The Seattle
Times Company is one newspaper firm that has recognized the need for change
and done something about it. In the newspaper industry, papers must reflect
the diversity of the communities to which they provide information. They must
reflect that diversity with their news coverage or risk losing their readers'
interest and their advertisers' support. Operating within Seattle, which has
20 percent racial minorities, the paper has put into place policies and procedures
for hiring and maintaining a diverse workforce. The rationale for the change
is that for information to be fair, appropriate, and objective, it should be
reported by the same kind of population that reads it.
A diversity committee composed of reporters, editors, and photographers meets
regularly to evaluate the Seattle Times' content and to educate the rest of
the newsroom staff about diversity issues. In addition, the paper instituted
a content audit that evaluates the frequency and manner of representation of
women and people of color in photographs. Early audits showed that minorities
were pictured far too infrequently and were pictured with a disproportionate
number of negative articles. The audit results in improvement in the frequency
of minority representation and their portrayal in neutral or positive situations.
And, as a result, the Seattle Times has improved as a newspaper. The diversity
training and content audits helped the Seattle Times Company to win the coveted
Personnel Journal Optimas Award for excellence in managing change.
SOURCE: D. Anfuso, "Awareness Effort Puts Diversity in the News,"
Personnel Journal (January 1995): 76.
ORGANIZATIONAL
REALITY
Reorganization as Rebirth
Like many organizations
in the 1980s, St. Francis Regional Medical Center of Wichita, Kansas, tried downsizing.
A layoff of 400 people was a horrible experience, both for those who left and
for those who stayed. The 1990s brought a change in the health care environment,
and the hospital's administration needed to change the structure and culture in
order to remain competitive.
The management team remapped the ideal management structure to run things without
regard to the structure that was actually in place. To make such radical change
work, they defined specific job titles, but not specific people. They dissolved
the old organizational chart and created a new one, unveiling a chart that had
all the new titles on it with no names. Those who wanted to be part of the new
organization had to apply for whatever position they felt they were most qualified
to fill. Imaging having to apply to a company you'd been with for fifteen years!
The restructuring also meant a rethinking of corporate culture. An examination
of culture revealed that making decisions at the hospital became bogged down by
management and dictated by policy. Eliminating old policies allowed the team to
look at things as possibilities rather than restrictions. Two task forces were
formed to look at service lines and functional realignment. A consulting firm
was called in to help the hospital make the transition. The consulting firm helped
strategize and create a time line for the changes.
At the reorganizational meeting, each employee was given an 80-page bound booklet
complete with vision statement, the new organizational chart, timetable, reorganization
fact sheet, copies of all position descriptions, and a question and answer section.
The result was terror, confusion, upheaval, and little by little, understanding,
cooperation, and success. Instead of approaching the reorganization as a shameful
secret, the task forces highlighted the changes in the new culture and tied the
internal changes to the changes in the health care industry. Each week "The Grapevine:
Reorganization Update" was distributed. On the first official day of the new organization,
employees were given flowers and a message stating "Today starts a new beginning
focused on you."
The new corporate culture involves management by contact. The new VPs walk the
hallways and touch base constantly with what's going on. The result of the reorganization
is decision making at lower levels, which results in faster actions. No more ideas
die because of red tape. The reorganization is fluid and ongoing, with employees
and managers still incorporating the new management philosophy and corporate culture
into their daily work lives.
SOURCE: M. S. Egan, "Reorganization as Rebirth," HR
Magazine (January 1995): 84-88.
SCIENTIFIC
FOUNDATION
Making
Sure Management Training Works
One of the key criteria
for evaluating any management development effort is transfer of training; that
is, the degree to which trainees apply the new skills they've learned when they
return to the job. This study examined whether the climate and culture of the
organization could influence transfers of management training.
Climate is the employee's perception of the immediate work environment. A positive
transfer climate is one in which social cues such as interactions among trainees,
peers, and supervisors prompt trainees to apply their training to the jobs.
The more positive the interactions, the more likely the employee will demonstrate
the trained behaviors and skills. A continuous-learning culture is an organizational
culture in which learning is an essential responsibility in every employee's
job, and all members share the perception that learning is an important part
of everyday work life. The researchers in this study hypothesized the following:
(1) A positive transfer-of-training climate will be related to greater transfer
of training (posttraining behaviors); and (2) a continuous learning culture
will be related to greater transfer of training (posttraining behaviors).
Participants in the study were supermarket managers. A total of 104 management
trainees were included, along with 104 supervisors and 297 of the trainees'
coworkers. Thus a total of 505 managers from 52 stores were involved in the
study. Three weeks before attending training, trainees and their supervisors
completed a measure of supervisory behaviors. Next, the trainees attended a
management training program. At the end of the training, trainees completed
a climate and culture questionnaire and were asked to distribute the questionnaire
to four or five managerial coworkers and their supervisor. Then six to eight
weeks after the training, each trainee and his or her supervisor completed a
post-training behavior questionnaire.
The results showed that both positive transfer-of-training and continuous learning
culture were related to post-training behaviors. Trainees who worked in a climate
that encouraged them to display their learned behaviors and in a culture that
valued continuous learning demonstrated more of their newly-acquired skills
on their jobs. Thus, the work environment can be structured to encourage transfer
of training. Specifically, organizations should examine their work environments
to make sure that trainees receive social support for practicing their new skills
on the job.
SOURCE:
J. B. Tracey, S. I. Tannenbaum, and M. J. Kavanaugh, "Applying Training Skills
on the Job: The Importance of the Work Environment," Journal of Applied Psychology
80 (1995): 239-252.
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