Change In Progress

How Organizations Sustain Culture

Ever wonder how an organization retains its culture even though key employees come and go over the years? Even though there is constant change to the organization?  Glenn Carroll and J. Richard Harrison, authors of Culture and Demography in Organizations have come up with a mathematical model to illustrate how culture is transmitted in a social aggregate.  They believe that organization culture is really static. Their model is based on three components: hiring, socialization and turnover.

In the ever changing business world it is hard for an organization to have a specific culture.  Afterall an organization is made up of employees who have different backgrounds, languages, cultures, norms, beliefs and mindsets.  All of these differences have to somehow mend together to make up the culture of a specific organization- a tough task.

The authors do not recommend establishing a clearly defined culture within a company.  What is key however is to have an alignment between cultural content and set management preferences.  They suggest incorporating cultural selectivity into the recruitment efforts and increasing social efforts. They also suggest letting go of employees who do not conform to the corporate culture- a theory which sounds pretty harsh.  But the goal is to have a homogeneous and aligned culture which has employees who can self manage themselves. It is their belief that once employees have internalized the practices management wants they can work with minimal supervision.

How does organizations get the benefits of this model?  They need to develop methods to measure the job candidates cultural compatibility. Based on their research it seems that organizations who have strong corporate cultures are very selective in their recruitment efforts.  Candidates are usually interviewed by five or more executives.

The most interesting part of the research is when Carroll and Harrison apply their model to defeating terror organizations.  American Department of Defense officials called the researchers for their expertise. A terrorist group survives by having a solid culture.  Understanding how these groups sustain their culture led the researchers to come up with a model to erode the groups. The common belief is that if you kill the leader of a terrorist group-,the group will also die.  According to the researchers that theory is flawed.  Killing the leader has no impact on the strength of the group.  What works is increasingly neutralizing terrorist cell members over a long period of time.  This weakens the group.  Also, the researchers state delaying the admission of a new member is a good way of destabilizing the organization.

Your First Job...

Most college seniors will soon graduate and start their first jobs. My firm also has a good group of recent graduates joining us.  This time of year always takes me back to the memories of my first corporate job.  Here are just a couple of thoughts for those brave souls about to start their careers.

 

DO NOT THINK YOU ARE TOO GOOD TO...copy, bind, research, set up conference calls, put together boring spreadsheets...etc. Yes, you just received a very expensive college degree and you have knowledge you want to put to work on important tasks.  But you must demonstrate to your boss you are a team player and willing to do any task from the boring to the most engaging. In time you will get more responsibility after you prove yourself.

 

DO NOT GET INTO CORPORATE CLIQUES...organizations who have a large number of young employees tend to have cliques--it's like going back to high school.  When you first start a job, lay low and talk and get to know everyone.  You don't want to be associated with a certain clique before knowing what those individuals are about.  The best advice I ever received about friends and work was that you are not at work to make friends. You are there to excel in your career and make money.  Those areas need to be your focus- not making friends.  Work friendships will naturally form over time you don't need to stress about joining the popular group.

 

DO NOT REVEAL TOO MUCH ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL LIFE...so you become good friends with some of your co-workers but hold yourself back from revealing every detail of your hot date from last Friday night- or the boy/girl you are crushing on, or the drinking binge of a weekend you had.  People talk- and the last thing you want is to have the bits of your personal life get out in the public. Use discretion.  You want your managers to hear about what a great job you are doing. You do not want to be judged on your personal affairs.

 

EVERYONE HAS GREAT IDEAS BUT YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHO TO PRESENT IT TO...I received this great advice from one of the VPs I worked for.  I used to go into his office with a GREAT idea on a daily basis. Ideas that could have really improved our business. But what he taught me is that while it's important to have great ideas it's equally important to play the politics and convince the right people. Find a champion to really buy into your great idea. Maybe you had a great marketing idea. Have your champion try it out.  If it succeeds other executives are going to naturally want to replicate the idea.  Always try out an idea on a smaller scale instead of trying to convince the organization as a whole to implement it. 

