A few years ago, our industry was going through downturn and our company as well had difficult time. There were lots of pressure from the top management down and people on the ground were not very happy. On top of that, hiring has been extremely challenging as the image of the industry on the campus was not very glorious. During one of the leadership quarterly call, a senior manager asked the CEO a question, “What do you think we should do to make the company cool again?” (What a great question! And yes, we used to be a very cool company that many top talents are eager to be part of). I do not remember what exactly the answer was at the time but it was not very inspiring. In my recent pursuit of the next chapter of my career, I kept asking myself, which company/organization I dream to be part of (or to create), and it has to be cool! But what really defines the cool?
This brings me back to the “engagement model” I developed many years ago when I worked in HR, and it boils down to 4 key questions:
- Is this the type of organization that I would like to work for?
- Do I like the work I am doing?
- Do I like the people I am working with?
- Am I equipped, recognized and have the opportunity to advance?
Organization
Being proud to be working for an organization is the starting point. The ideal scenario would be, you are so eagerly and proudly talking to your friends about who you are working for. Following are more granular elements to evaluate this area:
- A leader in the industry with great reputation
- Compelling vision and strategy to go get it
- Socially responsible that is actively involved in the communities for the greater good
- Working environment (office, equipment, perks, etc)
- Culture (this is a bigger topic)
Work
Job content is the essential factor for achieving sense of achievements day to day. In more details, you have to ask yourself the following questions:
- Is the work valuable (sense of achievements, read this to get some idea of what’s valuable work and what is not 😎)?
- Is the work interesting (align with passion)?
- Is the working challenging (scope of work, responsibilities, etc)?
- Can the work be done with proper organizational support (opportunity to be autonomous and be creative)?
People
Everywhere you go, probably “the pack” is a great reflection of whether this is a cool one or not. Particularly for me, I gain a lot of energy (positively or negatively) from the people I am working with. Many of my close friends were my colleagues.
- Great Leaders (who cares about people not just himself/herself)
- Collaborative Peers (less nonsense political battles)
- Competent and Supportive Teams (quality not quantity)
- Interesting Customers (great problem to solve and can be satisfied with great work)
Recognition
People are socially connected, and everybody want to be recognized in a way or another. Although different people are motivated by different things, but largely they all fall into the following categories:
- Compensation and Benefits
- Fair Performance Evaluation
- Fair Promotion System
- Career Advancement Opportunity
- Learning Opportunity
- Feedbacks from managers and peers
- Senior manager recognition
After all, the decision of where you chose to spend large part of your life is a serious decision, and never enough time and energy to spend to evaluate and be selective… I wish everybody find their own cool place to be and stay cool!
Bin's Blog 