I work for a government contractor in the defense industry. We have a large number of veterans working for us, so I am always looking for ways to understand them better. Recently I received a review copy of this book, and I was really excited to dig in. As usual, I read with an eye on the corporate culture aspects, and I thought the author, Emily King, did a great job of addressing those. Here are my top 4 “Aha!” moments while reading Field Tested-Recruiting, Managing, and Retaining Veterans.

#1 Put yourself in their shoes

This was the single best explanation for how a veteran must feel when they join the private sector that I’ve ever come across. Basically, the author asks you to imagine that you take a job in a private employer and work there  for twenty years. Then, you retire from that company and go to work for the military. Imagine the chaos and difficulty of trying to navigate the landscape of an entirely different organization and culture. That is how veterans feel when they come to work for us after completing a military career.

#2 Boot camp (you need one)

All military members go through some sort of extensive, uniform training. They learn side-by-side and know that their peers are learning the same skills and abilities. Using a uniform orientation process to introduce culture aspects of the organization is a great way to help new hires feel more comfortable about their role. Click here for more on defining corporate culture for new hires.

#3 The “how” of work matters

The biggest lesson I’ve had to learn as a results-driven person is that, in the civilian world, how you accomplish something is as important as the merit of the accomplishment itself. I went from being an infantry captain in the Marine Corps to being the only male in an all-female HR department… I was bound to make a few mistakes. -Former USMC Officer

I’ve talked before on the “how” of work versus what is being accomplished.

#4 Individualistic vs conformist cultures

The author talks a little about how the military enforces a conformist culture in order to reproduce the same results from its soldiers over and over again. However, in a corporate setting, the opposite is encouraged. Individuals are accepted and encouraged to focus on their strengths, and they also are allowed to use creativity when resolving problems they face. Those are opposite ends of the spectrum, and making the instant switch when someone moves into civilian life is yet another hurdle our veterans face in their day-to-day existence.

If you’re considering recruiting veterans (or you already do), this book is a great resource for those of us with no military experience to draw upon. I already have started thinking in different ways in order to better meet the needs of our employees who are former military service members. Check it out!

It was true in 2011 and it’s going to be true in 2012 as well. Companies are realizing competitive pay isn’t enough and that they need to compete on culture. That’s why I was drawn to this old CNET post detailing how one company offered these special goodies as a hiring bonus:

A briefcase filled with $11,000 in bacon-wrapped cash. A year’s supply of Dos Equis. An oil painting of yourself. Those are just a few of the hiring lures Los Angeles-based Scopely has bestowed upon “the most interesting engineer in the world.”

While software engineering isn’t in my future, I wouldn’t mind the briefcase. Or the bacon. Or the cash.

Faulty logic

One part of the article seemed to be based on faulty reasoning.

Startups spend lots of time looking for engineers because most of the ones looking for work aren’t the ones startups want.

“If an engineer has submitted a resume, I know it’s no good,” says Adam Pisoni, co-founder and CTO of Yammer, an internal social network for companies.

If someone applies to your company, you ignore them as a candidate? Seriously?

The article goes on to talk about how the company’s recruiters instead try to poach talent from other companies. Honestly, how is looking for a hotshot employee at Company A going to help support and grow the culture of Company B? How is that in any way different from posting jobs for people to apply at your company and sorting through those candidates?

We often look for solid candidates who will fit into and help grow our culture. We don’t exclusively seek out superstars who are so self-consumed that they could easily diverge from the carefully cultivated culture. It’s not just us, either. Looking only for experienced candidates flies in the face of the “candidates wanted: experience not preferred” mentality that companies like Chipotle believe in.

Companies that take the time to focus on how their culture differentiates them from the competition will be able to recruit and retain better talent over the long haul. Now about that money/bacon…

Does your culture suck? Here’s how to fix it…

Ever play Tetris before? The goal is to line up geometric figures in complete lines to earn points. Making things fit is the name of the game.

The image on the left is a joke, because it’s simply not possible to complete a line with the rounded bottom.

In other words, success is impossible.

As recruiters and HR pros, we do our best to get people into our organizations that fit our culture. Sometimes it’s extremely frustrating when you find someone who looks like an all star but isn’t the right cultural fit for your business.

Trying to force a fit in this situation isn’t going to make things work. And that isn’t necessarily your fault.

Sometimes people just won’t fit.

But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. That’s what separates Zappos from Wal-Mart. Keep that in mind.

Image credit: XKCD

Originally written as a guest post for Chris Ferdinandi over at RenegadeHR.net.

I’ve been talking a lot about Pinnacle lately, but there are so many neat things we can do as a smaller company that I’ve never even considered in the past. A great example of that is the tendency to fit the job to the person on our Operations Team. Instead of rigidly defining what the position requires and recruiting for an exact fit, we define the minimum education/experience level, find a great culture fit, and find out how to customize the job to fit them.

