By Cheryl L. Mason, J.D.
The three qualities distinguish great companies from average ones are leadership engagement, employee recruitment, and customer satisfaction.
Leadership engagement means the leader is visible and accessible both externally and internally. Some leaders are good at showing up at popular or public events, but they don’t show up when the heat is on. You can bet these leaders are showing for their people internally either. In fact, these leaders often don’t show up and support when things are going well.
Employee recruitment is one of the best qualities you can find in a great organization. The employees talk about how fantastic the organization and leadership as well as the benefits of working there. The organization rarely need to recruit because employees refer their friends and talk about it on social media. Great organizations know how valuable their employees are!
Customer satisfaction is key. If customers are satisfied regardless of outcome, that is a sure sign of a great organization. Customers prefer to be right but they absolutely want to be heard. Customers rarely recommend bad organizations, because their opinion carries weight with their friends.
The three ways to assess a company’s culture before accepting a job include employee retention, leadership reputation, and who is interviewing you.
If employee turnover is high, this can signal poor employee support and development. People do not stay where they are not valued. Oh, the job might sound interesting and the pay might be great but ask yourself – why are people leaving?
This might indicate bad leadership or poor reputation. If the leaders are driving for results and setting unsustainable expectations, this will not lead to good development and growth. Some might see it as a gauntlet and that may be but at what cost to you?
Finally, who is interviewing you? This is often where the first red flag appears. If your interview is with Human Resources who nothing about the job you will be doing, walk away …quickly. If the organization does not value a potential employee enough to invest a bit of time by having someone who knows the work interview you and talk with you, that is a good indication that the company will not value you as an employee. This is a significant red flag.
You as an employee have choices and you want to be valuable and add impact – as you should.
Remember, you are interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you!
Relational leadership and management authority Cheryl L. Mason, J.D. is a TEDx speaker, author and CEO and Chief Catalyst of Catalyst Leadership Management—a firm helping CEOs, senior leaders, companies and teams lead with authenticity and empathy while leveraging strategy, analytics, vision and change management to realize record-breaking results. As the fourth Presidentially-appointed, Senate-confirmed—and the first woman and military spouse—to serve as the CEO /Chairman of the VA Board of Veterans’ Appeals, The Honorable Cheryl L. Mason has a proven track record of leading with an impactful morale-boosting, trust-based, people-centric approach. Mason also authored the acclaimed book “Dare to Relate: Leading with a Fierce Heart” centered on cultivating strong workforce relationships, She can be reached online
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
