Megan Riksen:

Hello and welcome to the Work Like Laker podcast. My name is Megan Riksen. And to kick us off today, I want to start by asking my co-host Grace Pushman, a question related to our topic. So Grace, how would you describe the culture here in the GVSU Career Center?

Grace Pushman:

I love our culture. I feel like that's a big part of why we all like working here. Yeah. And there's not a lot of turnover in our office. And I think partly it's because of the culture here. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, which I think is, you know, established by the director, Troy Farley. Mm-hmm <affirmative> and then reinforced by the supervisors and everyone else in our office. And I think, you know, there's a lot of trust in our office where people feel that they can take risks, be creative, you know, I think like this podcast is an example. Carlos, our former colleague, he had this idea and Troy was like, Sure, give it a try. He let Carlos, you know, get some equipment. And him and Megan started this podcast and I, you know, I think that that is part of this culture of just mm-hmm <affirmative>, um, innovation and being free to, to take risks and yeah. So I think that's a big theme in our office. And just like the camaraderie. I agree.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. Yeah. I think definitely the camaraderie. I mean we have fun at work. Yes. And then we also try, you know, to do some things where we meet up for lunch, we do a family picnic in the summer where everybody can bring their kids or their dog or whatever. Um, I think those things go a long way as well. Why it's fun to work here.

Grace Pushman:

Exactly. Mm-hmm.

Megan Riksen:

<affirmative>. Yeah. Good. So last season we had talked about how to recognize a toxic workplace culture, but how do you know how to avoid one in the first place? How do you find a positive workplace culture? Or what if you just want to know about the everyday expectations of your work environment? So that's what we're really gonna be diving in today, essentially. How can you gather information about a workplace culture before even stepping foot into that organization?

Grace Pushman:

So first of all, what is workplace culture? So the definition of workplace culture is the norms, attitudes, values, personality and missions of an organization. Factors that influence workplace culture can include leadership styles, management structure, practices and policies, the physical workspace, the mission, vision and values of the organization. Communication styles and the personalities of people working at the organization. Different workplaces may be a better fit for your personality, interests and career goals. So it's important to determine if organizations you're looking at will be a good fit for you.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, for sure. So important. So there are several different workplace environment types. So you can imagine that a traditional corporate environment is going to have a very different workplace culture compared to a startup that has three people compared to an educational setting like Grand Valley, which has a ton of employees. But we all are a little bit segmented by the offices we work in. And Grace and I were just talking about that as there's definitely an overall culture at GVSU as an employee here, but there is, you know, kind of that microcosm culture here in the Career Center as well. Yeah. Which we feel actually is the, I mean it's the most salient for me. It's the most important to me. Yes. Yeah. So, um, I love working at Grand Valley and I've been here over a decade, so clearly, um, that's a good sign of a good workplace environment.

Megan Riksen:

Um, I also have worked at a bank mm-hmm. <affirmative> before, so that's another, um, you know, kind of workplace culture that I can compare this to. I was only there for a year, um, and I was in a customer facing role. Um, but you know, we definitely, in terms of what we were wearing, had to dress a little bit more professionally. Right. A little more on the business, um, business professional side I would say. Um, and it was a pretty small environment cause I was just at one of the branches. Um, so it was hard for me to get a sense for what the corporate environment at that bank would be like. But I do know that, um, you know, it was a good environment to work with. I really liked the people I worked with. We all got along really well. Um, you know, there were times where I wouldn't, I didn't necessarily feel super supported in terms of kind of what my next step would be. So that would kind of be a critique. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, as it kind of felt like once you were in kind of that customer relationship, customer facing role, that's kind of where people stayed and not many people would kind of make the jump over to a different department. So I don't know what that necessarily says about the culture, but it definitely wasn't one where it was like, let's try to, you know, give you professional development and build you up and we see potential in you kind of a thing.

Grace Pushman:

And that is something we're gonna talk about later today because that is an important factor in company culture.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, absolutely. Do you have an example Grace?

