A position every company should have

There’s something paradoxical about organizational culture. The higher you go the more responsibility and power you have to develop or establish you own company’s culture. At the same time, you lose control over the memes that configure that culture.

Pretend (unless you are) that you are a CEO or an HR Director. You, your team and the ones that came before you have contributed to grow your company’s culture. You even have systems and resources that help maintain it. Beautiful so far but… are you absolutely sure that it’s actually operating the way it’s supposed to? How deep down do your ears go? There’s always two very real but invisible barriers that distort and filter what you see and what you don’t.

The first one is our own “reality distortion field”, we see things the way we want to see them, not the way they are. Well… we should have to define what “real” is but it’s not my purpose to get metaphysical, you know what I mean. You spent so much time working in those presentations, all the coaching hours, focus groups and meetings with the Marketing guys to promote that culture. It’s easy to overlook some things. The second barrier is political. Either you belong to the “Higher Up Club” or to the “Half-Plus-One Association”. And that will determine the scope you have within the company. If you look from above, you see the big picture but miss the details.

If you are looking up from the basement (or the first couple of floors) you’ll see every little thing that changes around you (it’s where most things happen) but you won’t be able to see the big picture. That culture that you so much love, actually, only exists on your mind and maybe in the minds of a couple more. It’s because that culture is not immune. In fact, it’s easily infected by “the other” culture. The one that is produced through the personal interactions within that couple of lower floors. That would be the operant culture. The problem is that you have no way of getting in touch with it.

First, because to most people you are probably a popular name, a picture on the wall or the under-signer of communications and letters. Even if you exercise MBWA (management by walking around), John from Operations won’t come at you and say: “Hey! You know Brian, from Logistics? He loves to take home the coffee leftovers”. And the idea of someone transmitting more sensitive and relevant stuff belongs to the Sci-Fi realm.

I know that line managers are supposed to gather that intel and airlift it, but there are still many things that don’t remotely get close to them, so it’s something they can do in a limited fashion. What’s lost is the “Hallway Radio”, an unofficial yet powerful channel that always work horizontally. It’s where the small things that make big situations tip happen. Sometimes, the message that comes down from the line is misinterpreted, is not efficiently communicated or plainly, that message is in direct conflict with the perception that the majority have of their culture and those who promote it. Thus, the legitimacy of the culture is compromised. Its influence weakens, it shifts (into something unintended) or worse, is ignored. In the event of any of this happening, how do we cross that chasm? Having someone in the right position.

Someone who could generate an Ascending Channel of communication. a direct line between HR and the staffing base. A person or unit dedicated to get the pulse of the organization/unit/office, responsible for the early detection of cultural hiccups or short circuits and an entity that could experience the way the culture is operating and relay the information, assist in its conservation and foster its change.

There are two usual communication channels: the descending and the horizontal channels. What is needed is an ascending channel, where the voice of the basement could be taken into account to finally achieve a “total” culture. One to which every member of the organization could relate and feel included… now I got romantic :-S

The problem is that the person or unit that gets this task will, for some or few, be considered the “Snitching Unit”. So, how do we make things clear enough to get the trust and confidence of everyone? Does anyone know of any company doing this? Ideas?

Image credit Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals

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