creating community within our organizations: retaining librarians texas library association april...
TRANSCRIPT
Creating Community within Our Organizations:Retaining Librarians
Texas Library AssociationApril 13, 2007
DeEtta Jones & Kathryn Deiss
The Landscape:
Organizational Culture
Individual Needs & Interpretations
Systems, Structures & Strategy
Photo by Dog Tired
Community and Culture
Photo by TotallyTacoma
ICEBERG ANALOGY of CULTURE
assumptions
values attitud
es
beliefs
biases
notions
behaviorsarchitecture
fooddress music
language
patterns of thought
emotional expression
Culture is learned Cultures are inherently logical Culture forms our self-identity
and community Culture combines the visible
and the invisible Culture is dynamic
Characteristics of Culture
How People Learn the Culture
Most Information about the Organization is Gleaned from Colleagues
Story-telling
Meanings inferred from abundant organizational messages and cues
Individual Interpretation Informs Behavior & Expectations
Photo by Inga
Managing Cultural Meaning-Making
What messages does the organization send regarding individual and team growth?
How are those messages supported through actions and programmatic endeavors?
What causes discrepancies between intentions and actions?
…the Coordinator has a strategic role in designing and leading a creative and effective campus-wide information literacy program…
…. seeks a knowledgeable, highly-motivated, effective library administrator for a dynamic, challenging, technology-intensive information resources & teaching environment.
…[to] be a catalyst for creative new services…
Retention begins with Recruitment
What are the possibilities for me here?
Photo by Recursion See Recursion
What are the possibilities for me here?
Photo by Rotin
Organizations essentially have a contract with the employee; and the employee with the organization
Photo by Leonardo Hilt
Types of Contracts
Formal
Social
Psychological
Formal Contracts Overt, agreed-upon terms
Known conditions
Structures and relationships codified
Photo by Pewari Naan
Photo by The Waving Cat
Social Contracts
Values-based
Shared broad beliefs
Normative
At group level
Photo of Original Artwork by PsicoCafe
Psychological Contracts
Individual beliefs
Usually unspoken
Always unwritten
Rooted in personal values and motivations
Based on wide variety of expectations
It’s all about:giving and receiving!
Four Aspects of Contracts
What the employee expects to receive
What the organization expects to give
What the employee expects to give
What the organization expects to receive
Formal and Psychological Contracts are Promise-based
Photo by H.Wren
Bases for Promises
Perception of mutuality
Assumption-driven
Not questioned until the promise is perceived to be broken
Photo by Drumsnwhistles
Expectations and Promises:The Employee/Employer
Intersection Contracts of all types coexist in an organization
Expectations, assumed intentions, commitments are based on interpretations
One Way Promises are Parsed
Organization has the will but not the means
Vs.
Organization has the means but not the will
Psychological Contracts are Shaped by:
External cues that the employee picks up
Individual interpretation of those cues & messages
How Does This Apply to Retention?
Expectations of employment and of employer
Perceptions of employer intentions
Understanding of employer commitment
Conventional Wisdom:Why Do People Stay?
Geographic necessity Paycheck Still growing/development
opportunities Good colleagues Challenges Good place to work/forward moving Perception that promises have been
kept
Better Question:Why Do People Leave?
The job or the workplace is not as expected
Mismatch between person and job
Too little coaching and feedback
Too few growth and advancement opportunities
Feeling devalued and unrecognized
Stress from overwork and work/life imbalance
Loss of trust and confidence in senior leaders
Difference
Photo by Deestea
City PercentDetroit MI 88.9Honolulu HI 81.6Jackson MS 79.3Newark NJ 78.1Inglewood CA 77.4New Orleans LA 74.2Hartford CT 72.5Paterson NJ 70.1Baltimore MD 69.8Memphis TN 68.7Washington DC 67.6Oakland CA 67.6Vallejo CA 67.5Garden Grove CA 66.5Fremont CA 66.1Jersey City NJ 64.9Savannah GA 64.3Atlanta GA 63.8Hayward CA 62.5Chicago IL 61.4Miramar FA 60.7Flint MI 60.7Beaumont TX 60.1Moreno Valley CA 60New Haven CT 59Baton Rouge LA 58.8Norwalk CA 58.3Philadelphia PA 57.9Augusta-Richmond County GA 57.8West Covina CA 57.5
Cities with Most Minority Representation By PercentCity Continued Percent
Durham NC 57Shreveport LA 56.8Santa Clara CA 56.7Sunnyvale CA 56.4Montgomery AL 55. 8Long Beach CA 56.3St. Louis MO 55.7Bridgeport CT 55.5Milwaukee WI 55.3Rochester NY 54.4Sacramento CA 54.3El Monte CA 53.8Fairfield CA 53.5Hampton VA 53.2Norfolk VA 53Antioch CA 52.5Springfield MA 52.1Fayetteville NC 51.7Elizabeth NJ 51.6Elk Grove CA 51.5Cincinnati OH 51.2Los Angeles CA 50.9Fullerton CA 50.7Providence RI 50.4Buffalo NY 50.3San Jose CA 49.6Santa Ana CA 49Newport News VA 49Pomona CA 49