 

BE CURIOUS...a lot of factors go into what makes a successful person.  But I believe a thirst for knowledge and curiosity is what sets some employees apart from the rest.  Just because school is over doesn't mean your learning is over. Read every single day.  Read about the field you are in.  Read about the job you eventually want to do.  Read newspapers, magazines, blogs, research...etc.  Also, share some of the interesting findings with your managers or co-workers. Just send a simple email stating: I read this article in (XYZ) and found it interesting. Just wanted to share it with you.

Henry Ford said it best, "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young." 

 

ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE NEXT STEP AND START PREPARING...employees need to make sure they are absolute rock stars in their current position.  But they also need to think about the next step and how to get there.  An example of how I got into consulting... I was working in marketing at my current company but I knew I wanted to be in our Change Management practice. There were no openings on the team but I told my immediate manager that the topic of change management interested me and I wanted to be put on a change management marketing campaign.  He agreed.  I worked directly with the VP of that practice and got to know him.  After doing a couple of months of research on the area I set up a meeting with him.  I told him that I was very interested in change management and it felt like a right fit for me.  I knew he didn't have any associate positions open but I asked him how I can prepare myself to interview for the position if he ever had an opening. I wanted to get his suggestions on books I should read on the area.  He suggested a couple of them which our methodology was based on.  Then we set up calls to discuss what I learned.  Eight months later there was an opening and I got the job!   

 

FIND MENTORS...you need a good supportive board of advisors to be successful.  Your mentors can range from someone just a couple levels above you to the VP of your group.  Figure out what you want to learn from that person and approach them.  Just set up a time to talk to them and pick their brain.  Don't go into the meeting and ask, "Will you be my mentor?" that relationship will bond naturally over time. Most people in corporate America are eager to help out new employees and give them advice. All you gotta do is ASK!!

 

DRESS APPROPRIATELY...when you first begin a job dress more conservative than you normally would. Also, dress up to work your first week even if it's a business casual environment.  This way you can see what everyone else wears and you can see what is appropriate and what's not.  General rule, if you question what your wearing is appropriate- it's probably not.  Ladies, be careful about your skirt length.  Skirts should not be more than an inch or two above your knee.  Your shirts should not be body tight. You want to represent a professional image at all times.   Do not over accessorize.  Men, make sure you are dressed neatly and are well groomed. 

 

 

 

 

 

What & How To Communicate During A Merger

The word “Merger” might excite or make someone cringe- depending on who you say it to.  Most CEOs love the idea of a merger.  In theory a merger can achieve market share and grow a company exponentially. 

It’s a surprise that most CEOs still get excited about mergers considering that most mergers fail to achieve desired results.  According to a study conducted by Watson Wyatt Worldwide (an international HR consulting firm) 70% of M&A deals fail to achieve anticipated synergies and 58% don’t create substantial results for the stakeholders.

During an anticipated merger most executives are busy with the Finance & IT due diligence that they rarely even think about their commnication strategy and cultural integration.  The assumption is if the numbers are there the culture somehow will morph into a happy union. Research articles published in Harvard Business Journal detail that most mergers fail because of cultural clashes and poor communication efforts.

According to Kim Ribbink, author of “ The Most Critical Messages To Communicate In A Merger”, managers need to communicate how the merger will affect individual units in the short term and what gains it should bring the company long term.

Executives are merger knowledge thirsty and in a merger situation an organization cannot over communicate. The most critical information employees want to know are: compensation, benefits, organizational realignment, relocation and process changes. The issues that need to be addressed right away to the employees also include:

• Business Benefits of the M&A
• Reasons for the M&A

• What will happen to their current role and information about their future professional prospects.

Change Management theory believes that in a change situation the key communication messages should come from an employees direct manager.  Most employees have a direct relationship and trust with their managers and they do not want to hear about the change from CEOs.  However, research from McKinsey Quarterly “Successful Management Starts At The Top” states that they believe in a merger situation the direction from the top is the only way to initiate change throughout the organization.

To contrast that theory University of Virginia also put out M&A research called: “Breaking The News: How To Communicate A Merger To Employees”. In their survey they identified communication methods that could be described as best practices. Here are their findings on how employees want to be communicated about a merger:

• 41 % of employees face to face meetings
• 35 % prefer email (the study suggests doing both)
• Most survey respondents feel that the immediate supervisor should make the initial M&A announcement to employees.
• A company wide CEO announcement should be scheduled after the immediate supervisors break the news to their teams.

