SECTION 3

Ask What Really Goes On Inside the Company

Question 18

Has the Organization Ever Faced a Crisis? What Was the Crisis and How Did the Company Respond?

Any employee of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) would be happy to be asked this question. The J&J response to the Tylenol crisis of the 1980s is considered the model for crisis management. In brief, someone (who has never been identified) poisoned Tylenol with cyanide, resulting in the deaths of seven people and a nationwide recall of Tylenol. Because of its mission and values, J&J recalled millions of dollars’ worth of the product and suffered millions of dollars of loss. However, J&J leaders were concerned, first, about the public (see mission and values). They addressed the matter of the poisonings quickly and openly. They cooperated with the authorities from day one. And, they have benefited ever since.

Crises can say a lot about any organization and its leadership. How do the top people act under pressure? Ask New Yorkers about Rudy Giuliani during the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. He is considered one of the heroes for his fast and decisive actions. Then there’s Exxon and the Valdez oil spill, which damaged 200 miles of coastline. In the aftermath of this spill, investigators found that Exxon’s ship did not have the navigational equipment to avoid the wreck and failed to respond to the spill in the important first hours. You do not want to be working for a company that the public continues to associate with environmental disaster.

To react well to a crisis, a company must have a crisis plan that they regularly review and update. Successful companies prepare for a crisis long before it occurs, so even if a company has never responded to a crisis, the company representative should acknowledge that a crisis plan exists.

Get the picture? Exxon blew it on that occasion.

Companion Questions to This One

19. How do problems get resolved in the organization?

 

Question 19

How Do Problems Get Resolved in the Organization?

Not every organization faces poisonings and terror attacks, but all organizations have more problems than they know what to do with, even the very best companies. Yes, even Ben and Jerry have to wrestle once in a while to straighten things out.

So, ask the interviewer about company processes for problem resolution. Ask him or her to identify a particular problem and its resolution. Don’t worry about being out of place. Ask these questions. You are about to make a very important decision in your life. You will spend most of your waking hours either at, or thinking about, this place. You have the right to know how you and the company will confront the issues that invariably the best-run companies encounter. As always, however, speak with dignity and respect and not like an arrogant troublemaker.

As organizations grow and modernize, they must find new ways to operate. Employees often must often take on new responsibilities. Management must deal with the inevitable problem that new ways of doing this present. Organizations that encourage input from employees weather these transitions much better than those that expect employees to suffer silently.

Is there a suggestion box? Does HR make available an online chat? Does a formal grievance procedure exist? How are problems resolved?

Companion Questions to This One

18. Has the organization ever faced a crisis? What was the crisis, and how did the company deal with this crisis?

 

Question 20

Is There a Union at the Organization?

The existence of a union in an organization changes some of the dynamics of employee interactions; they can be more complex. If a union exists, you have the right to know if you will be required to join. If not, will you interact with the union? If so, how?

In my first job, I taught English in a junior high school. At the end of my first year of teaching, the teachers formed an association, which looked a lot like a union (and eventually became one). I needed two years of successful teaching to gain tenure and told my dad that I would likely cross any picket line. Union man that he was (having been elected president of the local boilermakers union), he flew into a tirade, telling me that I was stupid, and that I would forever be labeled scab. As it turned out, I never had to make the choice because the teachers didn’t walk.

Most of my career I spent as management and was required to walk across picket lines. My father would have rolled over in his grave had he known. During his lifetime, unions played an important role in ensuring safe working conditions and fair pay. I understood that I was doing exactly as I was expected to do. I was comfortable with it.

Often, management must cross picket lines so that a company can continue to exist during the strike and can ramp up production quickly when the strike has ended.

You will need to understand your relationship with a union, should one exist at your place of work.

 

Question 21

What Do the Workspaces Look Like in the Company?

I have my own office, always have. I have never worked in an open, shared workspace. That’s exactly the way I like it. I ask my students to schedule appointments if they wish to speak with me, no walking in the door. Likewise, I respect people’s spaces even if their workspace is a cubicle.

By all means, ask your interviewer what your workspace will be, if you are to be hired. You need to decide how you feel about that. Being in a cubicle in the middle of a large space with no access to windows or natural light may be a death sentence to some people. Ask, too, if you receive an answer you don’t like, if that space is negotiable.

American companies have largely abandoned offices in favor of open workspaces. Although this allows for more open communication and transparency, it presents problems. Many employees complain of interruptions and problems concentrating. Aware of this, some employers have additional quiet spaces to retreat to. Most evidence points to a remote workforce, one that is typically working from home in information jobs.

Where you reside for a minimum of eight hours a day is a very serious matter, just ask people who have worked in cramped, dingy settings. Ask anyone who has ever worked in a sick building, for that matter. Ask not the CEO, who enjoys space and privacy, but the OCE, office cubicle employee! Cubicle equals no privacy; I don’t care how much it levels the organization and creates integration. Forget it. Give me an office.

