Thursday, September 10th, 2009...1:14 pm
The Dream Company (ADLT623 – Reflection #2)
Just think… no time clocks, no leave reporting and a travel budget! I found myself wanting to work for Chaparrel Steel as I read about the company’s practices. But more so, I was thinking, this trust is the root of employee satisfaction and ‘buy in’.
This is something I struggle with at my own job. I regularly hire part time employees in long term positions, but rarely does someone stay long. I’d like to blame it on the part time status of the job, but I’ve had people leave without full time jobs to move on to (yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition – call it bloggers privilege). While in these positions, I often hear from their immediate supervisor how the part time employee seems ‘un-invested’ in his/her work. How they just don’t connect with the larger goals and mission of the office. I think perhaps more than the job status, it’s the organizational culture and how it treats part timers, not the lack of benefits etc that come with the full time position. Don’t get me wrong, I know they want those things, but I don’t think those things ‘make’ the position. It’s as Dixon points out, a mindset or philosophy of the organization that values employees and encourages them to learn and grow with the organization. A value that I feel is absent in many aspects from the culture of my own organization. However, my desire to continually question the status quo gives me hope.
photo credit to www.istockphoto.com
So… can a person, in a middle management position, bring about cultural changes at an organization that is extremely diverse and VERY large? My thought is that it would require the development a ‘sub-culture’ within the smaller office, division or section within the larger organization. Or, perhaps another idea would be to work at highlighting the positive aspects of the larger organizational culture and downplaying the negative parts. There must be some effective solution. As economic resources get tighter and tighter, the flexibility we have to use rewards and recognition as incentives continues to diminish. I do try to create an environment of trust and encourage creativity and open questioning of existing policies and programs procedures in my office. I guess that eliminates one other possible pitfall. I do hope we get deeper into these topics as we progress into the semester and I’m glad this course has so much to offer. It is all very applicable and relevant which makes it very palatable.
3 Comments
September 12th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
I think we’re finding similar aspects of “organizational learning” to be contrary to what our society and culture teach. I also questioned whether or not change can come from the middle. Based on my experience and based on Dixon’s assertions, the answer is a resounding NO. If I’ve taken nothing else away on learning organizations, it is that there must be widespread, purposeful measures in place to facilitate a learning environment. I don’t think a successful shift or change in ideology is accidental nor partial.
I agree that it is easier for larger organizations to develop a learning atmosphere if they recognize that each subunit as unique and capable. This approach worked for the WHO in managing a global enterprise and seeing global results. I think if we analyzed the leadership at smaller organizations that don’t promote collective growth or deviated thinking, we would find very territorial personalities using their position as a means to an end rather than the position being an end. I’m not trying to draw a parallel between loving your job so much you don’t want to leave or someone else to take it, but those who are less open to relinquishing control of the order and control of subordinates show little faith in process-oriented methods. It’s interesting that you pointed out there are less financial incentives with which to reward people. I wonder if increased understanding, influence, and personal development in a learning organization could serve as a substitute for the traditional reward system in the “business as usual” organization.
September 15th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Hi Ed,
I’ve also found it can be frustrating being in an organization where there is little openness to change or and somewhat of rigid status quo mentality. Being in a large organization that where such policies or procedures are in place that seem to discourage learning and growth must be challenging. However, it seems like within the context you have made efforts to encourage openness and trust.
Trust also seems to me to be a very significant ingredient in creating a vibrant organizational culture, which would include employee/member satisfaction. I also see that respect goes hand and hand in building trust – respect for the potential of each individual, respect for the intention when there are errors or mistakes, respect for myself when I come up short…
I’m also trying to get a wrap around how I might use/integrate some of the ideas/principles of org learning into an organization for which I do volunteer work. I think the exploration and reflection we are doing in this class will help give me some ideas for action plans…
September 15th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Hi, Ed,
You’re in the right room. I think you have probably hit on something important when you suspect that the culture has something to do with the short-term status of your part-time employees. If you write your cultural analysis paper on this organization, you’ll be able to dig deeper into these ideas, test them with some of your colleagues, and see if the idea of not valuing part-timers is one of the many underlying assumptions that tacitly reside within the culture.
The other aspect of your post that I want to comment on is your question about whether or not one individual, at mid-management level, can influence organizational culture. You will probably have more success at influencing your immediate sphere of this culture, the sub-culture of your unit, especially if you have some authority and autonomy for this unit. As you will learn, culture is complex, multi-layered, and deeply ingrained. What is ironic is that cultural practices are adopted initially because they WERE successful at some time in the past to solve organizational problems, but often they become dysfunctional over time. You are really going to enjoy the Schein text:-)
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