Navigating Company Culture

Understanding Culture

It is important to understand Culture: Your Environment for People at Work — Its values, gatekeepers, history and traditions. This can be challenging when first entering the job market post-graduation but not insurmountable. Understanding where you work can help prepare you for upward mobility, a transition to another unit, or a change in career. We will discuss how you can begin to understand the culture of your job, operate in it, and receive support.

• Focus on developing relationships. Start with speaking to colleagues in your unit about their work. Ask them about their role at the company. Specifically, seek to learn how long have they been employed at the company, what their current job entails, and position(s) they may have held prior to this role. This may help you better understand your work and how your role fits into the company as a whole. Focus on listening. Aim not to interrogate your colleagues. Be sure to thank them for their time.
• 4 Essential Keys to Understanding Your Company's Culture — Your goals should be able to analyze priorities, inquire about company culture and look to your leaders.

Building Community

Community can be an important factor to your success. Affinity groups can be a resource for learning and support at your organization and possible networking. We will discuss affinity groups, its role and establishing structure for its success.

• What Are Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)? — Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with the organizations they serve
• Affinity Groups in the Workplace — Understand benefits and legal considerations of affinity groups
• A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting an Affinity Group at Work — Creating inclusivity at your workplace if an affinity group does not exist by developing clear goals, including remote staff, understanding roles for its members and creating a structure for its success.

Navigating Difficult Dialogue

As you progress in your career, you will find that difficult dialogue is everywhere. Conflict is a healthy and necessary part of our career and personal growth. Although we have established the tools to address simple conflict, it is important to be able to dialogue when the concern is related to diversity and inclusion.

• A 5-step Framework for Mastering Difficult Conversations at Work — Importance of self-awareness, vulnerability, discussion for how not to recreate the issues at hand.
• A Model for Talking about Culturally Sensitive and Controversial Topics at Work — Emphasis on dialogue over debate, uses IGD framework.
• Understanding your resources when conversation is not productive.

Being a Change Agent

Now that you understand where you work — What next?

• How To Infuse Social Justice Action into Your Workplace — Setting clear company culture that values inclusion, reflecting inclusion in the artwork you choose in the office, understanding that the work is hard and needed to make progress.
• We’re Entering the Age of Corporate Social Justice — Creation of goals, understanding of history, strategically creating working groups, evaluating progress towards goals.