CORPORATE CULTURE AND EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE ISABEL ESCOBAR PGDM 5220 - Independent Project Design Research FALL 2016 MS- Strategic Design and Management
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
07 Executive Summary 09 Introduction 13 The Challenge 19 The Context 20 Corporate Culture 24 Employee Engagement 26 Multigenerational Workforce 28 The Interviews
33 The Insights 41 The Opportunity Platforms 41 The Concept 51 Bibliography
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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s the name itself describes it,
human centered design, is about people. As professionals we go into our workplaces every day, interact with people on a daily basis and do it the same way day in and day out. As entrepreneurs and business people we are always concerned with how to improve our client’s and customer’s experience when interacting with our brands, and attempting to reach our financial goals in the most efficient manner. As a researcher, i ask myself, what about the people we work with side by side? How often are we concerned about their experiences, their well being, and their development as individuals in the corporate realm?
Asking myself these questions led me to
study and investigate about how corporate culture is seen in different organizations, what are the
and surveys that have been conducted by some of the top Consulting and accounting firms in the country I have come to the conclusion that making this employee experience tangible is a way of seeing, touching and feeling something that most deem as an invisible form. I believe creating moments and making them tangible will foster the time and space within organizations to create better experiences all whilst generating further engagement, empowerment and ownership of the organizations by each and everyone of the individuals involved in it.
This book will answer to different forces,
trends, and personal accounts regarding corporate culture and employee experience, more specifically: How can we help organizations prepare for the future of work by creating, designing and better
effects of corporate culture on employees as well as
understanding employee experience? I look to
leaders. This led me to research the importance of
develop a concept on how we can make these more
employee experience and how we can help organi-
tangible to alleviate the process in which organiza-
zations create, design and even better understand
tions can educate themselves on the experiences of
these experiences.
employees and document these in order to make
them more fruitful in the years to come.
Talking with people, reading about studies
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INTRODUCTION
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I
graduated college in 2007. Since
ny found itself looking at various possibilities for
then, I have worked in film production, branding,
expanding and scaling but a few questions arose
advertising, real estate development; and I also
from this conundrum. What are the best ways to
have founded and closed a company. All this to
scale without losing his integrity? How much of
say, working closely with people has always been
the company is he willing to surrender in order to
part of who I am, but at the same time I have never
satisfy its bottom line? How does he maintain his
had the privilege of working in a big organization
competitive advantage? Is the best way to scale
where processes are held deeply into the culture of
Elephant, partnering with another company? Is
a company.
merging with another company a good solution?
Selling? How does he nourish employees? What is
In my professional career I have had the
pleasure of working with a wide variety of people,
the best way to offer his employees the best possi-
from economists, to administrators, to artists and
ble experiences? Having Elephant in mind, I start-
to entrepreneurs. My brother, an industrial design-
ed researching about Mergers and acquisitions and
er who has had a long time passion for motorcycles
was overwhelmed with the amount of M&A activi-
and traveling, founded Elephant, a motorcycle tour
ty over the last decade, especially in the design and
and rentals company based in Colombia in 2014.
technology industries.
After two years of building itself up, the compa-
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John Maeda, former President of RISD and
$4.7 TRILLION IN M&A DEALS IN 2015 current Design Partner at KPCB presented the annual Design and Tech Report at SXSW 2016 showing the M&A activity of Design and Technology since 2004. With it he demonstrates the importance of Design in more traditional working spaces and the spurt in M&A activity of the last decade. Since 2004 there has been a total of 42 design firms that have been acquired since 2004.1
M&A activity wasn’t only spurring in the
tech and design industries but it was present throughout the world. 2015 was a record year for M&A activity globally with $4.7 trillion in deals. 2 Elephant, and the consistency of Design firms being bought by larger Consultancy firms during the 2000’s and 2010’s were the two main reasons that led me to research about the effects of Mergers and Acquisitions on people and the casualties these had on the integration of companies, behaviours and processes. I started focusing my research on how corporate culture and employees are affected by the processes of mergers and acquisitions. Business transactions are easily measured by profit, 1
revenues and sales but how are business leaders measuring the impact of mergers on people who will be directly affected by major changes in the organizations? I wanted to explore the reasons behind the success or failures of M&A deals in search for further understanding why the integration of cultures hasn’t been successful and if there is a way to rectify such claim. The research was initially focused on how corporate culture can further the growth of organizations by fostering creativity in the workplace but as my research progressed it started to take a focus on people and the day to day interactions of employees, their workplace and their colleagues. Ultimately the biggest asset of a company and the driver behind Corporate Culture, its people.
Through secondary research, literary review
and in depth interviews with people in the workforce, the conversation started taking a focus on employee experience, generational gaps and how companies can better understand and create experiences in order to foster growth and development for individuals in their companies. In the following pages you will find personal accounts of employees experiencing the ups and downs of merger activities, their opinions and views on corporate culture and the importance of internal structures for better work experiences. From this in depth research, I generated insights that allowed me to create different opportunity platforms that consequently led me to generate and develop a concept for one of the many potential solutions for encouraging, creating and understanding employee experiences taking into account social, economical and technological forces.
