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  • From Mutual Loyalty Contract to Discrete Exchanges

    In the last byte, we looked at the broad categories in which the change from old career paradigm to the new one has occured. We discuss this a bit more closely today on the shift from Mutual Loyalty Contract (Old Paradigm) to Discrete Exchange (New Paradigm). 

    We could interpret the change between the two in the following table. 

  • Changing Paradigm of Careers

    In the last byte, we looked at the definition of career and career management and understood why it would be important for a manager to understand career management. In today’ byte we look at the chaging paradigm of career. 

    The concept of life-time employement in a single organization is almost a reality today – and the challenge is to create a constantly learning organisation. We use the reference book table 17.1 to understand the old and new paradims of career in this byte and the next few.

    We do this on 4 broad heads in which we can look at these transitions:
    • The mutual loyalty contract has given way to Discrete exchange
    • The one-employer focus has given way to occupational excellence
    • The top-down firm structure is now one of organizational empowerment
    • Corporate allegiance has given way to project allegiance
    We shall look at these closely in the next byte.

  • Career and Career Management

    In the last byte, we understood the various paths one could take for a cultural change in their organisation. In today’s byte, we initiate our discussion on careers and career management. 

    We define Career as: The pattern of work-related experiences that span the course of a person’s life. Note here that it is beyond the “job” that one does in an organization – it is just related to the job one pick up as part of the role. 

    Career Management is: a life-long process of learning about self, jobs and organizations; setting personal career goals; developing strategies for achieving those gals, and revising the goals based on work and life experience.  

    As managers we could think of three resons to gain an understanding of career management:
    1. If one know what to look forward to in our career, one could take a proactive step towards planning and managing them.
    2. The experience of employees and coulleagues as they pass through the various stages of careers over their life span could be better understood.
    3. It is a good business! Better trained employees keep up with their fieldds so that organization could protect valuable investment in human resource.

  • Changing Organizational Culture 2

    In the last byte, we began our discussion on changing organizational culture. In today’s byte, we continue looking at the same.

    Referring to the diagram shown in the last byte; there are two approaches to changing the existing culture:
    Path  1: helping current members buy into the new set of values
    Path 2: adding newcomers and socializing them into the organizations and removing current members as appropriate
     
    Lets Explore path 1 first:
    The first action is to change behavior in organization. Behavior is an artifact of culture – so individuals may change heir behavior bu not the values that drive it. Managers must use actions to justify the changed behavior. All artifacts should send consistent message about the new values and beliefs.
     
    Lets now look at path 2:
    The organization can look at revising its selection strategies to more accurately reflect the new culture – and let go of people who resist cultural change.

  • Changing Organizational Culture

    In the last byte, we looked at assessing the organizational culture. In today’s byte, we begin looking at how change in organizational culture could be initiated. 

    We could visualize the process of changing the organizational cultural in the following diagram.


  • Assessing Organization Culture

    In the last byte, we looked at socilization as cultural communication. In today’s byte, we begin look at ways to  assess organization culture. 

    There are two widely used quantitative assessment instruments:
    1. Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI)
    2. Kilmann-Saxton Culture-Gap Survey
    OCI focuses on behaviors that help employees fit into the organization and meet the expectations of coworkers. The two underlying dimensions of the OCI are task/people and security/satisfaction. 

    Kilmann-Saxton Culture-Gap Survey focuses on the gap between what actually happens in the organization and the expectations of others in the organization. It has two underlying dimensions – technical/human and time(short/long). 

    While quantitative methods listed above are precise, comparable and objective – the use of qualitative methods like interviews and observations offer a detailed, descriveptive and unique measure of the scenario. Thus, “Traingulation” methods are generally prefered in study of organizational culture.

  • Socialization as Cultural Communication

    In the last byte, we looked at the outcomes of socialization. In today’s byte, we look at Socialization as cultural communication.

