just part of the crop

8/6/2019 Just Part of the Crop

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Example Case

JustPartoftheCrop

Joann Keyton

Sisters. Uhhh, she said withmocking disgust. Once abig sis, always a big sis.

What are you complainingabout now? Marcus* asks Yasminas he searches the menu for din-ner. It had been almost a yearsince Yasmin and Marcus hadgraduated from college. Althoughthey saw each other frequently atfriends parties and weddings, they

hadnt had time to have the typeof soul-searching conversationsthey enjoyed while in school.

My sister and her fr iendsgraduate this spring and theyrealways asking me how to look fora job . . . what do I think about thisand that company . . . how mucham I making . . . it just goes on andon, Yasmin explains. I realizethey havent had much job experi-

ence. But every time I go homethey launch into this barrage ofquestions.

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Description about Yasmin andMarcus relational history

Description about the primarycommunication problem pre-sented in the case: Yasmins youn-ger sister (and her friends) wantsadvice about looking for a jobafter graduation. Yasmin andMarcus reflect on their experi-

ences in developing rsums,answering job ads, and going oninterviews.


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Well, Marcus replies, dont you remember what it was likewhen we interviewed for our firstjobs?

Sure, and Im sympathetic andhelpful to a degree. But at somepoint, they just have to developtheir rsum, answer some ads, andgo on some interviews. Its just nota perfector a prettyprocess.

Yasmin stops the conversation toperuse the menu. Finding what she

wants to order, she snaps it shut.So, what are you going to order?

Could you just make up yourmind without surveying me?Marcus asks with a laugh. Some-times you take the data collectionthing too far. This is dinner, not ahuman resources survey.

The waitperson arrives and asksfor their order. Both Yasmin andMarcus start to talk at once, and

then realize they are ordering thesame thing. They laugh at them-selves, like only good friends can.

Its been like this for a longtime. Yasmin and Marcus met eachother when they were the only twofreshmen senators to their univer-sitys student government associa-tion (SGA). Although both hadbeen very involved in organizationsat their high schools, the universitysSGA required a different level ofinvolvement . . . the decisions thesenators made influenced univer-sity governance. In their four yearsrepresenting the School of Com-munication, Yasmin and Marcus

14 Example Case Case Studies For Organizational Communication

Additional description aboutYasmin and Marcus relational his-tory, and their college and workhistories.


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worked to end plus/minus grading,persuaded the provost to changethe final exam schedule to accom-modate both full- and part-timestudents more effectively, raisedconsiderable funds to support adevelopmentally disabled person

who lived near campus, and cre-ated a separate student organiza-tion to manage the SGAs enter-tainment programming.

Not only were Yasmin and

Marcus effective student leaders,they also worked part-time in theunivers i ty s recrui t ing of f ice .

Yasmin enjoyed going on recruit-ing trips to regional high schools,

whereas Marcus was particularlyeffective in helping to develop theoffices written materials and incollecting survey data from stu-dents and parents who visited theuniversitys campus.

Both were majors in the Schoolo f C o m m u n i c a t i o n . Y a s m i nmajored in organizational commu-nication and Marcus majored ininterpersonal communication, sotheir part-time positions were goodfits with the careers they hoped topursue.

Waiting for their dinner toarrive, Marcus restarts the conver-sation. Dont you remember whatit was like for us when we were

looking for our first jobs? We hadsome pretty strange ideas aboutwhat it meant to work. We reallythought we were the cream of the

Example Case Just Part of the Crop 15

Notice how Marcus has shiftedthe conversation to reflectionsabout what it means to work.


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crop. He paused. Turns out, wewere just part of the crop.

Y e a h , m u s e s Y a s m i n . Ithought that at five oclock, that

would be it. I could go home and Iwouldnt have anything to do once Igot home. I was going to have somuch more free time than I had

when I was in school because when you got home, work was over.Pausing to take a drink, Yasmin con-

tinues sarcastically. Right. Just like ifyou went in and did your job wellyoud be recognized. You know . . . Itruly thought it was what you didand not who you knew. Oh, andthe other thing . . . do you remem-ber how long 8 to 5 really was yourfirst week on the job? I was soexhausted. I didnt realize how shortan attention span I had until I had tosit in one space from 8 to 5. Ithought I was going to die.

Marcus responds, Yeah, Iremember thinking that once I wasemployed Id be a member of acohesive work grouplike we werein SGAand all of us in the workgroup would go out for five oclockhappy hours and stuff. I dont know. . . it was some type of a real-work-ing-adult fantasy I had.

The waitperson interruptedtheir conversation to deliver their

s a l a d s . T h e y s t o p p e d f o r amoment to enjoy the beginning oftheir meal, but within a few min-utes Yasmin started once again toreflect on their firstreal jobs.


Here Yasmin identifies three ini-tial shocks:(a) believing she wouldhave more free time, (b) believingthat doing your job well was allthat was needed, and (c) thestress of being in one place for 9hours.

Here Marcus contributes his ini-tial shock: believing that his workgroup would replicate his cohe-sive group at the university.


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I d o n t k n o w w h y I m s oannoyed with my sister and herfriends for asking about my salary,

Yasmin admits. Now that I thinkabout it, I did the same thing shesdoing. I had no idea what a decentsalary was when I was looking for ajob. And I was scared that I wouldntmake enough to do all the adultthings I dreamed of . . . you know. . . getting my own apartment, buy-ing a new, not a used, car . . . oh,

and buying new corporate suits.When I asked my friends and fam-ily about salaries, everybody toldme all these horror stories abouthow Id start out at 21 or evenlower. So when they offered me$27,500, I remember thinking thatI was really rolling in it.