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. So I can think of, um, when I was working in Phoenix, I was a teacher for three years there and the, the district I was working for is the largest district in uh, Phoenix. It might be Arizona in general, but I know for sure Phoenix. We had 19 schools and there was 150 new teachers the year that I started. Oh my gosh. And so part of the culture, there was an extremely supportive culture of new teachers because they, every year they had so many, so there were mentors put in place for us. We had a lot of support, we had a lot of camaraderie between the new teachers because we would do like a week basically orientation before our school started. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> that really helped us, like make friends. And it was a really great environment I think, to be a new teacher.

Grace Pushman:

And so I really enjoyed that. And then the actual culture of my school, kind of like you were saying with the career center versus Grand Valley as a whole, you know, my school had a different culture than maybe some of the other schools in the, in the district and we were um, I feel like it was a very collaborative environment where, you know, my team worked really well together and we were able to also be kind of laid back there because it was Arizona, it was hot. We could wear maybe less formal clothing than what I wore when I was a teacher in Michigan. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So that was a piece of it too because of the climate, the environment. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and then also just, you know, I think to me who is in charge is such a big part of culture. Yes.

Grace Pushman:

And um, we had a great principal who was really supportive and I think in jobs, really in any job it's important to have a, a supervisor or a boss who will have your back. And so I think that that was definitely established as well there, which was um, great to be in. Even though we both have experience working in different types of environments, we thought it would be nice to hear from people in different organizations. We were lucky enough to have some of our employers share their work environments with us. First up we've got Erin McLaughlin, a recruiter at Auto-Owners Insurance. Let's hear what Erin has to say about their company culture.

Erin McLaughlin:

If you ask anyone at Auto-Owners the best part about working here, they're extremely likely to say the people. We truly believe we have some of the best people working here. And that's because they're dedicated, hardworking, caring, and supportive. We have a family feel to our atmosphere and we keep that in place with several of our company's 10 core values. Number one is honesty. You can't have a caring atmosphere if people can't be honest with one another. One work culture feature that is something meaningful we do for auto owners associates is promoting from within whenever possible. We wanna give qualified candidates an opportunity to grow and build really an entire career with us. And it's why another one of our 10 core values is opportunities for associates. It's number seven actually my personal favorite also. And what it means is we tend to hire new talent primarily into entry-level positions and we grow this talent from there.

Erin McLaughlin:

Those deserving are then promoted to new roles and maybe even leading their own teams one day. That's a step they envision for themselves. Another great thing about promoting from within is that it gives us leaders that understand transparency and they understand authenticity. So a definite source of pride for Auto-Owners is our open door policy among our leadership. Any associate can approach their leadership team with a question, an idea, or a suggestion at any time. Our management is encouraged to have touchpoints, things like one-on-one meetings with their associates. So we have that regularly provided support and collaboration and that approachability, it's not just limited to frontline supervisors. Any leader of any level is directly accessible by anyone in the organization. So some quick examples. Our new hires often meet with the senior vice president of their division when they join the company. We also frequently have meetings or discussions with the officers of our areas and really get to know our leaders as people.

Erin McLaughlin:

Another quality quite unique to the auto-owners work culture is that we have never laid off an associate in the hundred and five years we've been in business. Few companies can say they've never laid off a single person and even fewer can say this has remained true for over a century. And this absolutely speaks to the loyalty we feel toward our associates. And you guessed it, loyalty is another one of those core values. In addition to caring for our associates, we do strive to support our local communities as much as we can. We emphasize philanthropy and encourage associates to donate their time or money because auto owners is a place where we care about people, including those who are most in need. So bottom line people are our most valuable resource when it comes to ensuring our future success. So we make sure the Auto-Owners work culture values people and that shows up in every decision we make and everything we do.

Megan Riksen:

We also got an inside look into Fifth Wheel Freight. Our next clip is from Josh Brawley who is FWF's Chief Operating Officer. Josh works closely with the executive team to foster growth and development there. So let's listen to his perspective on workplace culture.

Josh Brawley:

Describing FWFs culture is something that's difficult. It's much easier to see. Um, when you walk into our our walls, it's something that you actually feel, You see the energy on the floor, people talking to their neighbors, enjoying what they're doing, enjoying the work that is in front of them. And at the same time realizing that they're not only providing an awesome opportunity to grow their own career, but also their neighbor's career. Something that we say in here often is not only do it for yourself, but do it for your neighbor and do it for the person that you haven't met yet. If we can attack each and every single day with our mindset that I'm gonna be able to provide an opportunity for folks that haven't even had a chance to walk into our door, it allows me to attack my work in a way that's not just for myself, but for others as well.

