Working in a place that makes you feel well: how can you recognize it (and the difference it makes)
How many hours per week do we spend at work? 30, 40 or more? There is a question that very few people really ask themselves: do I feel good in my working place?
It’s not only about salary, contracts or benefits. We are talking about how we feel when we are working, what happens in relationships with collegues, how free we feel to express our ideas, how we deal with difficult moments. In short, we are talking about corporate culture.
Even if it’s not always easy to define, you can immediately feel the culture of a company: an e-mail, a meeting, or a phone call is enough to tell you if you are in an enviroment worth staying in.
If you are looking for a new job or want to understand if you are in the right place, here it is what to observe and why it is so important.
The right environment helps you grow and doesn’t bring you down.
A good environment gives you energy, it doesn’t drain it. It makes you feel part of something, stimulates you to improve, gives you space to suggest ideas and allows you to learn from mistakes.
On the contrary, a toxic environment compromises your self-esteem, stifles the proactivity and puts people against each other. Even if the company is “successful”, if the internal environment is terrible, sooner or later frustration will prevail.
Ask yourself: do I feel free here to ask questions, share my opinion, make mistakes, and improve?
Healthy companies resolve problems, don’t search for a someone to blame.
When something goes wrong – and it happens everywhere – the reaction tells you everything. In some companies the blame is immediately passed around: “it’s not my fault, it’s theirs”. In others, people face each other and say: “Ok, how do we manage this?”
This is not a detail. It’s one of the strongest indicators of a responsible and team-oriented culture.
In Corcoran Magri Properties, for example, we have chosen from the beginning to put a positive attitude at the center. This is not about forcing optimism, but about training the capacity to focus on solutions, not on blame, even in difficult moments.
Observe: in the company, do people work together to solve problems, or is it every person for themselves?
The personal responsability is an act of respect, not a burden.
Another key element in a healthy environment is responsability. But watch out: this doesn’t mean leaving individuals to carry all the weight by themselves.
It means creating a culture where everyone feels an active part of the common work, where people don’t wait to be pushed, but act with autonomy and awareness.
In Corcoran Magri Properties we don’t work in separate compartments. Everyone knows what to do, but also knows they can (and must) help the others, submit ideas, take care of customer as if they were their own.
Ask yourself: how much space do I have to decide? How much is my initiative valued?
Perseverance, not perfection
In every job there are failures, rejections, bad moments. Nobody is immune to them. But the difference lies in how one gets back up.
When you make mistakes a good environment supports you, it doesn’t punish you. It encourages you to try again and find new solutions. This is how professional resilience is built. And this is one of the traits we look for in people who join our team.
Reflect: how are mistakes managed in my workplace?
Values are not slogan: you feel them in behaviors.
Many companies speak about “values”, but in the end they leave everyone to do whatever they want. When values are real, they are visible. In small gestures: respecting deadlines, being clear with customers or showing willingness among collegues.
The values that drive our work everyday are simple, but real:
• Honesty.
• Personal Responsability, without excuses.
• Proactivity, even in details.
• Perseverance, especially when it’s hard.
• Team Spirit, not only in words.
Ask yourself: do the values declared by my company match what I see every day?
And if you recognize yourself in this?
If while reading you paused for a moment to think, if an episode comes to mind where you experienced exactly one of the situations we’ve described, if something resonated with you… then perhaps it’s time to pause and reflect a little more.
We could be the environment you’ve been looking for.
A place where working well means, above all, feeling well. Where values are not a label, but translate every day into tangible behaviors among collegues, with customers and with everyone choosing to become part of our world.
Write to us. Tell us who you are. Send us your Résumé, even if only to start meeting each other.
Because the right job is not only what you like to do, but also what makes you feel good while doing it.