Unti l you found out howmuch is taken out for social secu-rity, income taxes, and medicalinsurance, Marcus interjects.

Yes, now I truly understand what my parents were talkingabout. Before I got my first pay-check I didnt really comprehendtheir criticism that they make Xamount of dollars, but they dontsee it. And my mom was alwayscomplaining that the government

was wasting her money. But themost painful part was paying forparking. It s expensive to park

downtown, Yasmin emphasizes.Yeah, thats one of the bene-fits of working out east at theoffice park. I dont pay for park-ing. Of course, Marcus says jok-


Yasmin recognizes that the infor-mation her sister is asking for isthe same information she wasseeking during her job hunt.

Here Yasmin and Marcus talkabout discovering the differencebetween gross and net pay.

Notice how Marcus uses thissame topic to introduce anothernew-employee discomfort: find-


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ingly, its a lot easier for me to getlost. All those buildings look alike.I swear it took me the entire first

week to figure out which way towalk out of the circular garage tofind the right tower to enter.

Marcus continues, What reallygot me was when my medical insur-ance kicked in. I didnt even go tothe doctor these last 12 months, butI guarantee you I feel like I paid adoctors salary in my insurance pre-miums. Pausing for a moment tobutter a dinner roll doesnt dampenhis complaint. I hadnt paid forinsurance before. I had no idea howmuch it cost. And this is how naive Ireally was . . . I was hired to work inhuman resources and I had no ideahow benefits and stuff work. I guess,on some level, I thought that thecompany paid for everything, all thebenefits. I didnt realize there was a

premium. Looking at my paycheck,I thought, What does this deduc-tion mean? Here they were trainingme to interview potential newemployees and I didnt have a clueabout how benefits really worked.

Yasmin takes over the conver-sation. What was hard for me wasnot knowing how to calculate thetaxes so I knew what Id be actu-ally taking home. So when theymade me the salary offer, I reallyfelt like I was kind of gambling. Idid remember from one of mybusiness classes that we were toldto calculate our take home as 70%to allow for taxes and insurance.


ing ones way around in an unfa-miliar environment.

Marcus picks up the issue of pay-ing for benefits and intertwines itwith recognition that he did not

realize how basic benefits werepaid for by both the company andthe employee, and how it was his job to help other employeesunderstand basic issues he haddifficulty accepting.

Notice how Yasmin returns theconversation to the discrepancybetween gross and net salary.


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But one of my friends told me itwould be more like a 20% deduc-tion. Guess which one I believed?

The conversation continuesuntil their dinners arrive. They talksome about their jobshers at SentryShield and his at OmegaPlusand some about the peoplethey went to school with. Eventhough they haven t seen oneanother for several months, notsince Ridleys going-away party,

Yasmin and Marcus conversationretains its typical characterthey

weave in and out of topics easily,somehow managing to alwaysreturn to anything left unfinished.

Well, asks Marcus, what isyour sister going to do?

She doesnt know. Shes moreconcerned that shes going to havetrouble selling her communicationdegree.

Is it in org com, like yours?Yes, shes following in her sis-

t e r s f o o t s t e p s. S h e p a u s e s .Should I be proud, annoyed . . . orshould I caution her?

Yo u m e a n a b o u t h o w t odefend her communication degree

when shes interviewing for a job?Marcus asks.

Right, it was amazing to me. I was so proud of my communica-tion degree because I had a high

GPA and I could see the relevanceof communication in everything Idid. I just expected that others

would too. But that first job inter-view really was an eye-opener.


Information about Yasmin andMarcus current employers. Ridley,their friend, is introduced. Noticehow a pattern or style of conver-sation is developing betweenYasmin and Marcus. They appearto be comfortable weaving in andout of topics, underscoring theircomfort and familiarity with oneanother.

Marcus returns to the problem ofthe case: Yasmins younger sister(and her friends) wants adviceabout looking for a job after grad-uation.

Here the conversation turns theviabil ity of a communicationdegree and the need to explain topotential employers the benefit ofa communication degree.


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Right, agrees Marcus. I canremember after my first interviewthinking, That interviewer doesntclearly understand the value ofcommunication. And he was arecruiter no less. I remember com-ing home dejected thinking thattheyre not going to pay me muchbecause I had to explain to theinterviewer what I learned in mycommunication classes. But, hey, I

had to explain to my parents whatI was doing in communication,Marcus adds with a grin. But afterthat first job interview, I had to doa lot of rationalizing . . . you know. . . did I do the right thing getting acom degree? Im really glad I hadthat experience before I inter-

viewed with Omega Plus.Yasmin quickly says, Isnt that

post-decisional regret? We studiedthat in our decision-making class.Remember Professor Walters? He

was sooooo good. We should goback and see if hes going to retiresoon. Doesnt he have a cabin inthe woods in Montana?

Montana, yes. Good, yes. Butso stingy with the As, Marcusreplies.

They finish their dinners andorder coffee and dessert; their con-

versation continues.

You never did tell me whatyour sister was going to do.

Right, says Yasmin. I havetold her a few things.

For instance?


Marcus ties his thread of the con-versation back to his reflectionson convincing his parents that acommunication degree was theright degree choice.

Once again, Marcus brings theconversation back to the problemof the case.


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Well, I did finally tell her thestory about the whole applicationprocess . . . remember, youre theonly one I ever confessed that to. I

was too ashamed to tell anyoneelse.

Yes, your secrets safe withme, Marcus said in a hushed tone.What exactly did you tell her?

