Page 175 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

Joining the culture club

Now company culture doesn’t just happen, it has to be created.
The organization needs to understand what sort of culture they

are trying to create. What is the personality of the organization?
And once that culture has been created, what are they doing to
maintain it?

Is the company a good place to come and work in? Often it
is the smallest, the most basic things that contribute to that. Is
there a kitchen in the o≤ce? Is there a toaster? Some people like
coming in early. When they do, can they make their own break-
fast? All this is part of the culture of the company.

If you look at Google, their whole environment is about the
Google culture. When you turn up for an interview at Google,
they’re not even selling the brand, they’re selling the culture.

It’s all very relaxed, everybody’s dressed casually, there’s a
pool table in the corner . . . To my mind, that culture didn’t just
happen. Nobody got up in the morning and found it had arrived
by its own volition. The company clearly thought about the kind
of people they wanted. They said, ‘People perform well when

they are happy. People perform well when they are chilled.
People perform better because they’ve got friends and they
like who they work with.’ The whole culture of Google is based

around that.
I have come across many companies where the directors
think that creating company culture is all to do with holding an
annual conference, or the Christmas do. They plan a big event,

163 pleasure