For those who work.....

[gimmethesimplelife]

How important is fitting into workplace culture to you, and how important is it that you make some effort to do so wherever it is that you work in order to retain your job? I consider myself very lucky on this one as I work for a progressive LA-Based employer whose values overall align with mine. I'm also fortunate to be in a production based environment that is fast paced, where there is little time for chit chat and little time (overall) for politics (though to be honest since I work with other humans, politics does exist where I work - just not to an obnoxious level). Rob

[herbgeek]

It has been sometimes critical in jobs past, but largely irrelevant now as I work from home full time. There just isn't much chit chat that isn't directly work related, unlike when someone walks by your cube and stops to chat, or you see someone at the coffee machine.

In past jobs, I'd go out to lunch to fit in once in a while, but almost never after work hours (maybe just the holiday party or someone's farewell party if I was close to them). I'd pay attention to politics, as I could also influence them by being in the office. Doing that sort of thing as a remote worker just looks like I'm trying too hard. I used to watch the conference rooms, and who was invited to meetings and the like, to understand what the currents were. Now I don't know and really don't care unless I'm blatantly being left of things I know I should be at.

[Gardenarian]

It's very important to me.

Librarians tend to share similar values and world views, but there have been a couple of jobs where the corporate culture irked me. I don't work well in a strong authoritarian environment, with a rigid chain of command.

I quit those jobs, never looked back. My experience has made it easy for me to quickly find other, more suitable, jobs. Ive been, overall, very lucky in my career. I've never been without work in 35 years.

I've generally found my co-workers to be thoughtful and congenial.

[pinkytoe]

I worked at a large, public university where differences and eccentric folk were appreciated so I was always comfortable in that environment. Additionally, I never noticed all the divisions of political ideology that seem to exist in everyday culture now.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I think it's extremely important, I'd almost say it's everything. It's the way to keep a job. Ok of course doing the work usually still matters, but if you are in an environment where fitting in the culture is high priority doing the work will not save you. Some environments it will be less priority to fit in of course. How does one know what environment they are in? Well there may be clues but generally it's impossible without being there a long time! So therefore one should always default to trying to fit in.

I don't give a @#$# if an employer considers themselves progressive, what does that even mean? Things are not decided on some abstract level like that. That's all the thin veneer of PR. Things are decided on the level of actual office politics and company culture etc. which is an entirely different animal.

[JaneV2.0]

I always thought "corporate culture" was an oxymoron.
I tended to operate as far under the radar as I could; it worked.

[LDAHL]

I find that as long as the accounts balance I don’t need to worry about anyone’s opinion on art or politics.

[oldhat]

I always thought "corporate culture" was an oxymoron.
I tended to operate as far under the radar as I could; it worked.

Ditto. I maintain a low profile, strive for adequacy and keep to the middle of the pack. I actually kind of like the company I work for--that is, as much as I can like any organization I know would defenestrate me in a heartbeat if it served their purposes. Although I've seldom socialized with my colleagues, I've found them mostly to be very nice people. I've heard and read the horror stories about bosses from hell, backstabbing coworkers, pressure to put in unpaid overtime, etc., but I've never experienced anything like that here. I don't think this is entirely due to exceptionally enlightened management, but more likely is because it's a brain-powered company, and most of its employees have options, so management has to treat us with a modicum of decency.

[Simplemind]

With ours if you were not part of the culture you didn't last. You didn't get to decide if you wanted to or not. You were either accepted as part of the group or it became so uncomfortable that you left. When it was good it was glorious when it was bad it was horrible.

[catherine]

I think it's extremely important, I'd almost say it's everything. It's the way to keep a job.

Unfortunately, that's probably true. Most places I've worked in I've genuinely liked the people I was working with, so it wasn't a matter of faking it or working to be part of the culture--although I sometimes felt like a fish out of water with regards to some of the consumerist values of many of my coworkers. But that never got in the way of my being able to fit in. But I have worked in places that just weren't the right fit and it's brutal.