You know, how they calledme in for the interview and I didnot even remember turning in an

application to them. When I got tothe interview, the interviewer saidshe was impressed with my coverletter and everything, and I didnteven remember that I had applied.I was sending in so many applica-tionsfive a week. That was mygoal. On Friday, I had to makesure that I had put five rsums inthe mail.

A n d y o u k n o w , I a l w a y sthought that I would work for some-place really fabulous, a big-nameretail organization, or some hugefinancial institution. I never imag-ined working for a company that Ihad never heard of before. When Isaw their ad, it was blind . . . youknow the kind, describes the joband gives you a post office box torespond to. The job sounded inter-esting, so I thought, Ill just send in arsum. Ive got to get five out. I

was working on pure quantity . . .hoping to increase my odds thatone would pick me out of all thepeople applying. And so Im waitingto hear from all these fabulous com-


Yasmin confesses her ambiguity inher initial interactions with hercurrent employer.

Yasmin describes her job-seekingstrategy.

Yasmin discloses her ignorance inidentifying potential employers bylimiting her job search to compa-nies she knew about.

Yasmin describes the problemsinherent in answering a blind ad(company name is concealed, ageneral post office box is the onlyaddress).


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panies that I had applied to. And Iget this call from the recruiter.

When I answered the phone I knowI said Who? like an idiot. And shesaid SentryShield. And I was likeGreat. Sure. Yeah. Ill come in foran interview.

I was immediately on theInternet, looking up SentryShield. I

wanted to have some idea of whatthey did. I was amazed to find that

it was the parent company for eightother national companies. Who would have guessed that theyreone of the top three home securitycompanies and that their nationalheadquarters was here? How couldI not know that . . . Ive lived hereall my life!

So you told her all that? Yoursister, I mean, asks Marcus.

Well, kind of. I told her mostof it. But I changed the name ofthe company.

Why? Marcus asks suspi-ciously.

Because I also told her it wasyou, as Yasmin points her fingerat Marcus.

Me?!What are best friends for?

Speaking of friends, Yasmin con-tinues, I saw Ridley last week. He

was in town visiting his parents,

as she tries to change the subject.Remember when we were get-ting ready to graduate . . . anybodyhe met, hed pimp that rsum.Oh, hey. Can I get you a copy of


Yasmin describes searching forinformation on the company priorto the job interview. Her attemptsat organizational anticipatory

socialization help her avoid entryshock and decide if there is a goodmatch between her and thepotential employers organizat-ional culture.

T h i s i n t e r a c t i o n i n d i c a t e sYasmins faith and trust in Marcus.She tells her sister the story, butdescribes the experience as hap-pening to Marcus, not to her.

To deflect further conversationabout this use of their friendship,Yasmin turns the conversation to

Ridley, a mutual friend.


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my rsum? Hey, do you knowBob Jones? Id love to get a copyof my rsum in his hands.

He is my friend . . . but I didhate doing anything with him

while he was looking for a job. He w a s p i m p i n g t h e r s u m t h ewhole time. And I was like, well, Idon t want to pimp mysel f tothese people.

Yasmin asks, Remember Dr.Fergusons interviewing class? I

asked her if it was cocky to put mySGA activities and achievementson my rsum. She said that weneeded to brag on ourselves. I canhear her saying, If you dont, noone else will. I guess I have a hardtime with shameless self-promo-tion.

No, thats what Ridley did.There is a difference betweenshameless self -promotion andbeing proud of your accomplish-ments.

I couldnt figure out where todraw the line, Yasmin replied,shaking her head.

They smiled, rememberingtheir friend Ridley and their pro-fessor, Dr. Ferguson. They didhave a great time in school. It wastoo bad they couldnt coordinatetheir schedules to see each othermore often.

Marcus chimes back in, So,are you going to tell your sister toread the parachute book?


Notice how both Yasmin andMarcus dismiss Ridleys job-seek-ing strategy of zealously usingpersonal networks to extend his job search.

Yasmin tests her analysis of Ridleys strategy by comparing itto job-seeking advice given byone of their professors.

Marcus confirms Yasmins evalua-tion of Ridleys strategy.

Marcus, once again, returns theconversation to the cases initialproblem: what Yasmin should tellher sister about searching for herfirst job.


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You mean What Color Is MyParachute? I gave her my copy.Shell probably copy my answers!

Changing the subject, Marcusasks, So what is it really like atSentryShield?

Not much different than whenI started a year ago. Let me tell you

what happened today. Yasminstarts to laugh. I do have to makesome recommendations aboutfirst-day orientation. You wontbelieve what happened to this newemployee.

It was her first day. She camein really early . . . guess she wantedto impress us. And all of our out-side doors were locked . . . youknow, for security reasons. Shefinally found her way in. I think shejust followed someone in whenthey slid their ID badge throughthe security checkpoint. I was there

e a r l y t o o bu t h a r d a t w o r kalready. I didnt hear anyone andall of a sudden, Yasmin, its me,

Judy! Its my first day. How do I getto my desk? I said, Arent you sup-posed to be meeting Beth? Thatsmy bossher boss, too. She said,Yes, she told me to meet her at heroffice. I dont know where heroffice is. She looked really embar-rassed. I promised not to tell Beth.So I took her to get an ID badgeand then showed her to Bethsoffice. But Beth wasnt in yet. So Istood there with her for a while.Finally Jim, our vice president,came in, looked directly at Judy,


Marcus question to Yasmin cre-ates a significant but related shiftin their conversation.