Maeda, John. Design in Tech Report 2016. March 2016.
2 KPMG. 2016 Survey Findings. U.S Executives on M&A: Full Speed ahead 2016.
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THE CHALLENGE
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THE CHALLENGE
How can we help organizations prepare for the future of work by designing, creating and better understanding employee experience?
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I
n every design process there are
opment goals. I look to understand the trends that
iterations, and I found myself even iterating on the
are coming into the ecosystem of the workforce in
challenge question I wanted to face and attempt to
order to help organizations prepare for the changes
solve for an entire year. In figure 2 you can visu-
that are coming to each of us as members of the
alize the process that I went through in order to
workforce. Given the technological, economic and
arrive to this final challenge.
social forces that dictate the workforce, organiza-
tions need to stand out and innovate in the way
This challenge is important because it takes
into account the most important aspect of any and
they attain and retain talent as well as creative and
all organizations: the people. In social, economic
unique ways to manage this talent.
and technological contexts people are constantly
being challenged in their own personal restrictions
compasses the experience of an employee within an
to become better at what they do, competition is
organization. Everything from the exploration and
constantly in the rise and everyone searches to
vetting phases of a company to the end of one’s ten-
grow within their own criteria.
ure at the same company. I believe the experience
must start even before you have signed a contract
This challenge is important to every per-
Employee experience is everything that en-
son involved in an organization; from executives
to work with a company, this point in the journey
to interns as well as external partners that look to
of an individual is when you truly know whether or
grow an organization’s human capital. Employee
not the culture and personality of a company fits
experience is vital for organizations in order to
with your own.
achieve personal, corporate, financial, and devel-
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Visualizing the challenge and its ecosystem:
In order to understand an individual, we
must understand the ecosystem in which that person operates. In the following page you may find a figure that illustrates the ecosystem in which I believe individuals and organizations live in. As members of the workforce we need to take into account all these different players and understand the drivers behind each of them so we make the most effective and smart decisions that will allow us to move forward in the workplace. This ecosystem does not illustrate the intricacies between the relationships amongst the people within the ecosystem, but it shows the different forces, trends, and factors that in one way or another affect employee experience.
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THE CONTEXT
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T
he way we work is changing.
New generations are coming into the workforce
tives, staff and board of directors together. It’s the why and the how behind their mission and vision as both individuals and as a collective. For me,
and every day we find ourselves in more competi-
employee experience is a big part of what encom-
tive environments than we ever imagined. Organi-
passes Corporate Culture. Positive reinforcements,
zations have to adapt to changes in the economy,
well adjusted physical spaces and an open-to-dis-
the rapid evolutions and innovations in technolo-
cussion environment are all conducive to better
gy and keep up with the various social trends that
experiences, ownership and overall sensemaking
inundate our everyday lives. Organizations are
of your everyday actions and values, which ulti-
constantly looking for changes that will position
mately must be in line with the ones of the com-
them in better environments to take their compet-
pany you work for. If not, then what is the point?
itive advantages to new markets and succeed in
Why do you do it at all? In November 2015, an
reaching quarterly goals. Throughout these pro-
article in HBR was published titled How Compa-
cesses organizations rely in their human capital,
ny Culture shapes employee Motivation, and one
their employees and their engagement with their
of the many questions they asked themselves was
work. I looked at Corporate Culture, Employee
How does culture drive performance? This is what
Engagement and Multi Generational Workforce
they found:
in order to further understand and dissect my
“After surveying over 20,000 workers around the world, analyzing 50 major companies, conducting scores of experiments, and scouring the landscape of academic research in a range of disciplines, we came to one conclusion: Why we work determines how well we work.� 3
challenge.
