Depending on where you go inside your office, you will probably notice a change in the way employees behave. If you are in front of the boss or a big meeting, most will emulate their behavior to support the expected culture. However, once employees are on their own, you will probably see the true nature of your office’s culture. There is one very odd place you are sure to find the true nature of your office’s culture, almost guaranteed.
If Walls Could Talk: The Office Restroom
Know for the privacy it provides, the oddest place to find office culture is in the restroom. There are a couple of scenarios that show this.
- A Chance Encounter with a Coworker. You innocently bump into one of your coworkers in the restroom, and the gossip fountainhead erupts. As they feel this is a safe space, employees often vent about the office’s culture in the restroom without thoughts of repercussions how their negative actions continue to contribute to that negative culture. And you DID NOT ask to be a part of this. You just needed to potty.
- Planned meeting. This is the worst. Coworkers plot to meet in the restroom to gossip under the cover of the restroom’s privacy. This is genuinely telling of a company’s culture.
Company culture can be discovered everywhere. The oddest and probably most telling place is in the office restroom. If that’s the case with your company, your bathroom probably needs a good cleaning.