Yasmin introduces this organizat-ional story with the acknowledg-ment that she was not responsi-ble for the new hires uncertainty

or stress, and that she would fixthis apparent problem in herorganization.


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and asked, Are you the temp?Judy piped up, No, Im hoping Imgoing to be permanent before Icould introduce her as the newHR assistant.

Beths phone rang, so I pickedit up. It was Beth. She asked, Is

Judy up there? Tell her to comedown to the first floor, weve gotorientation set up for her across thestreet. And Im late. Beth is alwayslate. So I got to whisk Judy off to

orientation. The last thing Judy saidto me was, You know, it was likemy mom dropping me off at kin-dergarten. I should have told herthat it was exactly like that my firstday on the job. We simply must doa better job on an employees firstday.

Later that afternoon I sawJudy wandering around the eighthfloor, where our offices are. She

w a s a l m o s t i n t e a r s . W h en Iwalked up to her she said, I dontquite know how to get back to mydesk. All the cubicles look thesame. You turn a corner, and itsjust cubes. Poor kid.

I know how she must havefelt, Marcus said empathically.My first day was overwhelmingtoo. The first day its meet-and-greet this person, then meet-and-greet the next person. Each

one giving me the spiel on what heor she does and what the depart-ment does. I had no idea that Omega Plus was such a complexplace. Im just listening to all this


Yasmin continues with this story.Notice how Yasmin uses Judysfirst-day experiences to frameher first-day at the organization.

Yasmin concludes the story aboutJudy by returning to the ambiguityand uncertainty theme evident

throughout their conversation.

Taking his turn, Marcus discloseshis confusion and anxiety in meet-ing so many people and obtainingso much information on his firstday on the job.


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stuff flying around me. I have nocontext for making it make sense.And by ten oclock, I was just like. . . whoo! You know, overwhelmed.I spent my whole first day meetingpeople. It was insane.

Yasmin agrees. Its amazinghow draining that is. My first day. . . I felt like I had been throughsorority rush again, you know,

w h e r e y o u r f a c e j u s t c r a m p s

because youve been smiling allday at everyone. I was trying reallyhard to appear interested in every-t h i n g e v e r y o n e s a i d . A n d Ithought, ohmygosh . . . all I wantto do is go home and go to sleep!

B u t t h e f r e a k i e s t p a r t , Marcus chimes back in, was wheneveryone knew my namecause I

was the new guyand I didnt know their names . . . hey, I had ahard time keeping their namesand positions straight! I know nowthat they were just trying to makeme feel welcome, but it just freaks

you out a little bit.Ive made it a practice . . .

when somebody new comes wesay Hello, my name is Yasmin. I

work in communication, and Iknow you wont remember myname next time you see me, but Illmake sure to say hi to you and Ill

tell you who I am again. So dontfreak out about asking me. Thefunny part? They always remembermy name because Im the one theydidnt have to remember.


Yasmin acknowledges Marcusdisclosure by comparing the firstday at a new job to sorority rush.

Marcus points out the dialecticaltension in first-day introductions.

Notice here that Yasmin identifiesa solution to this type of new-comers anxiety.


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T h e i r c o n v e r s a t i o n q u i e t sdown, the way conversation canbetween good friends.

So, what would you tell mysister? What advice would yougive her? Yasmin inquires.

Oh, thats simple. Youve gotto have tolerance for ambiguitythose first few days.

Hmmm, thats good. I thinkIll tell her to find that one personshe can ask questions of and then

make that person this deal: Let medrive you insane asking you ques-tions and I promise you in onemonth I will not ask you anotherquestion. We will have a day whenI ask you no questions.

N o w t h a t i s c o n f i d e n c e , Marcus quips.

Well, it worked.Really?Sure. On July 14th I asked no

questions. Pausing for humorouse f f e c t , Y a s m i n i s a l s o t e s t i n gMarcuss faith in her. And then shecontinues, Now July 15th, I hadlike a thousand questions. But Iasked no questions on the 14th.

Are you going to tell your sis-ter that?

Sure I am. Any other sugges-tions, wise guy?

* This case has been developed based on real organization(s) andreal organizational experiences. Names, facts, and situations have beenchanged to protect the privacy of individuals and organizations.


Now Yasmin returns to the cen-tral problem of the case: what totell her sister about searching forher first job after college.

Marcus sums up his advice forYasmins sister by stating thetheme of their conversation.

Notice how addressing Yasminsproblem of providing job-seekingadvice for her sister providedthese two friends with the oppor-tunity to disclose and vent abouttheir job-seeking experiences andt h e s t r e s s o f b e i n g a n e wemployee.

It should be obvious by now thatYasmin is a problem-solvingori-ented person. She provides onefinal solution to help new employ-ees overcome new job jitters.


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Example Case Analysis

The following presents a case summary and contextual descrip-tion, a timeline, key characters and information about their commu-nication styles and relationship, salient issues raised in the case, symp-toms and root cause, and effective elements of communication.

Marcus and Yasmin have recently completed their B.A. degrees incommunication; both are in their first professional full-time jobs.Throughout their college careers, Marcus and Yasmin developed andsolidified their friendship as they participated together in their univer-sitys student government association, and by being classmates in a

number of classes. Now, one year later, Marcus and Yasmin meet fordinner. Yasmin complains to Marcus about her younger sister, who ispestering Yasmin for information about conducting a job search. Theconversation between Marcus and Yasmin alternates betweenreflecting on their own job-hunting experiences and identifying help-ful advice for Yasmins sister.

