Corporate culture is big at my company right now. We have had a pretty high rate of turnover in our executive leadership team in the past year, and we sense that the employees are feeling a distinct lack of culture. I sat down today during lunch with our director of employee relations to get her take on corporate culture in the workplace. She has a master's degree in human resources and has a professional HR certification. We'll call her SE.
LM: First off, thanks for answering a few questions for me. My first question has to do with shaping culture. How do companies shape and define their cultures?
SE: Well culture doesn't start with human resources or the CEO or a manager in one department, but rather it works kind of like a train. It's tough to get momentum behind it, but then once it's going and once it's moving, it's really tough to stop but is also very forceful and has a great impact. In my experience, it has taken a more organic approach and has really been built from the ground up and with strategic leadership buy-in.
LM: How important is it to align corporate culture with company goals and strategy (Sorenson, 2009)?
SE: Well, corporate culture, in our case anyway, is almost automatically built in with who we are. I mean, this is unlike any place I think anybody has ever worked because of the overwhelmingly Korean influence. So that shapes part of it. But aligning culture with strategy should be a priority. I mean, look at us. So, part of our culture is that we demand the best, all the time. Well, look at our industry--if we don't stay at the top of our game all the time, market share slips, revenue slips, morale would drop.
LM: One point our readings talk about this week are how other people's perceptions can shape your realities (Sorenson, 2009). How big of a plague are employees who bring negative outlooks to the workplace every day.
SE: Oh gosh, plague is the word. You know, no matter where you go, you're going to have the negative Nancies. I think some people are just inherently negative and have this uncanny ability to see the negative in every situation. They're the type of people who would complain about having taxes taken out of a bonus. But having those people tend to draw down the rest of the morale of their coworkers. I know you see it every day, and I see it every day. There are just some people who drag themselves down, and unfortunately drag other people down in the process.
LM: One more question for you. Can organizations maintain their culture, even if they have a high level of turnover?
SE: Hmm. You know, I think once a culture is established, yes. Once a culture is established, you will start hiring not only to fit the job, but to fit the culture also. So, like for us, I don't think we would have any problems hiring a new graphic designer who has visible tattoos up and down his arms. Several years ago yeah, that might have been an issue, but the more comfortable we get in our own skin and in our own culture and feel, the less formal we're requiring out of our employees.
LM: Well thank you so much for spending some time with me today, I really appreciate it.
References:
Sorenson, J. (2009). Note on Organizational Culture, Harvard Business School, pp. 1-6,
Lauren - You asked excellent questions in the interview. I wonder what you thought about the answers of the Director. Do you agree with her comments?
ReplyDeleteI respectfully disagree with a few of the comments of the director. She claims that corporate culture is not established by executive leadership and managers but is "built from the ground up." I think Sorenson (2009) would be of two minds in response to this statement. He would agree with the director in that there are aspects of corporate culture that are "emergent" or "organic" (Sorenson, 2009), but to say that management plays little to no role in shaping culture would be a huge oversight, in my opinion. If leaders allowed corporate cultures to be built organically then they might be in danger of losing any control over a company's performance.
I wonder what SE's stance on culture would be if we challenged her on a few of her comments. Would you characterize your company's culture by saying Samsung demands the best at all times?
Again, great questions. They extracted answers (from the director) that provide ample material for discussion.
Lauren, this interview was brief and awesome. A person of SE's expertise showed a lot of depth in her relatively short answers. I particularly liked her statement about your organization's culture being "built from the ground up and with strategic leadership buy-in." Moreover, SE summed it all up by saying that future employees should fall under the same umbrella as the existing culture. She stated that it didn't matter if the employee had tattoos or whatnot, but that it is important that the individual share the same values (Sorenson, 2009). In this day and age, it's mostly about making sure that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. I would love to know more about her take on including multiple nationality cultures within in one organization. Is there a communication breakdown? Is the verbiage different when you communicate with employees from different backgrounds (Hofstede, 2006)?
ReplyDeleteHi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteGreat insight into your company's culture with your interview!
I was intrigued by SE's comment about the corporate culture being "automatically built in with who we are." It appears she is saying that since it is automatic, the organizational culture is rigid and there could be little, if any flexibility in the organization being open to a mutually beneficial blending of local culture with company culture.
In Alabama, we have three major car manufacturing plants that are within 100 miles of one another. We have Mercedes (German), Honda (Japanese) and Hyundai (Korean). The Mercedes plant is about 30 miles from my house and I know several people who work there. I also have some friends from my hometown that work for Honda (about an hour out of Birmingham).
I've had conversations with them that were very general, but revealing on expectations based on the locations of corporate headquarters. Imagine if you will, these companies with well-know corporate cultures, coming into a state like Alabama. I'm not being negative, but regional cultural influences are always in play as they interrelate with an organization's culture. Despite many doubters, individuals' regional cultural influences have blended well with the organizational culture of these international companies. What would you suspect has been a key element to this successful blending?
Thanks!
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteIf strong cultures impact performance (Sorenson, 2009), do you think this would counter the "negative Nancies" referenced by SE? Also, in your opinion, is Samsung a strong or weak culture as defined by Sorenson (2009)? Where would it fall in the dimensions of organizational culture as defined by Hofstede (2009)?
Thanks for sharing!