Grace Pushman:

So how do I know I want to work for a company if I've never worked there before? There are a few ways that you can learn about company culture before accepting a job offer. First you wanna research their website. You might find, uh, pictures of like them in the community. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, see if they have any values that are community oriented. Yep. Look at their mission statement. If they have one, you can sometimes maybe they have a blog you can kind of really dig deep in there. Yeah. You really can. Not only will that help with company culture, it also helps with the interviewing process

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. For sure. Yeah. And I would say social media kind of. Yes. Alongside that.

Grace Pushman:

Yes. 100%. A lot of companies now have their own social media, which, um, a little trick. If you scroll down to the bottom of a website, often it'll be listed at the very bottom. So that's where you can kind of find their Instagram page if they have one. And things

Megan Riksen:

Really easy. I mean, remember that, that's obviously a very curated version of the company, but it will give you a sense like, is this a super fun creative place or is it a little more buttoned up? You can definitely get a sense for a brand.

Grace Pushman:

Good place to start. Another one would be to do some informational interviews with employees there, um, or even people who have previously worked there. So a couple of examples of that on Handshake, actually, there's a really neat feature if you look up a company through the employers tab, you can then see other students who have worked there mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And so usually it's students who maybe worked there for internships. So they might know, they may no longer be there, but you can still message them on Handshake and ask them about their experience and just maybe ask a really broad question like what was your experience like there? Yeah. Or how would you describe the culture there? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And that gives you a sense too. Um, and there's also on handshake reviews that students can leave to talk about what their experience was like. So that can be helpful. And then also you might reach out to people on LinkedIn who currently work there mm-hmm. <affirmative> to see what their experience is like mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Uh, and then finally during the interview you can ask questions. Um, and we'll focus more about that later on about what questions you might ask.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, absolutely. I think that kind of informational interview concept or you know, you might call it a reverse interviewing, um, is certainly a really key element to figuring out what a culture is actually like because yeah, like I said, you can look at the curated content on Instagram, you can see their beautiful website, you can read their values, which I mean, I don't think I've ever come across a set of values that I was like, No, disagree, I disagree with your values. No, they're always pretty mild. Right. Um, I mean, not that they're not important, I think you still can definitely get a sense for an organization, but I think when you talk to an actual human there that is, you know, just so much more helpful cuz they can give you a lot of that information of what it really feels like. Yeah. When you're physically there or remotely there. So, All right. So let's maybe jump in to some of the questions that, um, you can ask to learn about workplace culture.

Grace Pushman:

Great. Yeah. Yeah. So question one, A good question you could ask is how would you describe the company culture, which is pretty straightforward. Yeah. Um, and that's sometimes the best question to learn about the culture, and it's the most direct one. If the responses are hesitant, nervous, or uncertain, it may indicate that a company culture is lacking. So they probably won't, My guess is they won't say anything overtly negative in the interview. Of course not. Yeah. But you can read that body language Yes. To see if maybe they're acting a little bit off when you ask that question.

Megan Riksen:

Do they seem a little uncomfortable? Exactly.

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. Yeah. Question two, uh, our next question, we was suggested actually by Erin at Auto Owner's Insurance.

Erin McLaughlin:

Do you have an example you can share of a time someone made a mistake or failed at something?

Grace Pushman:

This can give insight into company culture by seeing what support employees are provided. We all make mistakes, so seeing how a recruiter answers the question can give insight into what supports and structures the company has for supporting you and your learning while on the job. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then for question three is the question, what opportunities exist for professional and career development? If you value a role that incorporates personal growth or the opportunity, opportunity to advance this question can give you information about what the company provides in terms of training, conference funding or promotion op opportunities, which is kind of hitting back to what we talked about earlier.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah, for sure. And I will say when I've done interviews, when I've been on the side interviewing people, I really like that question because it's a great indicator that that person wants to get better and Yeah. Wants to develop. Um, so that one is kind of covering a few bases. You're gonna get a lot of good information by asking it, but it also is, is, you know, showing something about probably your work ethic and what you're gonna be like as an employee. Good point.