Corporate Culture
What is corporate culture? Organizational
culture? Why should we care? There are multiple definitions of corporate culture and it is often unclear how we shall define it. In my opinion corporate culture is the way things are done in a company, how people work, why they work and ultimately what drives all members of an organization to do what they do and what ultimately pushes them to go back to the office every day and continue doing their work all while staying true to who they are as individuals and members of a team and an organization. It is the invisible force that holds a company and its employees, execu-
I think that articles, reports, studies and surveys that have come to this and many other conclusions of similar nature are what drive me to improve employee experience. Every time I come across new information, it only proves once and again that corporate culture and employee experience are and will always be intertwined. As leaders, design thinkers and executives we must use this as leverage to improve the environment in the office and consequently drive growth. Doshi, Neel and McGregor Lindsay. HBR. How Company Culture shapes employee Motivation. November 25th, 2015. Accessed Oct 4th, 2016. https://hbr. org/2015/11/how-company-culture-shapes-employee-motivation 3
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DEFINITIONS OF CORPORATE CULTURE “A balance between the numbers game, year over year results and real life.” “I think it’s an intention that you set - John Acosta within the company of how you want your employees to interact with each other and with their work. A mindset that they see “Corporate culture is the backbone of any themselves in. “ company” – Barrett Martin – Nu Goteh
“I think it’s an intention that you set within the company of how you want your employees to interact with each other and with their work. A mindset that they see themselves in. “ – Barrett Martin
“The way people in a company relate to each other, the way they feel when they’re doing their job every day.” - Gayatri Mohan
“I think I tend to differentiate corporate to tech culture, it tends to be two different things in my mind. I don’t know if I would call Spotify corporate “ – Stephanie Calebrese
“The culture is the sum of people’s personalities” – Maxime Ollivier
“I think it’s the perfect mix between processes and people” – Andrea Umaña 21
All these definitions of Corporate Culture on the opposite page point to the same two things
tance of Corporate Culture in the workforce and
that are constantly coming up in this conversa-
and in the future. In his study, “executives charac-
tion: people and relationships. I believe these
terize culture as “a beliefs system,” “a coordination
are the two things that matter the most. Without
mechanism,” “an invisible hand,” or “how employ-
human capital, companies wouldn’t exist: “Cul-
ees interact with one another.”” 5
ture matters because it is a powerful, latent, and
often unconscious set of forces that determine
culture in a way it had never been done before.
both our individual and collective behavior, ways
These are some of the results:
of perceiving, thought patterns, and values. Orga-
nizational culture in particular matters because
The influential role of leadership:
cultural elements determine strategy, goals, and modes of operating.” 4 What I’d like to explore beyond strategy, individual and communal goals and ways of operating within a company are the intricacies of the everyday lives. What makes employees tick? What makes them go beyond their usual routines and encourages them to meet those goals and help the company reach its bottom line. Beside financial and economical incentives, which are intrinsic to the experience, what else can we offer for the betterment of employees and avoid
how much it might influence organizations today
This study looked to measure corporate
55%
of respondents identify the current CEO as the most important driver of the firm’s current culture.
32% the owner, 30% the founders 18% past CEO’s
short term and poor engagement. How can we lessen the levels of difficulty that come with talent acquisition and retention.
To understand how leaders and executives
view corporate culture I turned to Corporate Culture: Evidence from the field, a study conducted by John R. Graham, Campbell R. Harvey,
Only 16% believe their firm’s culture is exactly where it should be.
Jillian Popadak and Shivaram Rajgopal from Duke University and Columbia University. In this field study, Prof. Rajgopal and his counterparts surveyed CEO’S and CFO’s from 1,348 firms in the United States and interviewed 16 of them over the course of thirteen months. Some of the most important takeaways from it describe the impor4 Schein, Edgar H. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. First ed. California: Jossey-Bass In., Publishers, 1999. Print. Pg, 14.
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91% of executives consider corporate culture to be “very important” or “important” at their firm Graham, John R. and Harvey, Campbell R. and Popadak, Jillian A. and Rajgopal, Shivaram, Corporate Culture: Evidence from the Field (September 13, 2016). Duke I&E Research Paper No. 2016-33; Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 16-49; 27th Annual Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting Paper. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/ abstract=2805602 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2805602 5
79% rank culture as at least a “top 5” factor among all of the things that make their firm valuable 92% of corporate executives believe that improving corporate culture would increase firm value
Cultural fit in merger and acquisition (M&A) deals is so important that 54% o while another 33% would require discounts between 10%–30% of the purchase price of the target
Even though, this study surveyed CFO’s
and CEO’s of major companies in the US, I took
85% believe a poorly implemented, ineffective culture increases the chance that an employee might act unethically or even illegally 70% believe effective culture is an important reason their firm takes on the appropriate amount of investment risk
this information into account when I was interviewing employees and truly understand how corporate culture affects them in a day to day basis, and how they picture corporate culture affecting the company they work at in the short and long term. The direct relationship between employees and the culture of a company, whether it is written on the walls of an office or have an almost silent effect on them, made me realize I needed to speak directly with employees at various companies and understand how they understand culture and engagement.
The information that I gathered from this
secondary research, only made my primary research stronger and more relevant to the subject of employee engagement. Corporate culture and
84% of respondents indicate their firm’s culture is not exactly where it should be, yet 52% indicate their firm’s culture very closely tracks with their stated cultural values.
employee engagement are closely linked and cannot be separated, I believe that all these topics are closely intertwined and must be looked at from a systems thinking perspective.
