Culture Shock

“I disliked working with those people so much that I don’t even know if I hate doing this for a living or it was just those people at that place.”

This is something I have been told, on more than one occasion, by more than one person. Isn’t that sad? 

You have probably heard the expression, ‘people do not leave companies, people leave people.’ Well, it is true. Think about some of the jobs you have left. Your decision to leave may have been based on the fact that you were stuck working for someone who you just could not tolerate.

Now, imagine what it feels like to work someplace where you don’t fit in with the culture? Imagine going to work everyday and you feel like a complete outsider. Maybe everyone at the company has lived in the area for a long time. Maybe everyone in the company goes to the same church or has the same ethnic background. Of course there is nothing wrong with that, assuming
people who come in from the outside are not made to feel like well, uh gee, I
guess the word is OUTSIDERS.

It is a two-way street. A new person joining a group needs to take time to get to know the group. And certainly you don’t want to jump to any conclusions about that group. In turn, when you belong to a group who has been together for a long time OR shares lots of commonality, be sure to be open and inclusive to your new team members.

Not every company culture is right for every person, but let’s allow room for variety and that over used buzz word ‘diversity’. And if someone does decide to leave, let’s hope that we aren’t a miserable memory to them.