Is this employer right for you?
Who’s calling the shots?
In a perfect world, one where classical economic theory applies, there would always be an even balance between the supply of workers and the demand for them. Reality, boosted by increasing disruption, makes this increasingly rare. Thus there is continual fluctuation between whether the talent or the employer has the upper hand.
Clearly people with rare and in-demand skills can call the shots assuming would be employers are aware of their existence. This is why having a strong professional brand and good connections into the recruitment industry are important.
Let’s assume that you happen to be in the position where you can choose whom you work for. You will likely be looking to maximise the return on your time, ie your remuneration, and possibly acquire some new skills in the process.
Show me the money!
At the outset of my career, this was the extent to which I evaluated potential employers. My focus was purely on the economic aspects with little to no consideration given to cultural fit and so on. If the workplace was convivial then that was a bonus.
I now realise that the best workplaces are those that make us feel human.
It didn’t take long to realise that there were other factors of equal if not greater importance than remuneration, given that I would be spending a significant percentage of my lifeforce in the workplace.
Machine earning
In recent years, my work has involved studying organisations alongside other overlapping disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and human performance. I now realise that the best workplaces are those that make us feel human. A legacy of the industrial model is stressed workers, largely because it treats individuals more like machine components or resources than human beings.
The following is a list of themes I would encourage you to explore during the interview process. Even if you are not a high flyer and lack a plan B, at least you know what you are getting into.
- Autonomy – To what extent will I be in charge of the quality of my work?
- Sociality – Am I expected to spend my day in my cubicle / office, only engaging with others in matters related to the organisation?
- Mobility – To what extent is the workplace designed to encourage people to move, or do managers prefer people to eat at the desk?
- Work life integration – Will I be expected to suppress my personal life during office hours? Will I be expected to take emails at 2am?
- Creativity – Will I be expected to adhere rigidly to the process manual or are people encouraged to find new ways of doing things?
- Curiosity – To what extent are people encouraged to explore beyond the remit of their job specification?
- Purpose – Culturally, is there a common esprit de corps that goes beyond making the owners / shareholders rich?
- Courage – Will any attempts at constructively challenging the way the organisation works be met with disdain?
- Productivity – Will I be judged / remunerated by the time I spend working (or at least being seen to work) or by my outputs?
Good health!
These are key elements of what makes us human. The more of these that hold true, the more human we will feel working with this employer. Keep in mind that the less human we feel, the more anxious we become. That will ultimately affect our health and value creation capability.
Keep in mind that the less human we feel, the more anxious we become.
Creating human-friendly work environments is a win for all stakeholders. Just ensure that your next employer is enlightened enough to know that.
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