As friends, Marcus and Yasmin have a comfortable conversationstyle allowing them to weave in and out of topics. They are comfort-able joking with one another and with disclosing some of their anxi-eties about looking for a job and being organizational newcomers.

Yasmin seems more problem-oriented than Marcus; however,

Marcus seems better at keeping their conversation on track.During the process of identifying job-seeking advice for Yasminssister, Marcus and Yasmin disclose and vent about their job-seekingexperiences and the stress associated with being new employees.Overall, their revelations describe the uncertainty and ambiguity theyencountered during the job-seeking and newcomer stages, as well assolutions they devised to confront these challenges. Their stress oranxiety would be the symptom for the root problem of beingfirst-time job seekers and not recognizing the differences they wouldencounter between school and work environments. They faceduncertainty in the following ways: answering blind ads in thejob-seeking stage, having difficulty distinguishing between positive

and shameless self-promotion in the job-seeking stage, acknowledg-ing the need to sell their degree, having unrealistic job expectations,and not realizing the difference between gross and net salary. Indi-rectly, Yasmin and Marcus revealed the anxiety and ambiguity associ-ated with being the new employee.



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Both Yasmin and Marcus were effective storytellers. The ease oftheir conversation was apparent, as dropped threads of conversation

were easily retrieved.

Statements About the Case

1. Marcus and Yasmin are good friends. Conversation be-tween them is comfortable and relaxed; they trust oneanother with disclosure.

2. Marcus is skilled at bringing the conversation back toYasmins original question.

3. Despite their success at school, Yasmin and Marcus bothencountered ambiguity and difficult communication situ-ations as organizational newcomers.

4. Yasmin and Marcus had difficulty adjusting from being ina school environment to being in an office environment.

5. It appears that Yasmin developed solutions for problemsshe encountered as an organizational newcomer, hopingto relieve the communication stress and ambiguity ofother newcomers to her organization.

Questions About the Case

1. How do blind ads work? Wouldnt a person have someidea about what company placed the ad by the job de-scription given?

2. Both Marcus and Yasmin were portrayed as successfuland involved students. Why didnt their school-based ex-periences provide more guidance as they entered the jobmarket?

3. What are effective strategies for searching for a first job?

4. What communication strategies should I use for increas-ing my personal and professional networks while lookingfor a job?



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5. In the job interviewing, selection, and hiring processes,when is it appropriate to ask about benefits and other is-sues that will affect my paycheck?

6. How should I reply when employers ask about my de-gree in communication?

7. How can I be wellprepared for the first day of a new job?

8. When I am employed, what communication strategiescan I use to ensure that new employees have goodfirst-day experiences?

9. Is there any way to practice, or be prepared for, the ambi-guity I will face on my first day at a new job?

10. What advice would I give Yasmins sister?

Theories, Perspectives, or Research That Could Be Used to Analyzethe Case

1. Uncertainty reduction.

2. Organizational assimilation.

3. Organizational anticipatory socialization.

4. Realistic job preview.

5. Selection interview.

6. Organizational entry.

7. Employee orientation.

List of Strategies for Solving Problems Illuminated by the Case

1. When searching for a job, keep a list of letters and appli-cations sent, as well as copies of job ads.

2. Prior to a selection interview, research the organization(search the Web and business press, and ask friends andrelatives about the organization).



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3. Before a selection interview, develop answers to proba-ble questions that could be difficult to answer (e.g., Tellme more about your degree in communication.).

4. During a selection interview, ask the interviewer to de-scribe a typical day for someone in the position for which

youre interviewing.

5. Talk to friends and relatives who have recently made theshift from being a student to being an employee. Ask fortheir advice on making this transition and on being an or-ganizational newcomer.

6. When entering a new organization, expect some level ofuncertainty and ambiguity. Ask questions and observeothers to reduce the uncertainty and stress of being a newemployee. Each day try to learn three new things aboutthe organizations culture that will help you effectivelycommunicate on your job.

7. Each day on a new job, learn and use the names of twopeople in your work unit.

8. After youve been on the job awhile, plan to help new-comers (informally or formally) through the transition.



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Section 1

Organizational Culture


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Chapter 1

ContemplatingMyFirstYear

JoyL.Hart

L ooking back on accepting the job offer, I felt like I was on top ofthe world. My interview at Networked Nation* went so well,and I was thrilled to be starting out with such a prestigious firm. I evenremember joking with my mom that I had nowhere to go but down!Little did I know about the upcoming day-to-day realities of my new

workplace.In part, I was thrilled because Id be building on my communica-

tion degree, but Id also be developing new skills, which would makeme even more marketableboth internally and externally. And Idstart with a job title, Information Liaison, that just sounded impor-tant! At 23, I was Casey Long, Information Liaison. I wasnt sure whatthe future would hold, but I could easily see myself staying at Net-

worked Nation, or NetNat as we call it, for many yearsmaybe evenuntil retirement. It really seemed like that good a place. And I knewthat if I ever decided to leave, this position and the skills Id build

would look great on my rsum.In my first interview, I met with Delia Davis. She easily impressed

me. She was probably in her mid-30s, and already she was heading amajor division, Analysis. Plus, she was friendly, energetic, smart, funny,and highly committed to NetNat. And if I got the position, shed be mydivision head. I knew immediately that Id like working for Delia. At thesecond interview, Delia introduced me to Matt MacIntosh, her vicepresident. Matt seemed nice enough too, although a bit distracted. Atthe time, I thought that maybe he was just busy and might have been

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concentrating on other upcoming tasks. He did compliment me on sev-eral of my accomplishments, proving, at least, that hed read my rsum.