Cities with Most Minority Representation By Population
City PercentLos Angeles CA 50.9Chicago IL 61.4Philadelphia PA 57.9San Jose CA 49.6Detroit MI 88.9Memphis TN 68.7Baltimore MD 69.8Milwaukee WI 55.3Washington DC 67.6Long Beach CA 56.3Sacramento CA 54.3New Orleans LA 74.2Atlanta GA 63.8Oakland CA 67.6Honolulu HI 81.6St. Louis MO 55.7Santa Ana CA 49Cincinnati OH 51.2Buffalo NY 50.3Newark NJ 78.1Jersey City NJ 64.9Durham NC 57Fremont CA 66.1Norfolk VA 53Baton Rouge LA 58.8Montgomery AL 55. 8Shreveport LA 56.8Garden Grove CA 66.5Rochester NY 54.4Augusta-Richmond County GA 57.8
City PercentNewport News VA 49Jackson MS 79.3Moreno Valley CA 60Pomona CA 49Providence RI 50.4Paterson NJ 70.1Springfield MA 52.1Fullerton CA 50.7Hayward CA 62.5Hampton VA 53.2Sunnyvale CA 56.4Bridgeport CT 55.5Fayetteville NC 51.7Elk Grove CA 51.5Elizabeth NJ 51.6Inglewood CA 77.4Savannah GA 64.3West Covina CA 57.5Vallejo CA 67.5Miramar FA 60.7Flint MI 60.7Hartford CT 72.5El Monte CA 53.8New Haven CT 59Beaumont TX 60.1Norwalk CA 58.3Antioch CA 52.5Fairfield CA 53.5Santa Clara CA 56.7
Unlocking understanding
Photo by Auntie P
Tribal Differences
Dunkin’ Donuts Tell it to me
straight We are family We want to keep
moving Keep it simple We’re earthlings
Starbucks Make me feel
special We are all unique We want a third
place Give us new stuff We’re members of
the universe
Matures Baby Boomers
Generation X
Net Generation
Birth dates 1900-1946
1946-1964 1965-1982
1982-1991
Description Greatest generation
Me generation
Latchkey generation
Millennials
Attributes Command and controlSelf-sacrifice
Optimisticworkaholic
Independentskeptical
Hopefuldetermined
Likes Respect for authorityFamilyCommunity involvement
ResponsibilityWork ethicCan-do attitude
FreedomMultitaskingWork-life balance
Public activismLatest technologyParents
Dislikes Wastetechnology
LazinessTurning 50
Red tapeHype
Anything slowNegativity
Taken from Educating the Net Generation, EDUCAUSE, 2005
New Organizational Members
New Expectations
New Psychological Contracts
New Strategies/Structures?
Photos by Kathryn Deiss
The New Librarian Tribe
Boundary leaping Authority appropriating Learning-oriented Inventors of their environments
Developing New Strategies for Retaining these New Employees
Listening can help you read the interpretations of another person
Judging can impair your ability to read them
Photo by Cocolinda
High Context(e.g. Asian, Latin, African American)
Much of meaning outside verbal communication
Relationship is central Trust Social relationship
strengthens professional relationship
Low Context (e.g. German, United States)
Verbal language conveys literal and full meaning
Clear lines between personal and professional relationships
Communication is direct and close to events
Interpersonal and Cross-Cultural Communication
Patterns
IBM’s U.S. Policy Statement on Diversity“Our focus on the advancement of women and the diversity of our leadership team helps ensure that all employees have an opportunity to develop into successful leaders. Attention to cultural awareness and to the inclusion of people with disabilities and gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in the workplace helps provide an environment free of discrimination and harassment. Finally, we recognize that employees have commitments outside work and that we must help them manage these responsibilities along with their work obligations.”
Strategy
Structure
Culture
And culture eatsstrategy for lunch!
Talent Management Strategy
Objectives
Goals
Strategies
Metrics
Action PlansAction Plans – Specific steps to be taken for each strategy with deadline dates and person responsible for execution.
Objectives – The mandate or mission. What the client needs and wants to fulfill. Objectives should be fairly obvious and simple. (Words)
Goals – The specific results needed to achieve objectives. Goals should be specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, time-bound. (Numbers/Dates)
Strategies – How we will help the client achieve its goals. Strategies must require us to make a specific decision or they are not strategies. (Words)
Metrics – How will we know if the strategies are working and thus achieving predetermined goals. Metrics serve as the basis for management success. (Numbers)
Constructive disruption
Consistent, relentless behavior
Look for opportunities for culture change
Build a system of accountability (but don’t be obsessed with metrics)
Goals
The Importance of the Exit Interview
Understanding the nature of the psychological contract
Developing a discipline of inquiry
“Learning the organization”
Ask “why are you not staying?”Photo by Splor
p
Final Thoughts…