The culture of a firm covers a multitude of things.
Why is cultural fit so important in the work place? And how do you find the right fit?
This month: Does my firm’s culture help me?
Some offices are ghost ships by 6pm. Some are still thriving hubs. Some have locked the doors! Every firm is different and so is their culture.
The official definition given by the Cambridge Dictionary for corporate culture is: “the beliefs and ideas that a company has and the way in which they affect how it does business and how its employees behave”
The important thing is to find a culture that fits with your own. If you are IT savvy and want to be using the best systems out there to help you do your job then a firm with a laissez-faire attitude to IT implementation and utilisation is going to be really hard for you. If you are driven and determined to be the best whilst your colleagues are happy to do a satisfactory job then equally you will be frustrated. These work in reverse too, if you are working to live surrounded by an office of people who live to work you may quickly feel despondent. There are firms who pride themselves on being at either end of this scale. It is finding the right balance for you and your own personal circumstances.
Psychometric testing at interview is becoming more popular and whilst it might seem daunting there is no right or wrong answers its just about aiding the process of matching people together.
So, this month have a think about your current firm, does its culture fit with your own or are you on separate pages? We have always been asked by firms to find the right personality to fit with the culture of the firm and the team and by operating as a third party we have gained a good overview of the reality of working within the law firms locally.
