how to find yourself a great place to work.
Everyone wants to get a job at a company where they feel great. You might think that means offering bean bag chairs, snazzy coffee machines or pizza Fridays. These are nice perks but to find a meaningful place to work, look beyond the perks into having a CEO who inspires you, being given the career progression opportunities you deserve, or thriving in an environment that supports you for being you. Here are some indicators of what makes a company a great place to work and how you can spot these companies when choosing your next employer.
assess the company culture
Your alignment with a company’s culture can usually determine your sense of feeling like you belong at that organization, plus how well you would fit in with the team.
A company’s social media pages can usually provide a glimpse into the culture of the organization. From the tone of voice used in updates to the pictures uploaded, a company’s social media informs you of its values, mission and focus. For instance, at Randstad Sourceright, we photos of our team on our @rsrglobal Instagram account. These are often images of company outings, team achievements or employee recognitions — snapshots that demonstrate our human forward focus.
You should also look at a company’s careers website. This ought to give you an idea of what it’s like to work at that company. Ideally, the company should communicate its vision and the brand it is recognized for. Read any personal anecdotes from current employees. From what you see, could you imagine integrating easily within this type of environment? An appealing and suitable company culture is what makes an employer go from an “okay place to work” to a “great place to work.”
how engaging is senior management?
The best leaders will know that, in order to engage their current employees and potential talent, they will need to reach out to them personally. Savvy job seekers want an authentic connection with all members of their team. This includes team leaders, who can no longer hide behind closed doors and remain an enigma.
Do a little research into the leaders of a business. Perhaps they write careers advice blogs online, provide thought leadership on their personal LinkedIn accounts or get involved in industry discussions. Maybe they go to recruitment fairs, industry networking events and so forth. If they have a strong, engaging public presence, they may be an inspiring individual to work with.
get a feel for progression opportunities
Would this company allow you to flourish to your full potential? The best places to work keep their staff’s career goals in mind. They want to help you develop and make sure that you are continually moving forward.
Career progression and learning and development opportunities are often key criteria on many review sites such as Glassdoor, so do some digging around. Great employers are enthusiastic about developing their staff. They understand that a satisfied team is a productive one, so keep an eye out on the company website too.
You can also research the company’s existing employees on LinkedIn. How long have they all been with the organization? Have they progressed much internally? If people stay with the business, that’s another indicator that this company will likely reward your hard work and be a great place to work.
look into their CSR strategy
A company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy is a reflection of how much they adhere to business and social ethics. Who are their charity partnerships? What programs do they have in place to give back to the community?
A company with a clear CSR policy provides its people with the opportunity to make a difference to society, whether it’s through helping implement a greener workplace initiative or getting involved in charity activities. Have a look on the company website, social media and press releases for evidence of this kind of activity. Is its CSR strategy in line with your principles and ethics? Do you feel like you could give something back if you were to work there?
think about your work purpose
During day-to-day life in this role, would you feel like your job had value? Would you have a reason for being there besides needing to pay the bills? Ultimately, would you feel like you were contributing to something bigger within your professional environment?
Whether it’s the company’s vision, its products and services, or contributions to the industry as a whole, you want to find a company that sparks your enthusiasm and makes you want to get involved in what it is doing. A truly great company to work for will give you an innate sense of purpose and a reason to get up in the morning.
evaluate work-life balance
Lastly, look for a company that provides and actively supports a healthy work-life balance. A company can provide all the freebies and perks in the world, but if leadership expects you to stay in the office until 11 p.m. every night, it’s just not worth it!
Not only does reviewing job sites such as Glassdoor provide a good way to see what current and past employees have to say about the culture overall, often one of the main things you can glean is the work-life balance.
At Randstad Sourceright, we feature our employees on our website through “Making Work Meaningful” stories. Take a moment to peruse some of our team’s testimonials to learn how they balance work and get tips on how you can too.
In short, carefully assessing a company’s best attributes beyond the short-term novelties is essential to not just your career journey, but also your well-being. You want to feel fulfilled and purposeful and know you are always moving toward your goals within a culture that is the right fit for you. With this in mind, use the above criteria as a checklist during your job search, and don’t settle for anything less than a truly great place to work!