    It could be interesting to note that socialization is definitely a powerful cultural communication tool, but it needs to be understood well: The transmission of information about cultural artifacts is relatively easy, the transmission of values is more difficult. But it is the communication of organizational assumption that is most difficult. 

    The source of this problem is possibly that members of the organization themselves may not be consciously aware of the assumptions and therefore difficult to communicate.

    Socialization serves one primary purpose amongst others – the transmission of core values to new members of the organization. Interaction with role-models, training that newcomers receive, behavior with respect to rewards and punishment etc are all means by which the newcomers are exposed to these values. 

    If newcomers are expected to adopt the values of an organization, it is essential that the message reflect the underlying values of the organization. Both the individuals and organizations should ensure that certain actions are taken for the success of socialization processes.

  • Change and Acquisition phases in Organizational Socialization

    In the last byte, we looked at the encounter stage of organizational socialization. In today’s byte, we look at the change and acquisition phase and the outcomes of the process. 

    In the change and acquisition phase of organizational socialization, newcomers begin to master the demands of the job. They get proficient at managing their tasks, clarifying and negotiating their roles and engaging in relationships at work.
     
    In terms of timelines, the time when the socialization process completes varies widely depending on the individual, the job, the organization etc. The process completes when new comers begin considering themselves and others as organizational insiders.
     
    New comers who are successfully socialized should exhibit better performance, high job satisfaction, and the intention to stay with the organization. The stress displayed is relatively of a lower level.
     
    It is often found that a successful socialization leads to high levels of organizational commitment.
     
    A successful socialization is often signaled by mutual influence, that is the newcomers have made adjustments in the job and organization to accommodate their knowledge and personalities. The newcomers are expected to leave their mark on the organization and not be completely conforming!
     
    (Could we really find many such situations? )

  • Encounter Stages in Organizational Socialization

    In the last byte, we looked at the anticipatory socialization stage, in today’s byte we discuss the encounter stage of organizational socialization. 

    Encounter is the stage where the newcomer learns the tasks associated with the job, clarifies roles, and establishes new relationships at work.
     
    In terms of timelines, this stage begins with the first day at work and could go to the first six to nine months on the new job. The demands on the new comer during this stage could be classified into:
    1. task demands
    2. role demands
    3. interpersonal demands
    Tasks demands involve the actual work performed. Learning to perform tasks is related to the organization’s culture – here are some scenarios: In some organizations, new comers are given considerable latitude to experiment with – to do the job, and creativity is values; there are others where newcomers are expected to learn the established procedures for their task.
     
    Note: Early experiences in trying to master task demands can affect employee’s entire career.
     
    Role Demands involve the expectations placed on newcomers. These newcomers may not know exactly what to expect of them (role ambiguity) or may receive conflicting expectations from other individuals (role conflicts).  The way newcomers approach these demands is dependent to a good extent on the culture of the organization.
     
    Interpersonal demands arise from relationships at work. Politics, Leadership style, and group pressure are interpersonal demands. All these reflect the values and assumptions that operate within the organization.
     
    At this stage, the expectations formed in anticipatory socialization stage might clash with the realities of the job.

  • Anticipatory socialization

    In the last byte, we looked at the various stages in organizational socialization process. In today’ byte, we look at the stage of anticipatory socialization.
     
    Anticipatory Socialization encompasses all the learning that takes pace prior to the newcomer’s first day on job.
    There are two key concerns at this stage:
    1. Realism
    2. Congruence
    The degree to which a newcomer holds realistic expectations about the job and about the organization.

    For a very clear understanding of the organizational culture – it is suggested that the new comer receive information regarding this on the first day. This information could help the newcomer to begin constructing a scheme to interpret their experience in the organization. This also helps deepen the understanding of this culture over time about their experiences in the organization.
     
    Congruence could be of two types:
    1. between individual’s abilities and the demands of the job
    2. between the organization’s values and individual’s values.
    Value congruence is very important for organizational culture, and is important for the new comer adjustment. If the adjustment is fine, then the new comer would stay longer with the organization.