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Employee Engagement
“Those who are involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work and contribute to their organization in a positive manner.� 7
According to Gallup, only 34.2% of Amer-
ican workers were engaged in their work in December 2016.6 Even though this number has gone up in the past three years, it still leaves a very high percentage of workers not engaged or actively disengaged in their work. During my research I looked at Deloitte’s human capital report of 2016 to understand why employees are not feeling engaged at work. Looking at trends within the American workforce also allowed me to understand these numbers and think beyond them in order to come up with feasible solutions and help prepare organizations with these staggering results of various case studies and reports. Before I go any further it is important to understand what employee engagement really is. This is how Gallup defines an engaged employee: 6
http://www.gallup.com/poll/180404/gallup-daily-employee-engagement.aspx
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State of the American Workplace: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S Business Leaders. 2013
How does employee engagement relate to
ty.”9 Deloitte’s 2016 Human Capital Trends Report
corporate culture then? In their Global Human
involves interviews and surveys with more than
Capital Trends 2016, Deloitte explained it in
7,000 executives and human resources leaders
simple and concise manner “Culture is the sense of
from 130 countries. Given my original focus for my
“how things are done around here”; engage-ment
research; my brother’s company based in Colom-
is “how employees feel about how things are done
bia, it was important to me to understand not
around here.” ”
only the point of view of American leaders, as we
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This year’s reports focuses on
designing new organizations because “After three
saw in the Corporate Culture Study but also to see
years of struggling to drive employee engagement
if culture, engagement and employee experience
and retention, improve leadership, and build a
resonated worldwide.
meaningful culture, executives see a need to re-
design the organization itself, with 92 percent of
research and mapped them in order of importance:
Deloitte identified 10 major trends in this
survey participants rating this as a critical priori-
While looking at this report, the extreme
traits and the goals each individuals have vary from
relationship between engagement and culture
person to person, from industry to industry there
made me realize about the importance of inclu-
are still studies that allow us to understand people
sivity in organizations. In order to create better
in the context of time and space. This is why it was
cultures and increase employee engagement at
important to me to understand the difference in
work, we need to understand the people who are
demographics within organizations.
part of the organizations. Even though personality 8
Global Human Capital Trends 2016. The New Organization: Different by Design. Deloitte University Press 9 Ibid
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Multigenerational Workforce
Who we work with matters, but we need
to understand how they think, feel and understand the workplace in order to make the office an efficient, pragmatic and productive space. Today, the workforce is comprised of mainly three generations; Baby Boomers, Generation X and Millennials. In the next few years, Gen Z will arrive into the workplace with different views on technology, economy, life-work balance and general views on life.
For the purposes of this report these are
the dates for these generations: 10
10 http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/
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In 2015, the Millennial generation sur-
passed the Generation X in the workplace for the first time. Why is this important? “In 2016, the workforce is undergoing a seismic change as 3.6 million Baby boomers are set to retire, one-fourth of Millennial workers will take on management roles and Generation Z ( those born between 1994-2010) has started to enter the workforce.�11 The new Generation is a one that was born and grew up in a world that has been dictated by technology, they grew up with a financial crisis and have had their lives dictated and constantly documented by social media. Employers and organizations need to be take this into account when preparing for the future of work.
Gen Z and Millennials collide at work Sudy. http://experts.randstadusa.com/ hubfs/Randstad_GenZ_Millennials_Collide_Report.pdf?submissionGuid=a1ba5d d5-ec44-4b01-8f57-7757c76aee0d 11
Organizations need to embrace the dif-
It’s important to know that Millennials
ferent perspectives, values and offerings of each
are not only doing their jobs for money, this same
generation in order to grow, innovate and gener-
survey points out that 60% of Millennials say a
ate better engagement amongst their employees.12
sense of purpose is part of the reason they choose
Unlocking Millennial Talent 2015: Brand New
a particular job.
Insights For Employing The Fastest Growing
Generation in the Workplace White Paper brought
2016 Millennial Survey; Winning over the next
by The Center for Generational Kinetics and the
generation of leaders,14 which survey’s 7,700 Mil-
Barnum Financial Group, surveyed 3,000 compa-
lennials representing 29 countries around the
nies which represented over 200,000 employees
globe , which focuses on the values and ambitions
and found 5 important drivers that Millennials
of Millennials. To me, the most interesting set of
prescribe to when speaking about employee en-
data that this survey showed me was that by 2020
gagement:
2 in 3 millennials expect to leave their job (see
On the other hand, by looking at Deloitte’s
Figure 1 in the next page). The majority, 66% to
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I feel I am valued in this organization.
be exact, believe they will leave their organization
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as offering them growth opportunities within the
I have confidence in the leadership of this organization.
before 2020. This lack of loyalty is something I’d like to personally address by helping organizations develop employees leadership skills as well organization. With the advent of technology and the gig economy I believe HR departments and Leaders amongst organizations must be aware of what else is going on around them.
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I like the type of work that I do.
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Most days, I feel I have made progress at work.
According to the Freelancing in America:
2015; An independent study commissioned by Freelancer’s Union and Upwork there were 54 million freelancers in the United States in 2015, an increase of 700,000 in comparison to 2014 This is 34% of workers in America.15 This number is increasing and people around the country are finding it easier to leave their companies and get
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freelance jobs that give them more freedom, more
http://genhq.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Unlocking-Millennial-Talent-c-2015-The-Center-for-Generational-Kinetics.pdf
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This organization treats me like a person, not a number. 13 12
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Ibid.
stability and even higher pay.