Two days later Delia called to say that both she and Matt rated meas their top applicant and offered me the position. I was truly thrilledand couldnt wait to start work. I just knew I would like working in aprofessional environment and having access to so many experts across

various fields.I guess its kind of laughable to me now, but then somehow I really

believed that I knew what working at NetNat would be like. Some ofmy jobs during school, things I knew about various organizations, andmy impressions of Delia and Matt just crystallized in my head, so that Iactually felt confident that I already knew what sort of work environ-

ment NetNat would be. Clearly, I was more than a little naive. I pic-tured a professional context with experts working together, sharinginformation, and achieving common goals. I imagined us working asone big team, and I looked forward to being a member of the team.

Day One

I dont remember being at all scared or apprehensive that firstday. I was excited about starting and fairly confident that Id fit in anddo well. I was a bit awed by the sheer amount of work produced bythe various divisions of NetNat, and I was looking forward to meeting

people and seeing how the whole place functioned.Maybe the first few minutes should have been a clue. Im a pretty

friendly person, and so even though I hadnt really met anyone there,except Delia and Matt, I said things like Hello, Good morning,and How are you? to people in the hallways and on the elevator. Iremember thinking that people were reserved, but at that point, I justthought that they were trying to figure out who I was or something.

When I got to our offices, Delia greeted me and stressed howpleased she was that I was joining her staff in the Analysis Division.She was friendly, just like Id remembered, and all seemed to begoing well. Next, Delia showed me to my office, walked me around,and introduced me to the 10 other division members, and made surethat I had everything I needed. Then she gave me directions to theHuman Resources (HR) office, so I could complete the rest of therequired introductory paperwork.

There I introduced myself to Marcus, the HR staff member whoenrolled new employees. He made a weird comment. He said some-

Chapter 1 Contemplating My First Year 35


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thing like, Well get your paperwork filled out, and then someonehere will eventually get around to processing it. The last part of hiscomment seemed unprofessional to me, but I thought that maybe he

was tired or just having a bad day, though he seemed pretty disinter-ested and bored by the whole process of meeting me and setting upmy paperwork. I try not to make snap negative judgments, but I recallthinking that if this was Marcus usual behavior, I wouldnt want himin HR in my company.

After the HR setup, I went back to my office and started gettingthe place organized. Thats when Derek Serendi, one of my colleaguesin the division, whose office was two doors down, poked his head inand asked, So, Casey, how did the HR check-in go? When I saidsomething like, The paperworks all complete, so I guess that Im offi-cial now, Derek chuckled. He then added, Well, lets hope so, but H Ris famous for its messes, so I wouldnt count on that just yet. And thenhe turned and left without any more explanation.

Dereks comment made me reflect back on my interaction withMarcus. Perhaps he wasnt just having a bad day or operating withlow energymaybe his behavior indicated problems with his work, oreven problems with the whole division, as Derek had indicated. Imade a mental note to check back with HR in about a week to makesure that my setup materials for payroll, health insurance, and retire-ment had been processed.

At lunch, I took my food to the picnic tables scattered acrossNetNats lawn. It was a lovely day, and small groups of employees wereseated at various tables. When I didnt see anyone I knew, I took a seatalone at one of the tables. As I ate, I could hear parts of the conversationof the three people at the adjacent table. They were making fun ofDelia, calling her uptight, a taskmaster, and a goodie-two-shoes.Some projects were being discussed, but I couldnt hear the specifics.Then the same group turned to gossiping about Matt. Some of the gos-sip was related to work (Hes in trouble on that Seattle project, Jamesdoesnt like him), but other aspects were strictly personal (problems athome, Hes deeply in debt).

Pretty soon, Samuel asked if he could join me. Although Id methim just that morning, I was so relieved and pleased to have someonebe friendly. And frankly, I was happy to have someone distract mefrom the gossip. Samuel was an analyst with our division, so in tryingto make conversation I asked him a little about his job and how longhed been there. Hed been with NetNat for five years, longer, he

36 Section 1 Organizational Culture


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said, than most people last. Samuel said that he liked working withDelia, and I said that I was impressed with her in the interview. Iasked him what working with Delia on a daily basis was like.

Samuel stressed, Delia has standards, but other divisional headsaround here dont. Shes good to work for and treats us well, butmost managers here are just playing a game until they can find some-thing better. And I remember him saying, We do important work,directly tied to NetNats goals, and Delia is proud of that. But staff else-

where arent as interested in being successful. They arent as importantto the organization. Stressing that I should just wait and see, Samueladded, Weve got a really good groupby far the best at NetNat. Mostof the other units employ pretty worthless folks really. I hate to say it, but

a lot of them are just losers. Theyre lost, they dont do their work, andtheyre jealous of us. Delias hired the best peoplesmart, kind, andgood workersand people elsewhere resent her successes and ours.

Returning to work, I thought a lot about this conversation withSamuel. I appreciated his willingness to share his viewpoints, andbased on what hed said, I was even happier to be in Delias division.But something about his overall attitude bothered me. I wondered,Wasnt it possible to say at least one good thing about another unit orindividual at NetNat? And how has NetNat had so much success andgotten so much recognition if the overall staff is generally so bad?

The afternoon of my first day passed quickly and quietly. I got myoffice completely organized, and I was ready to begin NetNat tasks.

Week One

My first day previewed my first week. People in the lobby andhallways didnt speak to me or to each other. Maybe I should havenoticed this behavior during my job interview, but I guess I was a littlenervous then, and, in reality, I really wasnt in the hallways very long.

