I Think I’m Gonna Like it Here – II
I had my last Strategic HR class this week and I was legitimately sad about it. Weeks of raising my hand and having something intelligent come out have come to an end now that quant classes are about to return. My friend E is probably saying “nerd alert” if she’s reading this right now. Plus, I earned a 98% on a paper I wrote about Cultural Intelligence (or lack thereof) in reference to an article highlighting the cultural incongruence of American-owned businesses operating in Israel. It was nice to feel smart while it lasted!
Getting an ego boost wasn’t the only good thing that came out of class this week (although it did feel really good to get that paper back – just saying). We talked about the importance of culture and the four major types. During our break my professor and I spoke about how sad it is that entry-level employees often give culture and overall fit with an organization little consideration when evaluating potential job opportunities. This is incredibly unfortunate given that those of us who have held a full time job would likely cite a cultural mismatch as the number one reason for job dissatisfaction (or a close second behind a lousy boss).
Here’s a quick (finals week, folks) overview of the four types. Where does your organization/department fit in?
We talked about several types of organizations that closely epitomized each culture type within the context of the Competing Values Framework. It's worth noting that most organizations are a hybrid of two or more, but knowing the differences can still be helpful. Check out this nifty color-coded image courtesy of the University of Michigan.
Clan (Collaborate): Southwest Airlines and Zappos (now Amazon - see their video embedded in this post)
Hierarchy (Control): Auto companies, utility companies, and the military
Adhocracy (Create): Netflix (they don’t track vacation days – where can I pick up an application?) and Apple
Market (Compete): GE and most professional services firms
Do you remember my entry from a few weeks ago on the changing nature of HR? Well David Ulrich (who created the HR model) got together with K.S. Cameron and R. E. Quinn (who used the Competing Values Framework) to combine the two models into something resembling this handy chart. The pieces all started to come together after I commented to my neighbor that Adhocracy is the ideal culture for my personality. When I looked up at this slide (after I eventually stopped running my mouth), it all became clear – I live for change. What’s your ideal culture? Does your current employer offer it, even in hybrid form?
Resources: Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture by K.S. Cameron and R. E Quinn .San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, http://competingvalues.com/