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-millenial-survey-2016-exec-summary.pd 15
Freelancing in America: 2015 An Independent study commissioned by Freelancers Union and Upwork. https://blog.freelancersunion.org/2015/10/01/freelancing-america-2015/
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my interviewees during this process said some-
The Interviews
thing about her decision to quite her job that
really resonates with this topic.
corporate culture, which in my opinion plays a
Olivia LaFaire, a UX designer and one of
“ For me, I had no
The beginning of my research focused on
rather important role on employee experience. Corporate culture and employee experience
trouble on quitting because I knew I had a skillset that I could freelance until I found something that I thought would make me happy. So, I’m not really intimidated by it. And I think people are starting to see this as well.
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Olivia LaFaire UX Designer NY
cannot live without the other, they are mutually exclusive. In order to get a better understanding of these, I interviewed people from different industries with at least two years of work experience. I interviewed a total of 16 people, some over the phone, some through skype and some in person while being recorded on camera. Olivia was one of the 16 people I interviewed during the past three months who helped me get to insights that allowed me to truly understand employees in the workforce as it is today and how it must change in order to accommodate and mold for the generations as well as the work environment to come.
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Additionally, without actually realizing it,
throughout the months I’ve been working on into this project, I have unconsciously interviewed people throughout the day, at dinner parties, or
Daniel Pombo Manager Latam Partnerships BUSBUD
having a coffee. What I found while talking to multiple people in regards to the topic of corporate culture is that it is all very subjective, depending on your industry, your job title, your boss and the people you interact with on a daily basis. These informal conversations have also contribute to the findings and insights you will see in the
Barrett Martin
SDM Graduate Student Former Consumer Insights Coordinator PUBLICSTUFF
coming pages. Corporate Culture is created by the values of the company and fed throughout the years by the employees who share these similar
Jennifer Kramer
Client Engagement Leader HERMAN MILLER
values.
The Interviewees Amalia Ramos
Kareisha Questel
Andrea UmaĂąa
Tonia Koehler
Global Brand Director STARWOOD HOTELS
Lean Consultant
Sales Operation Manager HERMAN MILLER
XSS MANAGEMENT
International Sales Manager HERMAN MILLER
Stephanie Calebrese
John Acosta
Client Services Manager
SPOTIFY
SDM Graduate Student Design Researcher and Strategist
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Maxime Ollivier
Roberto Alvarez Roldan
iOS Developer RADEN
Former CEO ACCENTURE ARGENTINA
Olivia La Faire
Patricia Brennan
Part Tim Graduate Student UX Designer JUSTWORKS
Pablo Mejia
GMS Sales Manager GOOGLE
Recruiter, Founder CEO GOOD COMPANY
These interviews allowed me push deeper
on the subject of Employee Experience. Most of the interviews were focused on corporate culture as a standalone topic, but as I kept on with the conversations the importance of employee experience, leadership and change kept coming up.
Nu Goteh
Innovation Fellow OPENBOX
I found three main things from this prima-
ry research.
1.
Significant changes in companies such
as M&A activity or changes in leadership are an
Gayatri Mohan
SDM Graduate Student Design Strategist
opportunity for corporate culture to play an important role in shaping employee experience. The way leaders respond to changes, and the way they mandate the course of actions is always a space where they can inculcate the company’s culture, values and sense of purpose. .
Roxanna Zarnegar
Strategy Planning Independent Consultant
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2.
Corporate culture has not one defini-
tion alone and employees as well as leaders don’t always acknowledge the presence of it as a driving force for an organization. This made me think about personalities, which cultures also have. So, what happens if we can label different cultures into compartments? By identifying different types of cultures we can understand what type of employees fit with each culture. On the other hand,
“I’m totally making a decision based on the company culture they are projecting” - Olivia LaFaire, Part Time Graduate Student, with a full time job (yes, the one she refers to)
as people change culture does too and this is why it is important to truly understand the DNA of a company before joining it, or advising someone else to join.
3.
Corporate culture plays an important
role for hiring and retaining valuable talent in a company. Throughout the job seeking process, potential talent is always consciously or not measuring and evaluating the company’s culture. How do people react to working there? How does it affect their lives? What are the blogs saying? How did they greet you and treat you during your interview processes? Does the company value the same things you do? How was the experience with legal processes? All these influence a person’s decision.
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THE INSIGHTS
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F
rom my conversations and the extensive review of studies, surveys and a wide range of
articles from magazines, websites and books I arrived to the following Insights. These insights helped me realize things that might have seem obvious now, after having all the information in complete synthesis but I would have never arrived at these without the in depth research, and understanding phase I went through.
