Some Companies Wouldn't Give a Blog About Culture

We have been recruiting for a number of roles within TSG’s R&D department, and normally in interviews the candidate might ask you something along the lines of, “So what’s the culture of TSG like…?”

In the recent interviews that I have been involved in, this has never come up. Not once.

And the reason it hasn’t…?

Well that’s because we have some awesome people at TSG who not only put in the maximum effort for their day jobs, they also (with many giving up their spare time…) contribute to our company blog.

I think the TSG blog is a fantastic reflection of the culture within the company and more often than not comes up in interviews, with candidates commenting on it, or actually making reference to specific articles.

It also seems that our blog helps to answer a lot of potential questions a candidate may have about our company, before they see us in action.

I would also like to say the blog has helped to reaffirm the right choice a number of them have made, upon accepting employment with TSG.

So what is it that defines culture?

When I was growing up during the 80s, TV adverts had a massive impact on culture as mass media began to emerge.

There was one particular TV advert I will always remember. It was for a lager that’s not so well known now, but the company always ended with a distinctive strapline, such as ‘Australians wouldn’t give a XXXX for Anything Else’.

In its day it would have been quite edgy, but today we probably wouldn’t bat an eyelid.

These days, I think technology and culture go hand in hand, more so than ever.

In my ‘techie’ world, you only have to look at what Microsoft are doing at the moment. By building bridges with the Opensource community and changing their Windows and Windows Phone development subscription models to one-time only registration fee, there’s a clear recognition that the technology industry is truly trying to cultivate the soul…(that’s the Wikipedia definition of ‘culture’ by the way – “cultivating the soul”)

Equally, social media is now a hugely strong part of our culture, and technology lies at the heart of social media. Its importance in both our personal and business lives is clear and reflected by the likes of Microsoft CRM 2015 – due for release by the end of the year – taking the existing Social Listening and Marketing to a whole new level. More details to follow in a future blog.

The ‘Mobile First, Cloud First’ mantra that Microsoft are pushing is all about encouraging technology companies to shift the focus from the device or application and put the individual at the centre of everything.

The aim is to ensure that people’s digital memories and productivity experiences are consistent across all devices, whether it’s a Windows device or not. It’s this shift that will truly drive innovation and change in the way we define our current culture, and unlock the boundaries of what we can achieve with technology.

I have worked at TSG for a while now (and absolutely love IT as you can see here), and the TSG blog is a clear indication to me that culture is just as important as the technology that is provided by a company.

In fact, technology should be used to help build and nurture culture.

The point I’m trying to make here is that some companies wouldn’t give a blog about technology and culture, but for me I wouldn’t give anything else! 🙂

Let me know what ways technology has helped your business’ culture.

P.S if you want another view on the culture within TSG’s R & D department, check out our short film ‘Total Secrecy Guaranteed‘