It takes a great manager

The Operations Manager at Pinnacle holds a philosophy similar to Marcus Buckingham, which basically means giving people work they are really good at and letting others do the other tasks that they are uniquely suited for. The Ops Manager works hard to define what each team member likes and does well and strives to give them more of that kind of work. They’ll do it better than someone else, and it makes them happy. Tough to beat that kind of attitude when it comes to teamwork!

Our accounting team is a great example. We have two part time accountants working a job-share situation. They both do different pieces of the work, but they are a great fit for each other and for the type of work they do. Some companies would have turned them away because they wanted to work fluid, ever-changing part time schedules, but we found a synergy there that vastly outpaces what a single accountant could accomplish.

But you’re small!

I know, I know. We are a small company so we can bend the rules. However, if you have noticed, I used the example of one team/department, not the whole organization. And it’s certainly possible for one subset of employees to follow this model if their manager is willing to spend the time on it. I keep hammering culture fit and attitude. If you have two similarly qualified individuals, but one has enthusiasm and passion for the position, then harness that to make your team, department, and company better.

Have you ever managed a team and tried to fit the jobs to the people? Does your manager do it for you? 

Think offering competitive pay to candidates is a winning strategy? Think again. Sure, it might get someone in the door, but it won’t keep them for long if you don’t have a work environment that appeals to them on some level (more on what motivates employees from Daniel Pink).

As compensation budgets tighten and perks get cut across the board for many employers, the only differentiator many can turn to is their culture.

Competing on pay is a losing game. Compete on culture.

I’ve heard it said that candidates take the job for the money and stay for the culture. Anyone else think that’s true?

Take a peek at the culture

My friend and I were talking recently about how to determine an employer’s culture before you start working there. In the past we’ve both been burned by companies that looked good on the surface but eventually turned out to have a terrible culture of one sort or another.

Honestly, if it was foolproof, people wouldn’t be suckered into it as often as they do. And since my friend and I (and others) actually work in HR/recruiting, we should know better than anyone how to unearth this stuff, right?

Mindset change required

All too often when we’re looking for a new job we become blinded to the negative and would move over even if the hiring manager promised to kick us in the kidneys four times a day. I understand when you have no job that it’s important to take what you can get, but never settle for working at a company with a poor culture (or if the culture really isn’t “wrong,” but you just don’t fit in anyway). You’re giving them skills and experience that they can’t get from other candidates, and they’re trading that for money. Don’t forget that employment is a two way street!

Think about it. For many of the questions below, there are no “right” answers. Everyone appreciates different things about specific working environments, and what may appeal to you actually repulses others. Consider what the ideal work environment would be for you, and filter the responses through that. Oh, and several of these methods will require you to ask unorthodox questions of the hiring manager or recruiter, but it’s the price you pay if you’re going to be serious about finding the right culture fit for you.

14 Ways to determine the culture

1. Ask to interview an employee or two on what they enjoy about working there
2. Ask for a walkthrough of the office-listen for laughs and look for smiles; that says a lot about the work environment
3. Ask about previous people who held the position if you are replacing someone-find out what they did right and what they could’ve done better
4. Look at sites like Glassdoor.com for reviews by current or former employees
5. Keep in mind that there are “pockets” of culture within individual departments, so the overall company culture could differ from your specific work area-that’s why it’s important to try to do things like #1 and #2 above
6. Ask what sorts of behavior are rewarded and which are punished
7. Ask how (or if) news that affects the company is shared-does everyone learn of it at once or is it distributed to managers to trickle down to employees? Are they transparent?
8. Find out what sort of events the company holds for employees-is it a once a year Christmas party or are there monthly opportunities to celebrate with coworkers?
9. Ask if there are known slackers in the office and try to find out why they are still around (good luck with this one, but if you get a straight answer, you will have a leg up)
10. Ask about how difficult it is to get attention or funding for new ideas and initiatives-are they a “we’ve always done it that way” type of company?
11. Ask what the company’s overall mission/vision is. If a random employee can tell you (at least in general terms) it could signify a strong, unified workforce.
12. Ask about the dress code and other abrasive policies/details that, while palatable at first, can end up chafing you down the line
13. Find out if the company offers any sort of reimbursement or support for training, seminars, or college tuition. If they value smart employees who work to better themselves, they probably will.
14. Ask how previous employees who committed ethics violations were held accountable (general terms are fine to protect any guilty parties, but do they even care about ethics in the first place?)

So, what other ways do you know of that a candidate can use to discern a company’s corporate culture before deciding to take a job?

Recently I surveyed you guys on what you wanted to learn about organizational culture. Change was the highest response on the survey, so today I’m happy to present the Organizational Culture Change Manifesto. It’s a free guide that covers some of my perspectives on changing the culture at work. This is not exhaustive and I am planning to incorporate more into the upcoming book I’m writing, but I thought this would be a great place to start from.

Again, there’s more stuff coming soon, so stay tuned!

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