INSIGHT #1: SPACE MATTERS
Personality, values and goals are an im-
portant and crucial aspect of corporate culture but in order to properly communicate them and see them to fruition employees feel a proper space allows them to develop and integrate themselves
CLUE: “I think the air here is super different. When you go to Stamford, the air there is super sterile, it feels a little bit clinical to me, very corporate. At least what I would think corporate America is: cubicles and so forth. Here, it is more of an open office, on fifth avenue. Here we also have little spaces where we can go, with boards and we can look at each other’s works.” Amalia Ramos, Starwood Hotels
better within the culture. It is not the only thing though, it’s not just about buying a few bean bags and a ping pong table for employees to have a relaxed break between meetings, but it’s about making the workplace conducive for better development, communication, integration and progress in the workplace.
This is one aspect of corporate culture
which can be leveraged in order to mitigate risks
CLUE: “Because of the new living open office landscape that we have here I think that has heightened our work , there are some additional distractions with that (chuckling), However, overall we are able to move forward with a lot of the minnial tasks that might have been a roadblock.” Kareisha Questel, Herman Miller
associated with major management or corporate changes. CLUE: “So it was open office environment, there were about 30 people working there. It was pretty big but it was pretty much open office, there was three conference rooms, a keg and a foosball table” Barrett Martin, SDM ‘17
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INSIGHT #2: YOU ARE NEVER FINISHED MOLDING THE CULTURE OF A COMPANY, IT’S AN ONGOING PROCESS WHICH ITSELF CHANGES
CLUE: “Keeping employees motivated (and satisfied) is an eternal challenge, as HR professionals from the biggest global conglomerates to the newest Silicon Valley startups will attest.” Christopher Tkaczyk Fortune Article - 50 Best Small and Medium Size companie to work for
CLUE: “The larger a company becomes, the more that culture has to reinvent itself to accommodate more employees and the need for management.” Sujan Pate Entrepreneur Article 10 Examples of Companies with Fantastic Culture.
Whether it is intended or not, every com-
pany and organization has a culture. It is important to notice and acknowledge it in order to progress and make changes prior to finding negative outcomes in the company. It can be leveraged as a preventive mechanism for disaster within a company. Culture within a company is not going to be static, it’s constantly changing due to a variety of factors including the economy, technological developments, social norms, generational differences and the nature of each company’s business.
CLUE: “While establishing a culture in a start-up is relatively easy, changing the culture of an ongoing enterprise is extraordinarily difficult, but even more critical to success; A stagnant, overly “corporate” culture is anathema to the average smart creative” Book: How Google Works
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CLUE: “Motivation sometimes cannot be fed via monetary benefits or incentives, but through other aspects of the employee experience...such as helping them develo a s sense of ownership, offering personal growth and development oppotunities and having the space to offer leadership opportunities” Pablo Mejia, Google
INSIGHT #3: FINDING PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR VALUES IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN FINDING PEOPLE WITH SIMILAR RESUMES
Having an excellent Human Resources and
Recruiting team is the first step to ensuring corporate culture is maintained and shaped from the
CLUE: “Human resources plays a very important role actually, and it is knowing the capabilities of a person and matching them to the job, they usually are just there to match the person to the job description but that is often not the most important thing. Organizations are based on people and not on job descriptions, so theres a mismatch there. Usually people get promoted because of who they are and not what job they are doing. It’s a leadership commitment.” Andrea Umaña Lean Consultant
CLUE: “Nothing is more important that the quality of hiring” Book: How Google Works
beginning.
We can leverage corporate culture through
hiring and recruitment purposes in order to find the best multidisciplinary teams that not only challenge each other but complement their strengths and understand each other’s weaknesses.
CLUE: “I only work with companies that I respect. My business is called Good Company, that’s purposeful. I only want to work with good people and good companies. I can’t sell something I don’t believe in.” Patricia Brennan, Recruiter
CLUE: “If employees don’t care, then nothing good can happen. If the team is charged up and feeling good, the an organization will hit or surpass every one of its goals.” Liz Ryan Forbes Articles Ten Reasons successful people change jobs more often
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INSIGHT #4: THERE’S NO GOOD OR BAD CULTURE, THERE’S RIGHT CULTURE
Corporate culture is not only about bean
bags, foosball tables and Friday night kegs at the office but it’s also not infinite rows of cubicles in fluorescent lighting.
Corporate culture is unique to every com-
pany, and the right culture for each company must rely on each company’s essence and integrity to shape itself. This is where companies truly differentially, especially in the tech industry which most
INSIGHT #5: LEADERS SHAPE CULTURE AND CULTURE SHAPES LEADERS
Leaders in organizations don’t necessari-
ly dictate culture but they can shape it. They set standards. They paint the road for employees to follow. As companies and employees change and are shaped with time, so do Leaders. It is a reciprocal relationship that allows for change but also knows keeps its course.
have adopted open space, and infinite perks. What is going to differentiate them?
