Culture matters.

My daughter is fairly new in the workforce; she’s working a couple of part-time jobs as she finishes college. It’s been interesting to watch how the atmosphere of the company and it’s culture impact her decision to remain there or find something else.

Generations X, Y and Z get a bad rap for being lazy and for being short-timers. But what if it’s not about being inherently motivated and more about being inspired to do more?

Cases in point. My daughter’s first job back after spending a semester abroad was at an animal shelter. I was skeptical about this one, but mostly because I can’t go into those places without being reduced to tears. (Bless those of you who can and who take care of those animals in need.) She didn’t last long there, but it wasn’t because the place made her sad. It was because they were unorganized and she has a very high need for order. Not the worst thing in the world to realize early in your career. Chaos is not appealing to her.

The next job was a fitness studio. She got free classes, and that’s the only thing that kept her there for any length of time. They screwed up her paperwork so that it took six weeks for her to get her first paycheck , they gave her very little training, and they left her to fend for herself almost immediately. She’s smart, she figured stuff out and made it work. There were free classes after all.

The reason she’s not there anymore has nothing to do with her pay or with her training though, it has to do with the culture. She’s a good worker. Give her a list of tasks and she will get it done. She figured out how to work the systems and ended up helping others. But the feedback she got for her efforts was less than satisfactory. After she spent the day detailing and cleaning machinery with a toothbrush (kill me now) and feeling pretty proud of her efforts, the owner on the company called her out on social media for leaving drops of water on the sink. Who does that? Way to motivate the team, oh clueless leader.

The owner’s propensity to shame people on Facebook aside, the reason my daughter left is because the managers talked about other people. She would hear about how other people doing her same job were terrible, lazy and dumb. She would hear gossip about the clients. They created a culture that left her feeling uncomfortable and unsupported. After all, if leaders are trashing others, what are they saying about her? Oh, right. She left water on the sink. Those machines were sparkling clean, but nothing was said about that on social media or even to her personally. That culture of blame made her quit after two months. It makes me wonder if the X, Y and Zers aren’t just smarter at realizing when there’s a cultural mismatch.

She still works two part-time jobs. She works at a different fitness studio, and although the work is fairly boring and the studio is a bit unorganized, people treat others with respect. That’s important, because she’ll get them organized if she stays long enough. This culture of respect is what keeps her there, not the pay, her schedule, or the free classes.

She just recently replaced the first fitness studio gig with a retail position. One of her friends works there. This friend recommended her to the manager and the store to her. Her friend described the store as a great place to work, a place she enjoyed going and where she felt her co-workers were family. That’s quite a recommendation! So far, my daughter is enthusiastic about the atmosphere there.

This culture microcosm has unfolded over the summer, and it’s reminded me of something critical – culture does matter. Culture of shame and blame? Expect turnover to be high. Culture of respect? Expect high productivity and your great employees recommending other great employees. Not much of a choice there.