Organizational Culture

Mission, Vision, and Values

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The mantra of mission, vision, and values has been at the core of most modern-day organizations for many decades. Even though many organization’s mission, vision and values statements are sometimes lost from creation to implementation, they are still very important to their success and defined culture.

Many are saying that in the upcoming digital transformation of the workplace, culture will be even more important to organizational success than it is today. According to Edgar Schein, Professor Emeritus at the MIT Sloan School of Management:

“The only thing of real importance that leaders do is to create and manage culture. If you do not manage culture, it manages you.”

Many organizations have great products, but if they don’t proactively manage their culture, bad things happen. Remember the Volkswagen emissions scandal?  Here is an excerpt from VW’s mission statement:

“We assume responsibility regarding the environment, safety, and social issues. We act with integrity.”

I think most would agree that knowingly falsifying diesel emissions is not in alignment with the mission statement.  How does an organization’s culture get so off track? If you believe Schein, VW failed to manage their culture and they paid dearly for the misalignment, some say up to $33 billion for the scandal.

Cecile Alper-Leroux, Vice President of Human Capital Management (HCM) Innovation at Ultimate Software, believes we need to reorder how we manage our organizations. Vision still comes first, and she also believes in putting culture before strategy. She believes culture is the true driver of any organizational strategy.  (Click here to read her article)

Discussion Questions

Research a company from a traditional industry and compare it to a new hi-tech company. Compare their mission, vision, and values.  How do they define each of the workplace cultures?

As a new HR professional, do you think workplace culture will be more or less important in organizations that are undergoing a digital transformation?  Support and defend your position.

Why Measurement Matters

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Dr. David Weiss is a leader in the field of Canadian Human Resources research. In 1999, his book, High-Impact HR Transforming Human Resources for Competitive Advantage, was published. In it, he describes the employee life cycle as one of ‘Hatch-Match-Dispatch’ which must be supported by the Human Resources function in order to be aligned with organizational strategy. His writing, at the time, was revolutionary.

Twenty years later, the concept of the employee life cycle is more important than ever. It provides the framework to measure the effectiveness of the Human Resources function, through the lens of employee engagement.

A recent article published in Fast Company, provides us with a synopsis of how metrics and measures can, and should, be used to track employee engagement from the beginning to the end of the employee life cycle.

Click here to read the article.

As noted in the article, employee engagement is not just about ensuring that the workforce is ‘happy’ by providing a ‘fun’ environment. Happiness is an elusive thing to measure. It does not assess whether or not the workforce actually is productive or involved with the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. What the Human Resources function can assess is the level to which employees feel connected and involved with the organization at any point during their personal journey within the organization. From the entry point into the organization, Human Resources can measure recruitment and on-boarding strategies. At mid-point, through communication, feedback, and usage tracking, Human Resources can assess the effectiveness of rewards strategies, training, and career development. At the exit point, Human Resources can evaluate the gaps between the expected level of loyalty and commitment to the organization and the reality that causes employees to leave, voluntarily or involuntarily.

Throughout all of this, what Human Resources is measuring is the level of commitment to organizational culture which is the metric for evaluating employee engagement.

The field of Human Resources research continues to develop through the analysis of applicable measurement and metrics. Twenty years from now, perhaps this will lead us to capturing the elusive goal of evaluating employee happiness.

Discussion Questions:

  1. The article refers to eNPS. What is it and how does it link to the measurement of employee engagement?
  2. Identify three specific Human Resources initiatives you think can be measured to evaluate employee engagement at the mid-point of the employee life cycle.
  3. Besides exit interviews, identify two additional Human Resources initiatives that can be measured at the end of the employee life cycle.
  4. Identify the types of tools or systems that are needed to track employee engagement from the beginning to the end of the employee life cycle.

 

The Direction of Organizational Learning

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In the 1990s, Peter Senge’s book, The Fifth Discipline, the Art and Practice of the Learning was ground breaking, and was instrumental in changing the world of organizational behaviour and development.

However, there is a new concept on the block that is taking organizational learning theory to new heights. It is called Deliberate Developmental Organization (DDO). This has been created by a team of authors and researchers who comprise an organization called Way to Grow Inc.* This team, which includes faculty members from Harvard and a doctoral student from Stanford-PGSP, has produced a book called, An Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization.

According to the research behind the book, the organizations that do well are ones that are deeply aligned with an individual’s greatest motivation, which is to develop within an organizational culture that supports growth. This concept expands on Dan Pink’s motivational theory that an individual’s greatest motivator is to develop.

