for respect the culture's a bad fit.
@Peter - in my opinion you're close but no cigar. You say that when [other generations] were entering the job market and when they were in the early stages of their careers, they didn't [care about culture]. Speaking as an X'er I believe we did care but
a) we didn't feel like we could act upon that conviction (because we were just happy to land any kind of job - with you know that whole baby boom cohort in front of us),
b) we didn't really understand the full breadth of company culture (for example our way of researching companies was reading the literature they sent to our school's career centers) and
c) companies weren't as diverse culturally as they are now - or arguably our insight into companies was narrower because we only could see into companies where we already knew somebody on the inside.
Thankfully all of us benefit from having better information about companies these days.
@Sarah that's a great way to test if the culture is a good fit for you or not.
@connie Maybe you're right, but its hard to say you care about something then don't act upon it. You give 3 reasons that prove my point that culture wasn't important to Gen X, but you don't give any reasons as to why it was important. I'm not saying you're wrong, because it's possible that it was important, but it just doesn't seem that way. But I will agree that me saying that past generations didn't care is pretty black and white and most things never end up that way. How about instead of me saying that they didn't care, I'll just say that past generations cared a lot less about culture than Gen Y does now, which is more of what I meant anyway.
"You give 3 reasons that prove my point that culture wasn't important to Gen X, but you don't give any reasons as to why it was important."
@Peter, this sentence is really confusing. Are you saying that her supporting statements prove your point and not hers? It isn't entirely clear. However, based on the concept that you did mean that, I'll say that I disagree with you because you're making faulty assumptions.
For starters, your argument is that we didn't care. And you really don't have any way to know whether or not that's true.
Second, Connie says that we cared but we didn't have access to the kind of information that's available today (I agree with this assertion). What she's saying is that today it is easier to ACT on that interest. (I also agree with this assertion.)
Third, she's also correct in saying that a great many of us were happy to get any job at all. That doesn't mean that we didn't care about the culture. It means that we had bills to pay. And for sure my landlord and the gas company didn't care how I felt about my company's culture. Plus there were quite a few of us who saw the lack of long-term saving that was being done by our predecessors, and who knew that we had to start making and saving money early so that we wouldn't have to work forever if we didn't want to.
Company culture is important to me, precisely because I spend so much of my time and energy at work. But I also know that life costs money, and getting to choose the culture you work in is a rare privilege that most people around the world do not have.
Beyond that, I like to know what my company does and what my job is because I like to accomplish things. I like to work with people I enjoy, but I like to do that for an organization that I can believe in, doing work that I find interesting.
And more than that, I like it if the lights keep coming on.
Does that mean I don't care about culture as much as you? I don't think so. I don't think we can determine that one way or the other.
@kate Thanks for your response! You bring up some interesting points so let me try to answer some of the arguments that you made. Before I get into it though I just want to say that I wrote this post as an observation about Gen Y's decision making process in regards to their careers. It's now become a generational discussion about who cares more about something. Like you suggest, it's a vague question that doesn't have a definitive answer. That being said, I can still try to argue my point :D
"Are you saying that her supporting statements prove your point and not hers?" Yes, that's what I was trying to say in response to Connie. If that didn't come off as well as it did in my mind, then I apologize.
My argument is that Gen Y cares more about culture than other generations did at this same point in their careers. In my comment to Teresa, I articulated that as other generations didn't care, but that's not correct and not what I meant. I meant what I said in some of my other comments that culture plays a bigger role in our job decision than it did in years past. That doesn't mean that culture is the only thing Gen Y cares about or that other generations didn't care about it at all. It's just that we're willing to take less money, a worse title, etc if it offers a better working environment, whereas I don't think that that was true for other generations. And that's true for the reasons that both you and Connie mentioned, as well as the social and political changes that have happened over the years. I also mention some other reasons in my post.
Moving on, you say that I really don't have any way to know whether or not that's true, and that's right. I didn't grow up in a different generation, so saying what other generations were thinking or feeling is something that I can't say 100%. What I can do though is look at the actions of past generations and try to show my point that way. There certainly can be circumstances that lead someone to act in a way that doesn't fall in line with their beliefs but in my opinion, if I say I care about something then I will act in that same way. For example, if I say I care greatly about the environment, but then I throw my trash on the floor, then the environment is not a top priority to me. After all, if I say I care about something, but then act a different way, then I don't care about it as much as I say I do. It's because of their actions that I believe that Gen Y cares more about culture in their careers than past generations did. And it's not a bad thing or a good thing, it's just an observation that I've seen. Gen Y has made and will continue to make job decisions using culture as a large factor. On the other hand, past generations put a greater weight on other factors such as job security, career growth, financial stability, etc. and less of a weight on culture and environment. It's these actions that, at least in my opinion, help show that Gen Y cares more about culture in their careers than generations past.
I hope that helps clear up my argument. It is obviously not fact and just my opinion, so I welcome any contradictions that you might have :)
I had a similar position when I was interning with an organization that I really loved and loved my job. There were hard times, but that's the real world. I felt comfortable, then I had to make a decision if I wanted to stay or go. I elected to go because of money.
I got a job 5 months later at another organization. The organization was alright, but it didn't fit me for the past 2.5 years because I was friendly w/ people, but never had a strong bond with the other organization I was interning. I quit and started up my business. As Ryan describe perfectly, it is a tough road, but I having a lot fun struggling, if you can believe that.
I really don't think it's a generational thing, I think it's our age on who we are trying to be. Some value money, some value culture, some value the industry. You will get different results when you talk to someone.
I mention that story because if I elected to stay, it would be likely I would be with that organization for a few years and possibly stay for a longtime (this organization just recently had layoffs, hence the 50/50 answer). I had a glimpse of greed and that effected my decision. I have always say to people that are generation has develop a sports mentality where they're a free agent and if there is big money or a better opportunity out there, they'll take it. However, it will take time that they need to reassess their working lives and see if they're comfortable and not worry about the other stuff.
What makes it easy for Gen Y is social media through Linkedin and looking at their potential co-worker and Twitter, where you can look at their conversational flow. So, you're right people have to be patient to find the right for job for themselves because most of them are online.
@Peter I definitely agree that culture plays a bigger role in your generation's current job decisions than it did for others who were at the same point in their careers many years ago. Where you lose me is in your argument that the reason it plays a bigger role is because you care about it more. If that's what you believe then that's fine; I'm not going to try to change your mind. I just think you're wrong.
"Gen Y has made and will continue to make job decisions using culture as a large factor."
@Peter, you are in a better position to do so. That doesn't mean you want to do so more than others did. There is a huge difference.
In the past, we didn't have easy ways to learn about company culture until we were part of the company. That doesn't mean that I didn't care about the culture, and wouldn't have liked to know more about it in advance. It means I didn't have the tools to find that out.
When I started looking for jobs, nothing was online. You "networked" by going to your college's career center and flipping through 3-ring binders. We were always told "learn what you can about the company before you interview," but no one actually had good suggestions about how to do that.
Now you can use Google and find lots of information.
Your assumption is inherently faulty. If you want to stick with it, fine. But I'm with Connie on this one. I just think you're wrong.
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