When I spoke first, people replied but were brief and brusque. Atbreaks and lunch, people either seemed to talk with one or two mem-bers of their own division or to sit alone. During lunch, I continued tooverhear groups bash other divisions and organizational leaders butpraise their own division. Whether the group was from a productiondivision, such as Research, Analysis, or Printing, or a support division,like Technology, Accounting, or Human Resources, they praised them-selves and questioned or condemned others. Comments like If thetechnology folks could keep the systems up, then we could meet our



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deadlines without so much stress. Of course, its too much to hope thattheyd know what theyre doing were frequent. Beyond questioning

work output or quality, employees disparaged different divisions bypicking on the division head (With a manager like that, what can youexpect!) or key division members (Robin can slack off because shesBills pet).

During my first week at NetNat, most members of my division toldme negative things about the staff and work climate in other divisions.I overheard many people gossip about other divisions, organizationalleaders, and a number of staff across all areas. People seemed friendlyenough to others within their division, but no one seemed to like ortrust anyone else. There was little interaction across divisional bound-

aries. However, there was considerable coordination across projects,mostly handled by division heads, so I guessed that this was one waythat gossip started. The interlinking projects, plus the quarterly organiz-ational status reports, let others see who was meeting goalsand whofell short.

Month One

By the time I had been employed at NetNat for four weeks, I real-ized reality just wasnt going to live up to my initial expectations.

What I came to realize was that what I experienced that first week

was the reality!In the midst of this, I was looking forward to the first monthly staff

meeting. It seemed like a good opportunity to meet people across thewhole organization. Plus, I wanted to hear the CEO talk about the vari-ous projects at NetNat and see how people responded to him.

According to Derek, one ritual of these monthly meetings was thefree coffee, bagels, and fruit put out for staff half an hour before themeeting time. I noticed this half hour marked on the agenda as Cof-fee and Conversation, with an encouraging note to be sure to attendthis part of the monthly staff meeting. I thought, Perhaps NetNat isjust more formal than other places Ive worked or maybe the gossipand dislike gets in the way of meeting people. But I also thought thatfunctions like this one encouraged getting to know others and couldhelp in meeting people across divisional lines.

I went to the coffee session just as it was scheduled to beg in. But Iwas one of only a few people there. Though I rarely have difficultystarting conversations with anyone, the conversations I attempted



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with the three other people just fizzled. A few more people came in,took coffee and food, and then left. It was nearly time for the meetingto begin, and I realized that Id seen maybe only 15 out of a staff ofmore than 100 persons.

By the time the meeting started, only 30 people were there. Peo-ple on the agenda gave their reports and the CEO spoke briefly, butno one else made comments or asked questions when invited. Nearthe meetings end, each division head was asked to introduce newstaff members working in their units, while the new staff stood so thateveryone could get familiar with them. I thought that this gesture

was a nice one to welcome newcomers, but really no one welcomedme individually after the meeting.

In the days following the meeting, I half expected that when I sawsomeone from the meeting, they might say hello. They didnt. When Itried to initiate conversation, they smiled, maybe said a couple of

words, let their eyes shift downward, and walked on.It was also during this first month that I started hearing more stories

about life at NetNat. Delia told me about arriving at a restaurant for ameeting with potential new clients. She found another division manageralready seated at the table; rather than introduce Delia to the potentialclients, he chose to ignore herand continued to do so for the entireevening.

Samuel told me about the holiday parties given by NetNat. Along

the lines of a traditional gift exchange, staff members were asked tobring a small gift suitable for another member of the organization.The previous year members of our division, Analysis, all focused theirgifts on improving the skills of lazy workers. For example, they gaveothers calendars, memo pads to write down tasks, and plaques toovercome defeat. Although the analysts seemed to think that thesegifts were very funny, members of other divisions were offended.

A similar story was told about one of the Halloween events. Eachyear staff members were encouraged to dress up in costume, withprizes offered for the top three costumes. One year Beth, fromAccounting, decided to come as a sloppy worker. Despite the usual pro-fessional dress atmosphere of NetNat, she wore wrinkled blue jeans, aT-shirt with stains, and old tennis shoes. Her usually neat hair wasdisheveled, and she had written the words Sloppy Worker across theback of her T-shirt. Workers in other units were offendedthey tookBeths costume selection as a criticism of their own work, assumingthat she was saying that they were all sloppy.



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I wondered why a place like this onewhere across divisions peo-ple dont really talk or seem to respect each otherwould even haveholiday parties. Derek said that these things are just always sched-uled. So I wondered if maybe they linked back to a happier time inNetNats history or if maybe, like the Coffee and Conversation timeslot, they were managements attempts, however feeble, to encour-age positive interaction.

I heard lots of other stories, toostories of people being rude toeach other, stories of arguments, stories of dislike and resentment,and stories with negative information about peoples personal lives.Interestingly, within our division, my coworkers also told stories of

their own and divisional successes, funny events, and some aspects oftheir personal lives. But information passed along about employeesoutside the division all seemed to be negative. And even when itseemed that a person didnt have enough information to really know

what someone elses intent was, still the interpretations were almostalways negative. And the storyteller always seemed sure that his orher interpretation of events was the correct one.

I got to know members of my own division fairly well, and I likedall of them. They took pride in their work and in the accomplish-ments of the unit. And they were easy to work with, except for theirnegative attitudes about employees in other divisions. Even then, Ihad reservations about completely accepting these evaluations, and Iquestioned how every one of the hundred plus employees, exceptthose in this one unit, could be bad.

