Goldman Sachs' head of HR says an 'underrated' factor should make a big difference in which job you choose — especially if you're going to be logging long hours

pulse

September 13, 2018 10:14 PM

Goldman Sachs' HR head, Dane Holmes, told summer interns that people often fail to consider the quality of their prospective coworkers when they're choosing a job. But it's the most important factor, he said.

Holmes said the single most underrated factor when choosing a job is the quality of your prospective coworkers.
In fact, Holmes said the particular job you're doing can be secondary to the environment and the people.

"Working hard feels very different when you like the people around you and when you don't."

That's according to Dane Holmes, who is the global head of human capital management and the leadership development group Pine Street at Goldman Sachs. This summer, Holmes shared with Goldman Sachs interns his best advice for launching a successful career.

Holmes told interns that the single most underrated thing that people fail to account for when they're choosing a job is how much they like their prospective coworkers.

He advised interns to ask themselves: "Do I think, if I take this job, people are going to invest in me and I'm going to grow and learn? Do I like the people that I'm going to show up with every day?"

You want "a team that wants to invest in you and wants to see you do well," Holmes said.

All this makes intuitive sense: Who wants to spend most of their day with people who are checked out, or overly competitive, or downright mean?

There's also some research behind this idea. A 2016 report details findings by career services site Monster and social intelligence company Brandwatch, who analyzed more than 2 million Tweets that mentioned work.

Results showed that "people" was one of the most frequently mentioned words in Tweets about loving or hating a job.

And a 2004 Gallup survey found that 51% of employees who strongly agree that their organization encourages close friendships at work are extremely satisfied at work. Compare that to just 19% of employees who disagree.

Holmes suggested that the caliber of your colleagues can be even more important than the work you're doing. "Whatever particular job it is may be a little bit secondary," he said, "to, 'Do I like the environment that I'm in?' and 'Do I like the people that I'm working with?'"

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