Megan Riksen:

All right. So our next question then was provided by Josh at Fifth Wheel Fight.

Josh Brawley:

What are they doing to give back to the community? Um, we partner with Kids Food Basket, American Cancer Society, and those partnerships allow our team members to get interactive with the community that they're a part of, and thank them for the opportunities that the community provides. Um, doing things like that really kind of shows that a company's not only worried about profit and revenue, and at the end of the day, they're worried about supporting a community that supports them.

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. So this can provide good insight into the company's values and how they interact with the surrounding community that you would be working in and likely living in. Um, and especially if that's a value for you, that's a really good thing to hopefully have a conversation with, um, in that interview if they, you know, are able to kind of tell you what they're involved in and you can start to insert yourself there as well. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, our next question is what qualities constitute a good manager and reporting staff relationship? So this question really can help provide insight into the type of relationship you'll be expected to have with a supervisor, as well as what qualities are valued. So if they're bringing up communication style, if they're saying, we're super transparent here, if they're saying there isn't much of a hierarchy, our doors are always open. Those sorts of things, um, can be good indicators of what it will actually be like when you, um, kind of step in and have a manager that you're working with and eventually, um, when you might be a leader of some of the people there yourself and the expectations. Our next question was also provided by Erin at Auto-Owners.

Erin McLaughlin:

How are teams supported and motivated?

Megan Riksen:

So similar to question five, this question can provide insight into the type of relationship you'll be expected to have with your colleagues, as well as what, as well as what supports exist for team projects. And it can also give insight into the expectations of leadership and how much support they'll be able to provide. So I, you know, I think as we mentioned, that's something we really value here in the Career Center, is that we feel supported to take risks to try new things.

Grace Pushman:

Yeah. I, I can't, I can't stress that enough that that's I think, really important in a job, right? To have leadership that believes in you and trusts you.

Megan Riksen:

So listen closely, right. To yeah. To their response, um, of how they support their people. Does it feel like a surface level response, or do they maybe have some good examples to kind of back up what they're saying?

Grace Pushman:

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. All right. We have three questions left. The next one is, what are your company values? Office culture is often rooted in company values. So listen for the values that you feel you need, and don't be afraid to ask for how they see the value playing out in their day to day, which I think is important. Get some like tangible kind of evidence of how they implement those values.

Megan Riksen:

And if they just give you a list of five values without any support for what those mean, ask a follow up question, right? Yes. Like, so how does that play out in the workday? You know, Exactly. Anything, um, to kind of get them talking a little bit more, which always will give you more insight if they are able to tell stories or give examples.

Grace Pushman:

And it, and it makes for a better interview too, if you can get them chit chatting with you. Yes. And that leads us to the next question, which I is one of my favorites. What makes you proud to work here? And one of the reasons why I love it so much is because not only are you going to get some great insight into that company culture, but also you'll give them a chance to really speak on behalf of their company mm-hmm. <affirmative> and why they love it. And I think, you know, hopefully you'll see your interviewer's face light up, hopefully, and like have them share something that they really mm-hmm. <affirmative> enjoy about their company. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and again, if you're not seeing that, if they're kind of hesitant, that might be a good sign that, ooh, maybe there's some issues here.

Megan Riksen:

So Right. At least it might warrant a follow-up question if you're getting a weird vibe or something. Yes,

Grace Pushman:

And then finally our last question is, what's one thing you would change about the company if you could? Which again, I think that's a great reflective question to let your interviewer really think on that and, and try to find something that they can talk about. And that can give you a sense of maybe what's something that could be challenging for you if you work there, and let you know if you know, you can accept that, if you're okay with that. Yeah, yeah,

Megan Riksen:

Yeah. Absolutely. Great. So we just wanna thank Erin and Josh so much for their contributions to this episode. It is really helpful to hear, um, what different workplace cultures are actually like, and hopefully it's motivating all of you listening to start digging into some of those things, um, as you kind of go through a job search process or, you know, I would say even well before that, you know, as a freshman you can be doing some of this research and figuring out, Ooh, I really like this company. I'm gonna put them on my radar. I'm gonna talk to them at career fairs early on. So I think there's, there's a lot of good stuff you can do here. So that's it for today. Thank you everyone for listening, and we hope you tune in to a future episode soon.