Page 116 - Successful Onboarding

Teaching Culture So That Our New Hires “Get It” • 105

point and actually causes managers to fall into a trap. In trying to commu-
nicate culture, many managers use the exercise as an opportunity to try to
change their company’s culture for the better. Clearly, improving culture is
commendable and most certainly part of a manager’s role. Yet as we’ve sug-
gested, managers err when they fail to distinguish performance value aspi-
rations from real ones currently in operation. Both the real and ideal can be
communicated, so long as they are distinguished from one another. Other-
wise we are only setting new hires up for confusion and poor performance.

Framing Messages about Culture

Once designers understand what their organizational cultures are about,
the next step in developing a strong cultural component to onboarding is
framing an appropriate educational message. Perhaps the most important
principle to follow is a simple one: Honesty. Do not take a sales or adver-
tising approach in communicating culture to employees. Speak openly
about the “true culture” so employees can get a sense of what their actual
experience will be on the job or can validate what they have experienced
of the culture so far. Firms should even strive to point out existing short-
comings in the culture, the reasons these shortcomings exist, and the
efforts the organization is making to bring about change.
One company that does a great job of presenting an apparently honest
portrait of its own culture is Netflix. Posted on the company’s web site is
a 128-page PowerPoint presentation on company culture in which the
CEO and founder Reed Hastings himself introduces the firm’s culture in
an open, honest, and engaging way. The presentation opens by observing
that “lots of companies have nice sounding values statements,” including
Enron, whose stated values of “integrity, communication, respect, and
excellence” were engraved in marble in the main lobby. However, given
Enron’s demise, these words “had little to do with the real values of the
organization.” The presentation then lays out in clear language Netflix’s
nine values: Judgment, Communication, Impact, Curiosity, Innovation,
Courage, Passion, Honesty, and Selflessness.
Here is where some firms might stop, but Netflix’s presentation does
not. After describing the nine corporate values, Netflix’s CEO goes on to