Culture and the Human Resources Industry

By Chris Calcaterra

What is Organizational Culture?

• Organizational culture is what makes an organization what it is, and what sets it apart from other organizations.

• A system of shared values, and beliefs that shapes how people behave in an organization.

Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures

• Deal and Kennedy proposed that businesses will have better chances at success if they have a “strong” culture.

• Deal and Kennedy also stated that it will make an organization a better place to work and will improve individual performance in organizations.

• There are four components of Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures

Components of Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures

• Values – Beliefs and visions that members hold for the organization

• Heroes – Individuals who represent the values of the organization– Ex. Steve Jobs of Apple, Tony Hseih of Zappos, and

Sundar Pichai of Google.

Components of Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures

• Rites and Rituals – Ceremonies where organizations celebrate their values.– Ex. Company Picnic, Banquets, sporting events,

etc. • Communication Systems – How people in

organizations communicate with each other– Formal – Newsletters– Informal – Employee interactions

Deal and Kennedys Culture Types

• After observing these components in organizations Deal and Kennedy discovered that there are four distinct culture types based on: – How risky the companies main activities are. – How fast companies learn if their strategies are

successful or not.

Deal and Kennedy’s Culture Types• Tough guy, Macho – This

culture is based high speeds and high risks. Every member of the organization works hard to be the star. • Ex. Entertainment

industry, sports teams, advertising.

• Work hard/Play hard – This culture is based on low risks, but get almost immediate feedback. Employees in this culture have to have high energy. • Ex. Sales people

Deal and Kennedy’s Culture Types• Bet-your-company – This

culture is based on high risks, but slow feedback speeds. Employees make high risk decisions but may wait years to see if their work has paid off. Employees must have focused values• Ex. Pharmaceutical

companies, oil companies .

• Process – This culture is based on low risks, and low feedback speeds. Because of this employees focus on how they do work as opposed to what they do. • Ex. Banks, insurance

companies, government organizations.

What does HR have to do with Culture?

• Human Resources in most cases is the first interaction that an employee has with an organization.

• Because of this HR must have a strong representation of what the company’s culture.

• According to hrcloud.com there are three ways HR can define culture.

Three Ways HR Defines Company Culture

• According to hrcloud.com, the first way a HR can define company culture is by, “being a lifeguard on duty”

• What does it mean to, “be a lifeguard on duty” ?– Watch over employees– Guide them into to make sure they are staying

within the cultural boundaries.

Three Ways HR Defines Company Culture

• The second way that HR can define culture is by standing up

• HR has become more administrative and has taken a back seat to the cultural aspects in recent years.

• Members of HR can step up and become more like leaders or coaches in the company.

Three Ways HR Defines Company Culture

• The final way that HR can help define culture in a company is to, “perform like no other”

• HR must do their absolute best to promote the culture of the company.

• HR must also find ways to track and document these behaviors among employees, which can lead to better performance of the culture from the employees.

How Does HR’s Impact on Culture Relate to Deal and Kennedy?

• As we can recall Deal and Kennedy’s strong cultures focuses on four key components to build a strong culture

• In what ways does HR use Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures?

Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures in HR

• To begin, Values is the first main concept in Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures.

• While HR doesn’t always necessarily create these values, they do reinforce them, and make sure they are implemented among new employees.

Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures in HR

• Heroes in a a culture are often looked as someone who is the face of a company, such as the CEO’s or high ranking members of the company.

• Heroes in the company can be anyone who accurately represent the culture of the company

• Heroes can be trained by HR representatives, or they could even be the Heroes themselves.

Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures in HR

• Rites and Rituals seem like they can be frivolous, and may be overlooked by employees but they play a bigger deal that they may think.

• HR can help facilitate these rites and rituals– New worker orientation– Team building activities

Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures in HR

• Communication is key in companies to make sure that everything is operating in a smooth, efficient manner.

• HR has many connections with every department and is constantly communicating with every department to make sure goals are being met.

Summary

• Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures is a good model to follow for a company to build a well organized company culture.

• HR plays a huge role in reinforcing the culture of a company and in many ways can relate to the main components of Deal and Kennedy’s strong cultures.

Questions

• In what ways do you think that HR could improve on reinforcing culture?

• Is there a component of Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures that you believe HR can improve on?

• In what ways can Deal and Kennedy’s Strong Cultures be applied across different departments of HR?– Training/Development– Recruiting– Employee Relations

Work Cited• Miller, K. (2012). Organizational communication approaches

and processes. Australia: Cengage.• Falls, R. (2014, November 18). 3 Ways HR Defines Company

Culture. Retrieved February 28, 2017, from https://blog.hrcloud.com/3-ways-hr-defines-company-culture/

• Deal and Kennedy's Cultural Model Understanding Rites and Rituals in Corporate Culture. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28 , 2017, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_86.htm