Corporate culture is not a mold that fits
all. It’s unique to each company and it is crucial to acknowledge it in order to understand every piece of the puzzle in order to make it resilient and relevant. CLUE: “After all, getting culture right is not just a key point of differentiation for a company; it’s the enduring point of differentiation.” Olof Schybergson and Shah Baiju Fast Co Design Article: Can Corporate and creative culture ever truly merge? CLUE: “When you get the company culture right, great customer service and a great brand will happen on its own.” Tim Armstrong AOL CEO (FastCompany Innovation Festival)
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CLUE: “Decide who runs the company based on performance and passion , not by function or experience” Book: How Google Works CLUE: Leadership starts when there is none Tim Armstrong AOL CEO (FastCompany Innovation Festival) CLUE: “Business leaders believe a strong organizational culture is critical to success, yet culture tends to feel like some magic force that few know how to control. ” Dave Wheeler HBR Article How company culture shapes employee motivation
INSIGHT #6: YOU CAN’T DO IT ON YOUR OWN AND YOU CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT PROPER COMMUNICATION
Upper executives rely on both their em-
ployees and their customers to achieve success. The communication channels must be used accordingly in order to run a proper organization and take advantage of both positive and negative
CLUE: “Two way conversation is most important. At AOL we invited our consumers into our offices. We had to be a company without walls. I don’t know how to offer products and services today without a no walls mentality.” Tim Armstrong AOL CEO (FastCompany Innovation Festival)
CLUE: “Number one thing is communication. You can’t possibly over-communicate. Your goal is to win the hearts of employees so they truly embrace the merger.” Chris McGrath ThoughtFarmer Co-Founder (Forbes article)
feedback to do continuous improvement. Communication is a two way street. Trust can only be achieved with transparency and humility.
CLUE: “a good marketing idea can come from anyone in the office rather than being relegated to a specific department.” Big Spaceship Blog. We have a culture crush on Warby Parker
CLUE: This is like the 101 “Do not do this if you acquire a fu**** company” like. Tell people what’s going on. Be transparent. Don’t have two bimbos come into the office and be like “Oh we acquired you..here’s some swag okay bye” That was it, that’s all we got. There was no information. Barrett Martin SDM ‘17
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OPPORTUNITY PLATFORMS
F
rom the insights in the previous
chapter I proceeded to create opportunity platforms that would lead the project into an ideation phase. I came up with 6 different opportunity platforms. Each of these platforms or areas has a specific name that are supported by one or more insights and further reinforced by a statement fone by one of my interviewees.
Giving HR a new face
Getting rid of unnecessary communication
channels
Leading by example
Making Experience Tangible
Employee experience in a flash
Employee Experience is more than just the
money
For any challenge, there are a variety of poten-
tial solutions but what matters the most to me as a design researcher is the passion that a project portrays and sparks in myself. This is why I decided to focus my solution on the concept of
Making Experience Tangible.
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THE CONCEPT
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MAKING CORPORATE CULTURE & EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE
TANGIBLE
“The most insightful cultural observers often are outsiders, because cultural g ivens are not implicit to them.”
- Deloitte Leading Through Transition: Perspectives on the People Side of M^A
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A consulting service that provides small companies a roadmap to understanding the importance of investing in corporate culture and employee experience.
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A product or intervention that visualizes and exposes corporate culture and employee experience so small companies understand how investing in both yields positive results.
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I
started this research asking myself
Challenges:
how can companies scale? How can companies better
integrate in the process of Merger and Acquisitions?
have a lot of information. Information and data
After a few iterations my final challenge question
that allows us to analyze and recommend the best
was: How can we help organizations prepare for
course of action. The question that arises here is:
the future of work by designing, creating and bet-
Do clients prefer a highly personalized service? On
ter understanding employee experience? Given my
the other hand, we must ask ourselves if the clients
primary and secondary research, I believe people, not
are hiring us because of the consultancy or because
only Millennials or Gen Z’s want to be more involved.
of the product or intervention delivered.
They want to be part of the group of people who cre-
ate and execute ideas. They want to work for a pur-
ysis we must ask ourselves what types of questions
pose other than just monetary compensation, they
we are going to ask and try to solve that will yield
want to make a difference in the world, they want to
the best information possible. What is the current
be part of organizations that have a larger purpose
corporate culture of the company? What does the
which they can share. Before we, as employees, can
employee engagement look like? Are there mul-
attempt to impact the world in such a grandiose way, we have to impact the direct world that surrounds us. I think that things have to start small in order to create enough momentum for it to make a real impact in the world. Making corporate culture and employee experience tangible is the first step to truly understanding the weaknesses and strengths that will help organizations better themselves and in consequence better the experiences of every member of their community.
There are three steps that make this concept
feasible.
Number 1: there needs to be a client
Number 2: company analysis has to be done
thoroughly
Number 3: there must be an intervention or
product involved.
In order to create a great consultancy must
For conducting a thorough Company anal-
tigenerational employees? What is the level of inclusion amongst employees? What is the level of knowledge of current leaders regarding these questions.
