Is “corporate culture” really that important?

Paul O’Loughlin

Lately, there has been a growing narrative in Australia about the wealth of mature aged people who cannot secure employment. Highly experience, motivated professionals who apply for job after job who cannot get a look in. Individuals who just want to work and who do not have ridiculous expectations regarding income… just fair cop for a dedicated days’ work!

You are going to hear a lot more about this in the short term!

When you speak to these people, as I have regularly, much of the feedback is how they have been told: “they don’t meet the culture of the employer”. A nice way to tell someone they are too old and would not fit in! Australia with its aging population will have to “defeat” this kind of polarising attitude. Unless we are going to import human capital on a massive scale, we will need to change our ways. The corporate world’s predisposition to hiring people who are “culturally alike” is going to become a “hand-break” for organisations securing the skills-set required for corporate success. Standing around in the office kitchen on a Monday morning spruiking about one’s performance on Tinder over the weekend, or who got loose at Friday night drinks and made an ass of themselves, is very quickly going to become old hat! The days of HR determining what is a “good cultural fit” will become defunct as a notion. It has to. As a country, we will have to acknowledge mature aged individuals, re-engage them in the workplace and forego the notion of “corporate culture”. Notwithstanding commercial considerations in this woke day and age don’t you think we have a morale obligation to support mature-aged talent?

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