The authors of An Everyone Culture posit that most employees devote a significant amount of energy to a second, unpaid, job – i.e., the work of covering their weaknesses and managing others’ impressions of them. They believe this is the biggest cause of wasted resources in most companies.

Their solution is the creation of an organizational culture that doesn’t waste energy, but focuses it on developing people. According to the DDO concept, employee weakness is a strength, and errors represent opportunities to develop.

Click here to read an extended whitepaper on this approach by Robert Kegan et al.

Imagine working for an organization where you could truly be your authentic self and continuously improve on your weakness. Would that be a dream job or a nightmare? Something to think about!

Discussion Questions:

— Having reviewed the extended whitepaper by Kegan et al., do you think you would like to work in a company with a well-developed DDO culture? Explain why/why not.

— Have you had an experience where you feel you had a weakness at school or work? What was the weakness? Were you allowed to expose it? Did you have support in overcoming it? If yes, what was the outcome? If no, what was the outcome?

* To learn more about Way to Grow Inc, visit www.waytogrowinc.com.

 

What Is Going Wrong in Canadian Workplaces?

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The numbers are in and they do not look good.

In a recent HRNOW posting, it was reported that a 40% leadership failure-rate exists in the workplace.

This week’s upbeat HR research is even more alarming. Hays Canada has been conducting workplace satisfaction surveys since 2013 and the changes they have found this year are alarming:

  • Work satisfaction is down 19%.
  • 8% of Canadian employees would consider leaving their job for another position, an increase of 12.2% from 2013.

Here is how I interpret the above numbers on what Canadian employees are really trying to say to their leaders. The message is loud and clear: We are not happy with our work and we are ready to leave you.

When almost 90% of the respondents want to leave their organization it is time for Canadian employers to step up, look in the mirror, and ask why is this happening?

Many leaders will default to claiming that people want to leave their company to get more pay elsewhere. That’s not it; research is also illustrating that 75% would accept less pay for their ideal job, and that 41% are ready to leave for better company culture.

Could this sad state of employee relations possibly be linked to our management and leadership practices? Of course, the answer is yes.

Click here to read 2017 What People Want Survey: Fact Sheet from Hays.

Canadian employers must start to take these concerns seriously and become proactive in evaluating and improving company culture, and in focusing on employee satisfaction. Consider the above research alongside the fact that Canada is seeing its lowest unemployment rate in 9 years. Employee retention and recruitment may soon be a significant problem and HR departments have to start developing solutions. Solving this problem in your own context may begin with improving your company’s perceived organizational culture.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Identify two companies you would like to work for, research their company culture and explain why you would like to work for them.
  2. What would you recommend if your VP of HR asked you to conduct a corporate-culture survey? Where would you start? Develop an action plan to present to an HR department.

 

Human Resources Strategy First

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Sometimes, when companies are in turmoil, they seem to miss the most obvious elements that would provide strategic solutions to calm turbulent corporate waters.

Uber Technologies Inc. (Uber) is a prime example of an organization facing critical leadership gaps resulting in a lack of an overall strategic vision. Uber, the ride-hailing company, has been in the news recently due to the high profile ‘resignation’ of its co-founder and CEO, Travis Kalanick. Mr. Kalanick’s resignation came as a result of serious business errors and leadership mis-steps leaving the organization to face numerous crises and on-going internal chaos. A new CEO (Dara Khosrowshahi) has been appointed, who faces multiple challenges to get the organization on to a cohesive and clear strategic path.

An analysis of the key issues that must be addressed has been highlighted in a recent article through HRD Canada.

Click here to read the article.

Of the items that must be addressed by Uber’s new CEO, establishing a new executive team with experienced leaders is the number one suggestion.  However, of the executive positions to be filled, there is no mention of a Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO). Of the seven immediate crises facing the organization, on the face of it, five of them are clearly human resources issues. Each requires an integrated, comprehensive and strategic human resources management approach that should be enveloped within the overall organizational strategy.

Without the key strategic pillar of human resources strategy in place, it is difficult to see how the organization will be able to move forward successfully. Perhaps the plan is to have the CEO fully responsible for human resources strategies and decisions. That plan was, apparently, already in place under the former CEO, providing us with evidence of the negative consequences and unfortunate results.

In order for organizations to change, they must try something different and new. Perhaps it is time to create a seat for Human Resources at this particular corporate table.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Of the list of issues outlined in the article, which one do you think is the most important to implement from a Human Resources perspective? Explain your rationale.
  2. What types of Human Resources strategies need to be in place in order to have successful implementation for each of the items listed in the article?
  3. As a consumer, does the current state of crisis at Uber impact your purchasing (use of Uber) decisions? Explain your rationale.