During my third week, Chip, who was in my division and whoseoffice was next door to mine, resigned. He said hed located a similarposition closer to his spouses family. Then in week four, Dale, anothercolleague whom I really liked a lot, submitted his letter of resignation.He had accepted a more lucrative offer elsewhere. When I asked Sam-uel if the organization was going to do anything to try to keep these twoexcellent employees, he replied, Oh, no, you just get used to losingpeople around here. Gosh, our turnover rate runs nearly 40% a year.

It was a memorable month. I liked my colleagues, but despite my

efforts, Id hardly met anyone working in other areas. Id heard myunit celebrate its successes, past and present. But Id heard nothinggood about other units or the people within them. And Id heardabout lots of negative behaviors. It seemed easy to see why peopledidnt want to spend time with those working in other areas.



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Year One

In key ways, my first day, first week, and first month previewed myfirst year at NetNat. In fact, they rather accurately predicted divisionallines and associated behaviors. It seemed that everyone knew just

what to dosnidely degrade others, downplay others work and contri-butions, and build allegiances only inside their own division. There wasa strong organizational culture, with highly shared values. But these

values were to protect ones own division, to resist coordination withother divisions when possible, and to dislike those in other units.

Over the course of the year, I did get to know a handful of people

working in other units. This happened largely because, due to mybackground in market analysis, I was briefly loaned out to theResearch Division. The bulk of my time was still allocated to my usualresponsibilities, but 25% of it was devoted to working on two marketanalysis projects. Leon, the division head of Research, was profes-sional and treated me quite well. He was different from Delia, but he

worked well with members of his unit. Although he seemed some-what disorganized and spacey, I saw enough good things about him toquell the rumors Id heard about him being nasty, impatient, and irri-table. In fact, Leon seemed rather likable and funny to me.

It was also during this period that I got to know Avie and Belle, twolong-term employees. While they were both heavily negative regarding

most areas of NetNat, they provided me with lots of details on theorganizations history, however biased these details might have been. It

was from them that I learned about Trevor, a former CEO who playedfavorites with division heads. According to Avie and Belle, divisionheads worked against each other to secure favor with Trevor. Jealousyand tension developed and worsened as employees within the units

worked to support their manager so that their division would be ele-vated. There were other such stories and many speculations, and I won-dered what NetNats culture had been like prior to Trevor being at thehelm and about the degree to which his unfairness shaped the currentorganizational culture.

Leon liked my work a lot, and he kept kidding me about keepingme. I didnt really think that he was serious, and this just seemed likea way for him to pass along a compliment. So I was a little surprised

when, on a Friday, Leon pitched the idea of my coming to workfull-time for his division. I was hugely complimented, and I told Leonso. But I also said that I liked my regular unit and wanted to return to



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work there. I added that, because Id liked the projects in Researchand the people there, if Leon wanted to talk to Delia about continu-ing to use me on some projects, that was fine with me.

When I got to work on the following Monday, my coworkerswere in an uproar. Delia had mentioned the conversation with Leonto others in the unit, and theyd labeled it stealing. In fact, they keptsaying things like they couldnt believe that Leon would try to stealCasey away from us, especially after wed been so kind as to loan herout for a bit. But, of course, they concluded that In some ways, it

was only natural, as we do have the best people in this division. Andfurther, they said, Delia saved the day by talking about all of our pro-jects and priorities and how Casey was instrumental to them. Shednever let Leon control us.

Although I was pleased that Delia saw me as instrumental, I wished that shed talked with me about how Id like to spend mywork time. I felt that Id put the division and Delia first in my answerto Leon. I guess that I just really wanted Delia to put more emphasison my wishes in this situation. And even more important, Id been inanother division and seen firsthand the good people and good workthere, so I knew how arbitrary the divisional perspectives were. Also,by this time, I knew how deeply ingrained these views were and howdifficult it would be to change them.

Maybe the thing that bothered me the most was that it seemed that

little was being done toward positive change. Division heads were asmuch caught up in the rumor mill as regular employees. This culturehad been in place for a long time, and the top leaders, who frequentlytraveled on business, seemed oblivious to the need for change. Further,despite working with good people in two divisions, I was beginning torealize that the more one heard about life at NetNat, the more stressedone became. Before, Id always thought that close working relationshipsreduced stress, but in this environment I could see that being close withothers meant hearing lots of negative information. This, and the expec-tation that I would participate in such conversations, increased my stress.I started thinking about how such stress might influence employees inthe long run. Maybe employees at NetNat rumored to be lazy were

really just burned out from having to deal with so much negativity and work-related stress.

Im usually a pretty quick study and can fit in and adapt in lots ofsituations. To some extent, this was true at NetNatI worked success-fully enough in two divisions. But I didnt feel all that successful overall.



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Sure, I was getting my tasks done and getting some degree of praise forthem, but I didnt feel like I was making a real difference in this envi-ronment. And I didnt really know how a workplace culture likeNetNat could change and what role I might play in that process. Inlarge part, these factors influenced my thinking on likely leavingNetNat in the near future.

Shortly after my one-year anniversary, NetNats CEO steppeddown to pursue other business interests. Elizabeth Tinker, a well-likedand well-respected executive in a similar organization, was recruited tohead NetNat. It was rumored that Elizabeth was a people person, whoplaced strong emphasis on cooperation, coordination, and teamwork.

As I contemplated this first year, I asked myself if I should look for

employment elsewhere. And I wondered what the new CEO mightdo to improve life at NetNat.

* This case has been developed based on real organization(s) andreal organizational experiences. Names, facts, and situations have beenchanged to protect the privacy of individuals and organizations.


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