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European company cultures

Jan 5th, 2010
by Farhan.

I’ve been reading Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization (note I’ve started using Amazon Affiliate links on my blog posts as a trial) on my iPod this week, I’m really enjoying the book but I can’t help but think about where all the international examples of great companies/leaders/tribes are?

This is especially needed when it comes to tech companies. I found a piece on the Sunday Times discussing the best 100 companies to work for in the UK and the best 20 big companies to work for. The sad thing is that most of the good big companies are American or headquartered in some other country. What gives? The highest rated technology company in the UK is Telefonica, seriously?

Comparing this list to Forbes list of 100 US companies, there NetApp, Google, Cisco and Adobe all make the top 15.

I’m surprised by this. Surely there are more great companies to work for in Europe. Surely the best companies to work for in the UK are not big American companies, are they?

Are companies in the UK just not that bothered about culture? Or is there a deeper issue here where companies don’t really know how to foster environments where people are happy about work.

I’m really hoping to put a lot of the philosophies outlined in Tribal Leadership to the test when I start a company later, but I’m scratching my head wondering are there not other companies doing this right now? I’m wondering if the next generation of companies, for example the companies on the Telegraph’s growth list, are changing the way British companies are approaching culture in the workplace or maybe I’m just being optimistic.

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Posted in: business, entrepreneurship, marketing.

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  • Hey Farhan,

    I am curious what the criteria was that got these companies on those lists to begin with?

    Many times when a company is "listed" as a great place to work, the HR team has likely submitted an application to be "listed." This seems to be the case for most print publications.

    We just went through this at my work place and were named one of the Toronto Stars GTA's Top 90 Employers. The criteria on which we won (derservedly so) had more to do with certain employee incentives and programs that we have the resources to support. It really didn't have much to do with the actual culture of our organization or our outstanding leadership. (Both which make my workplace phenomenal but were not criteria.)

    Happy day,

    Faiza
  • Hi Faiza,

    Congrats on the award.

    The criteria used differs between the Times and the Fortune list, but both have overall stats (like average salary, voluntary turnover etc) as well as employee surveys (asking things about the leadership and what not) and benefits offered (job share, telecommuting, services like gyms, nurseries/Crèche, etc).

    You can find the criteria used under the lists themselves.

    Regardless of criteria, it's a shame that there aren't more European companies in general and specifically (at least in my opinion) EU tech companies on the Times list.
  • in your experience what is the culture like in EU tech companies?
    i've only worked for Canadian non-profits so the culture is probably very different.
  • Here in Europe, like elsewhere, it's a real mix.

    You have a lot of big mobile companies that could be confused for big consultancies (companies like Vodafone, Telefonica, T-mobile etc). Not a lot of appetite for risk, analysis paralysis type environments.

    Some smaller companies have great fun atmospheres, companies like Moo.

    Some smaller companies can still be hierarchical and bureaucratic

    But no one seems to be really using their excellent culture and working environment as a competitive advantage here - like Zappos totally does in the US.
  • Vinay
    Farhan,
    Interesting post. My view is that the importance of a "company" culture is less important here than in the US, for example. To me this is evidenced by statutory 28 days + off / year without an iota of guilt for using it all. That is not a bad thing by the way. I've found people in the US tend to define themselves by what they do much more so than folks in the UK. Also, I don't necessarily equate a strong company culture with a positive work environment. Investment banks are a great example.

    I bet the "great" companies you seek in the UK are indeed better than the ones on the current list but my guess is that their employees' diverse backgrounds and individual cultures are the driving factor.
  • Vinay, saying statutory holidays are a reason for not having a good work culture is like saying I see my family less than you see yours so I shouldn't enjoy their company as much. I don't buy it.

    Regardless of work philosophy, how many days off people get, and personal definitions, there still should be companies which pride themselves on being fantastic places to work.

    It's a global recession, the companies that will retain people when we get out of this will be the ones that people enjoy working for.

    Turnover is a problem for organisations regardless of geography and work laws, so even companies in Europe should have strong culture to make sure they retain the best people, and so that people actually enjoy working in the environment.
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