Page 102 - Successful Onboarding

Teaching Culture So That Our New Hires “Get It” • 91

they might impart them to new members. But even some company vet-
erans may not necessarily be aware of these assumptions, let alone the skills
necessary to distill and communicate them. They thus fall back on uncon-
sciously communicating social norms in the course of attending to regu-
lar business. In the absence of explicit instruction, new hires do not learn
about culture as efficiently or unambiguously as they otherwise might.
Meanwhile, new hires have trouble teaching themselves because of some-
thing we coined the Irony of Norms. The Irony of Norms says that social
norms by their very definition remain invisible, and only violations of the
norm stick out and actually get noticed, not the norms themselves.
Because new hires tend to depart from the norm, it is (ironically) their
behavior, and not the organization’s, that runs the greatest risk of sticking
out. Therefore, new hires find themselves dog-paddling through the new
culture, not sure where to go, making their way as best they can.
Many companies convey shared values as part of their mission state-
ment and in the course of delivering performance reviews or mentoring.
Yet in general, the discussion stays at a high level, the firm communicat-
ing hazy, feel-good values (e.g., “we value diversity”). Language like this
attempts to present a sharp corporate culture, yet it does not do much to
convey the realities of organizational culture. New hires are left to glean
organizational norms from dress or ethical codes, expense reimbursement
rules, and other policies. This is an inefficient and frustrating way to learn.
An organization’s attitude about technology adoption, for instance, often
is not directly communicated; instead, it comes through in the way a new
hire is given information, the devices he or she is given, rules provided
around the use of technology, or the absence of these things.

Performance Values
Schein’s definition also helps us because it suggests why culture is inher-
ently relevant, even vital for both new hires and organizations. Specific
elements of organizational culture emerge and are passed on because
“they’ve worked well” over time. These elements amount to unspoken
assumptions about which problem-solving approaches have allowed the
firm to adapt to external conditions and thus will likely do so in the future.
In the context of an employee’s experience, these elements take on life as