Page 176 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

spend a lot of money, but it feels rather staged. I am much
keener on regular small-scale events. They are far more e≠ective.
It could be having a massage bench in one of the rooms and
asking somebody to come in once a month to o≠er fifteen-
minute shoulder massages – nothing too grand, but it has an

impact, because it’s di≠erent, it’s fun.
In one of my organizations we will take a whole team
go-karting. Now, it’s not actually about the go-karting per se,

but about spending time together outside the working envi-
ronment, creating real friendships, strengthening the bonds
between people, letting them gel naturally. And say that Sally-
Ann from the production department gets the fastest time,
everybody now sees her in a completely di≠erent light. Or we’ll

go o≠ to a comedy club – £15 a head – just a bunch of us sitting
there for two and a half hours, laughing our heads o≠.
When somebody comes along for an interview, if they talk

to an employee in the company and ask them what it’s like
working there, the employee won’t talk about the job function,
they’ll say, ‘Oh, it’s great, last month we all went go-karting, and
you’ll never believe it, Sally-Ann from Production beat all the
boy racers hands down!’ Or, ‘On Friday we went to the Comedy

Club and we had such a laugh. We all came back and went to a
club afterwards.’ I’ve seen it happen time and time again. When
people interact and enjoy themselves, they want to talk about it,

because it stands out.
So, from your point of view, what can you do to establish
whether the culture of the company you want to join is a
culture you can relate to, a culture you can feel comfortable

164 get the job you really want