Finally I must ask myself and organiza-
tions around me: what type of information do they want? A general overview of the company? or a specific area? Talent acquisition? Communication strategies? Good vs. bad practices? What are they doing right? What are they doing wrong? In order to be able to answer these questions, the biggest challenge we’ll face is where the information comes from. Who shall it come from?
The Product or Intervention:
How might we design and develop a prod-
uct that helps small organizations adopt mechanisms and processes that acknowledge corporate culture and employee experience as a fundamental pillar in the company and also reflects its growth?
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Potential Products: Surveys Programs and Processes Leadership Courses Leacture Series Documenting Culture: document, blog, website, page written by employees Communication Workshops Good and Bad Talent Retention, Acquisition and follow up practices.
Challenges: Employee’s self esteem Employee’s honesty Employee’s loyalty Healthy vs. Unhealthy Culture Rhetoric vs. reality
Looking Forward:
For the next month and a half I will be
immersing myself in the culture of Elephant, my brother’s company. On and off the field, in the office and on the road. I want to understand what the culture is like but most important what he and his employees think the culture is like. Important Questions: What is their culture like today? Is it the way they portray it? What kind of culture do they want?
Photography Credits, under Creative Commons Licence: Cover: Samuel Zeller Page 2-3: Michael Ritter Page 6: Simson Petrol Page 8-9: Iddris Fettoul Page 12-13: Shannon Kelley Page 16: Isabel Escobar Page 18-19: Verne Ho Page 21: Thomas Brault Page 24: Leeroy (lifeofpix) Page 32-33 Ian Schneider Page 40: CC Pexels 57690 Page 43: Cathryn Lavery
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BIBLIOGRAPHY Articles online: - Gavetti, Giovanni. HBR The New Psychology of Strategic Leadership. July-August 2011. Accessed Oct 4th, 2016 https://hbr.org/2011/07/the-new-psychology-of-strategic-leadership - Everly, George S. Jr. HBR. Building a Resilient Organizational Culture June 24, 2011. Accessed Oct 4th, 2016. https://hbr.org/2011/06/building-a-resilient-organizat - Barsade, Sigal and O’Neill, Olivia. HBR. Manage your emotional Culture. January-February 2016. Accessed oct 4th, 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/01/manage-your-emotional-culture - Seppala, Emma and Cameron, Kim. HBR. Proof that positive work cultures are more productive. December 01, 2015. Accessed Oct 4th, 2016. https://hbr.org/2015/12/proof-that-positive-work-culturesare-more-productive - Doshi, Neel and McGregor Lindsay. HBR. How Company Culture shapes employee Motivation. November 25th, 2015. Accessed Oct 4th, 2016. https://hbr.org/2015/11/how-company-culture-shapes-employee-motivation - Silverthorne, Sean. HBS. The Profit Power of Corporate Culture. September 28th, 2011. Accessed Oct 4th, 2016. http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/the-profit-power-of-corporate-culture - Carucci, Ron. HBR. Midsize Companies Shouldn’t confuse Growth with Scaling. July 25th, 2016. Accessed Oct 1st, 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/07/midsize-companies-shouldnt-confuse-growth-with-scaling - Patel, Sujan. Entrepreneur. 10 Examples of Companies with Fantastic Culture. August 5th, 2015. Accessed Oct 1st, 2016. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/249174 - Big Spaceship. Accessed on Nov 3rd, 2016 http://www.bigspaceship.com/warby-parker-culture/ Tkaczyk, Christopher. 50 Best Small and Medium-Size companies to work for. September 19th, 2013. Accessed November 3rd, 2016 http://fortune.com/2013/09/19/50-best-small-and-medium-size-companies-to-work-for/ - Ryan, Liz. Ten Reasons Successful people change jobs more often. October 28th, 2016 Forbes. Accessed Nov 3rd, 2016 http://www.forbes.com/sites/lizryan/2016/10/28/ten-reasons-successful-peoplechange-jobs-more-often/#5d15b82e26a9 - Hoffman, Reid, Ben Casnocha and Chris Yeh. Tours of Duty: The New Employee Employer Compact. HBR. June 2013. Accessed nov 9th, 2016 https://hbr.org/2013/06/tours-of-duty-the-new-employeremployee-compact - Graham, John R. and Harvey, Campbell R. and Popadak, Jillian A. and Rajgopal, Shivaram, Corporate Culture: Evidence from the Field (September 13, 2016). Duke I&E Research Paper No. 2016-33; Columbia Business School Research Paper No. 16-49; 27th Annual Conference on Financial Economics and Accounting Paper. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2805602 or http://dx.doi. org/10.2139/ssrn.2805602 Books: - Schmidt, Eric, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle. How Google Works. first ed. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2014. Print - Schein, Edgar H. The Corporate Culture Survival Guide. Firs ed. California: Jossey-Bass In., Publishers, 1999. Print
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