Your organizational culture comes from years of interactions between the participants of the organization, where most of them are already gone and what lives is their myth and the interpretation of that mythology that current employees make of it.
Every organization has a foundational myth. The myth that tells the story of how the “founding fathers” devised and created something that endured through the years.
Sometimes their mission still holds true, sometimes its changed to something they wouldn’t even recognize. Big socio-economic changes, mergers and labor disputes all have the potential to take an organization’s culture to hell.
Changing organizational culture is one of the most daunting tasks you’ll ever endure. It takes time, lots of follow up work and cooperation across the board (which is not usually easy to obtain).
When you attempt to change culture, you are attempting to change a paradigm.
The three cultures
Let me debunk your first preconception. Your company doesn’t have an organizational culture: it has 3.
“You are overqualified”… that phrase -quoting Freddy Mercury now- sends shivers down my spine.
Companies thrive to get the best candidate for the job and the best job for the candidate, as one of HR’s maxims say. If you go by this perspective, yes, it could be an acceptable thing to say to those applicants who have “too much experience or too many qualifications” when matched against job requirements. But, is it that straightforward?
I don’t think so.
Guest post by Ioana Lazarov - The workplace is a common setting where interpersonal conflicts occur. Factors such as negligence / irresponsibility, poor or ineffective communication, leadership problems and scarce organizational resources fuel up tempers to the breaking point.
Disputes between co-workers and/or management are time and energy consuming and often result in an array of unwanted or unpleasant effects. Therefore, organisations have a vested interest in keeping conflicts, escalating disputes leading to -or further perpetuating- unethical or inappropriate personal and professional behaviors, low morale and diminished productivity at bay.
In addition, when the conflict degree is high, the costs attached to formal investigation procedures sap deeply into the company’s budget and take a toll on the mental health of those involved.
If you are waiting for a 600 hundred word post to get the answer I’m sorry to disappoint you: the answer is it depends.
Put yourself in the shoes of an employer: Would you prefer a mindless zombie or a highly talented person? The answer is obvious. But, what if you were looking for a person to work at an iPod assembly line? The job would consist in grabbing iPods, sticking them in a box and closing the box… next iPod. Why would you need someone with an IQ of 140 to do that job? If for any reason that person gets hired, I give him or her 2 days in the factory.
Thing is, every job has different requirements. Hiring an intellectually adequate fit for each job is something most recruiters and hiring managers keep in mind. HR people have a saying “right job for the right person, right person for the right job”. Taking someone who is not a good fit for a given position may put you back in employee-seeker world too soon. Some could challenge this, arguing that sometimes you hire an over-qualified candidate because he/she seems like a good prospect for the company; and this is a valid point. There’s an element of gambling in every recruitment process but if the company has a clear idea of where it wants to develop this person to, hiring an over-qualified candidate may be the way to go. It’s tricky.
If you work for a company that has an at least decent Human Resources department, free training given by one of its employees is something no organization will deny. Every employee is an expert at what they do so there’s no one better than you to present a training related ...
So you got a new job… cool… but now you are more lost than a sneaker in a fridge, right? You know no one, everything is confusing, you feel like everyone is your boss and the pieces don’t fit. The list can go on forever. Don’t worry. Perfectly normal.
Every time we ...
