Sorry I'm a day late in posting this.
A. I’m the HRM for CRC Evans, a pipeline company that was acquired by Stanley Black & Decker. The CRC Evans division has about 800 employees around the globe in several what we consider big sites—150+ people, multiple smaller sites and then a lot of field services employees working at customer sites.
Q. Are they different?
Q. Was this culture codified – was it articulated in written materials and visually in the offices?
Q. So how does the culture differ today?
This week, I interviewed Sherry Morris,
Human Resources Manager at CRC Evans. She
is in a unique position as an HR leader for a small company that was acquired
by a much larger, global company. I wanted
to understand how culture impacts her company.
Q. Sherry,
tell me what your role is. A. I’m the HRM for CRC Evans, a pipeline company that was acquired by Stanley Black & Decker. The CRC Evans division has about 800 employees around the globe in several what we consider big sites—150+ people, multiple smaller sites and then a lot of field services employees working at customer sites.
Q.
So Sherry, this week in class we’ve
been reading about culture in organizations and how cultures are
developed. Tell me a little about the
culture at our business.
A.
There’s really two cultures: A CRC Evans culture of the legacy company and
a Stanley Black & Decker culture. Q. Are they different?
Q. Was this culture codified – was it articulated in written materials and visually in the offices?
Q. So how does the culture differ today?
A.
It is very much a performance culture
and we articulate the values of the company in many ways. There are leadership values, performance guidelines
to drive behavior. Managers and employees
are measured on the values in their performance reviews… evaluated on the work
you do as well as how you do that work.
We also have an employee opinion survey to gain employee feedback on how
we are doing, are we as a company living our values.
Q.
Since you’ve noted that the cultures
of the two companies differ, how do you go about changing the culture?
A.
We work at it every day. We don’t expect it to change on its own. Wherever we have examples of someone who is (or
isn’t) living the values, we highlight it as an example, showing people this is
how we expect you to perform.
Q.
You’re a global business, with a
lot of dispersed employees… do the values translate to those employees?
A: Our
values are global. We evaluate employees
no matter where they are on whether they’re meeting their performance and leadership
values expectations. Our values are
structured for a global company.
Q. Does
culture impact the business itself?
A.
HR is a partner to the business
leader. A performance culture that
values employees is good for helping the business perform…when people want to work
for your company and perform well in their jobs and are valued for that
performance, it’s good for business.
Sherry and her leadership are building
a culture with a unifying mission and articulated culture will drive a performance
culture described by Denison & Mishra (1995). While we weren’t able to talk about the financial
performance of her unit within the larger company, the drive for a cultural transformation
is part of the overall focus on building a successful operating unit.
References
Denison,
D. R., & Mishra, A. K. (1995). Toward a theory of organizational culture and
effectiveness. Organization Science, 6.
204-223.
Sounds like an interesting person to interview, Cynthia. I wonder how the organization judges how well this convergence of cultures is going, and if this is happening quickly enough for the company's liking. Did they focus first on changing the culture of the larger sites or focusing on the smaller places to get some quicker victories that could turn the tide at the home offices?
ReplyDeleteInteresting question about the smaller sites. My guess is no, they started with the big sites, but I'll have to ask her that. We talked about the reaction, and it's about what you'd expect from a company where there was Hofstede's Power Distance (Hofstede, 2009) very much at work. Those who once wielded the power have lost some of it and many have left. Those who previously felt unempowered, now see the opportunities in front of them.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the merger/acquisition by Black and Decker resulted in a less hierarchical and more horizontal performance-driven structure. Usually when big corporations gobble up smaller ones we see informal org structures that become uncomfortably hierarchical. Did you get the impression that the acquisition was seen as a good move by the employees? Did it have a positive effect on performance?
ReplyDelete