I do believe that the Merger communication has to include messages from the immediate managers as well as the CEO. Organizations need to be as honest as possible with their employees during the merger announcement and integration process. Holding back information is never a good thing- if the executives are not communicating to their employees rumor - mills will begin and false/ fabricated information will start appearing.  This can result in employees viewing the merger negatively and jumping ship.

Corporate America's Ladder Can Be Climbed In Heels

 

“You are a strong girl – the world needs to hear your roar!”

 

This statement was said to me time and time again throughout my high school years.  I went to an all girl college preparatory high school.  Feminism motto and theory ran through our halls and was instilled in each and every one of the students. The experience of the all girl high school really moved me and shaped me into a strong young woman.  I truly believed that women could really have it all.  I believed that women were at least as smart as men- if not smarter.

In high school I learned to be smart, tough and opinionated. I learned to fight for what I wanted and what I believed.  I learned that if you worked hard you should ask for what is appropriate.  I had strong male and female teachers who encouraged me and constantly pushed me.  I had many mentors and advisors I could access each and every single day. But above all, I was in an environment with 500 girls who had the same beliefs and the desire to achieve.

 Today I work as a consultant- a field which is mostly dominated by men.  A field where there are very few female Vice Presidents or Practice Area Leaders. There are days I just feel that I don’t have a mentor- a strong high powered woman encouraging me to follow up the ranks as she had and showing me the ropes. 

 So what happened to that strong 18 year old young woman who graduated knowing she would conquer the world?  What changes for most girls from the time they leave academics and move on to the working world? I believe the change is similar for most women.  In the academia women excel and perform far better than our male counterparts. We are overly involved from newspaper, to student government to volunteer activities.  We do all this and maintain a high GPA.  We try to be well rounded so we could be attractive candidates for Corporate America

So how do you explain why graduating females make 80% of the salaries that their male counterparts make at their first job? Check out this study by the American Association of University Women: Click Here

So what does the driven young woman need to do to win the Corporate America game? Honestly, I think you just have to keep going. We can’t be disheartened by what is surrounding us.  The odds can sometimes feel to be stacked up against us- but in order for there to be real change in Corporate America and the role of women, we need to get women to those top positions.  Lucky for us there is some good news:  Barron's estimates that one in seven powerful posts will be held by women by 2010, based on evidence that the trend is getting only stronger. By 2020, it could be one in five.

Click here to read the full press release.

These powerful women need to start reaching out to young women in their organizations and start mentoring them.  Young girls need vital advice on how to ask for a raise to a asking for a promotion and so forth.  And I don’t necessarily believe that as young women we should only seek out female mentors.  Strong men can be great mentors.  I think there is a lot to be learned by picking the brain of a powerful man and learning how to better position yourself in Corporate America.  Just pick a male mentor who believes that women can conquer the world!

I do believe that women can conquer the world- just as any man could.  But that woman needs to passionately want to.  Because becoming a CEO or a VP of an organization requires a lot of time and compromises.  It usually means not much time for family, friends,  romantic interests, or yourself.  It can feel pretty lonely up there. I personally don't think that women can get up to that high level until we change our work cultures. Because at this point the working world is not designed to let us have it all. Somethings got to give.  However, this compromise is not just made by women, it's made by men as well. I look at the VPs I work with, the hours and the dedication they put in to stay on top of their game. And unfortunately they have to compromise as well.

 In terms of seeking mentors keep in mind mentors and support groups are all around you. Someone at your own level or a couple levels above you can serve to be a great mentor. I know that whenever I meet a young girl who is just starting her career I go out of my way to give her advice. I might not be the high powered business woman I will become one day- but with five years of working experience I'm filled with do's and dont's that I would be happy to share! There is also a new career guide book for young women  written by Hannah Seligson called "New Girl on the Job: Advice from the Trenches". I suggest this as a good starting point of advice. Also, check out her blog by clicking here.

And ladies, I know times can really get tough sometimes, but lets let the world hear our roar and break that glass ceiling.

I'd like to end with a quote from Hannah's new book:

"Young women need to keep renegotiating the rules of the workplace, or we'll be stuck playing the old ones. But the rules won't change on their own--they never do. Change is spawned by a movement, the type of movement that gave women the right to vote, entrance to the workplace, and access to birth control."