Companion Questions to This One

22. How would you describe the company environment?

23. Is there a corporate dress code?

 

Question 22

How Would You Describe the Company Environment?

My father worked for the railroad all his life. He was a boilermaker/welder for the Pennsylvania Railroad, which became the Penn Central, which became Conrail. He worked in both the Juniata Shops in Altoona, PA (home of the world-famous Horseshoe Curve) and in the Samuel Rea Shops in Hollidaysburg, PA.

My father didn’t say much, but one thing he said to me was, “You’ll never work for the railroad.” To say he didn’t like his work would be an understatement; he complained that the railroad shops where he welded eight hours a day were “too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.” A union man, he also complained mightily about management, whose environments, he felt, were insulated from the extremes of weather he experienced through every season.

He also complained about the noise and dirt. He should have complained louder, for as it turned out he succumbed to cancer probably exacerbated by exposure to the asbestos he worked with.

Before you take employment, learn as much as you can about the physical environment of the buildings in which you will spend your days (or nights, or both). Will you not accept a job if you don’t like the workspace? Possibly. But, find out, anyway! Visit the company, if you can. Ask the people who work there about the work environment. Are they permitted to post photographs of relatives or relics of their hobbies. Are all workspaces uniform indicating an autocratic environment?

Companion Questions to This One

21. What do the workspaces look like in the company?

23. Is there a corporate dress code?

 

Question 23

Is There a Corporate Dress Code?

All companies have a dress code, some are more formal and are written in the employee manual. Others are less formal and may only include certain things that may not be worn. Dress codes over time have become less formal. However, more conservative organizations tend to have more formal requirements for the attire of their employees, mostly suits. Whatever the accepted dress code, whether formal or casual, you must feel comfortable dressing in that manner.

Dress codes may change for specific situations that occur in an organization. I once worked at a for-profit that had issued a public stock offering over NASDAQ. The CEO knew that the stock would move if brokers understood the company and the value of its stock. So, the CEO put into place an aggressive plan to familiarize a select group of brokers with our company, a television production firm.

Our product was a creative service, and therefore somewhat suspect in the eyes of the financial people of Pittsburgh, who thought more in terms of slabs of steel, so we hosted a group of area stock brokers at the city’s old and revered Duquesne Club to introduce them to our product.

In this august setting, we drank cocktails, shook hands, made small talk, and showed a fast-paced, creative capabilities video. After the brokers had left with copies of the video and company t-shirts and ball caps, we huddled to debrief. The CEO was satisfied but scolded the chief financial officer for wearing a sports coat with no tie, and not a suit, to the event. Many brokers have no fashion sense; however, they recognize the uniform of the conservative financial community, a suit. Both the CEO and CFO knew that, and the CEO wanted to make an impression. He said, “You can always remove your tie if you want to loosen up but you can’t make one magically appear if you haven’t worn one.”

Within a company, different expectations may exist for different areas of a company in terms of attire. As I said earlier, at the television production company, the creative types were expected to dress in the latest funky attire. The people on the business side were expected to dress in business attire. The rules were not written down anywhere but were as inviolable as any of the strictest regulations. Knowing the expected daily attire for your job area will help you to fit in should you be offered and accept a position in a company.

Companion Questions to This One

21. What do the workspaces look like in the company?

22. How would you describe the company environment?

 

Question 24

Who Are the Corporate Heroes/Heroines?

What Are the Corporate Myths?

Every organization has memorable people. Usually, it’s the founders. Often, it’s the rebels. These are people who have left their mark on the organization and are spoken about reverentially, often in whispers, mostly after they have gone, of their own choosing or through martyrdom. Many have passed into myth.

I knew a teacher once, let’s call him Mr. Young, who, in the late 1960s, inspired his students with his energy, youth, daring, and disdain for authority. He wore his hair long and dressed casually. He openly represented every impulse young people were encouraged to repress. His young students related to him enthusiastically, particularly when the authorities of the school sought to bridle him, unwittingly feeding his popularity. His colleagues admired him but watched and quietly awaited his demise. He finally left, of his own accord, and in his leaving became the stuff of faculty room conversations and student memories. The rebel with a cause!

Mr. Young carried the standard for a new thinking, a new way of acting. In his small way, in his small town with his important, but minor position, he showed a small group of people a new way of thinking and acting. He became their hero.

Every organization, regardless of size, has such characters. Ask about them. Most likely you’ll hear about the heroes. However, in innovative companies, you will likely hear about the rebel who dared to try a different approach to a problem. If that new approach resulted in success, you’ll hear about that rebel. When you hear about the hero or the rebel, you learn about the types of behaviors encouraged and rewarded in that company.

..................Content has been hidden....................

You can't read the all page of ebook, please click here login for view all page.
Reset
3.235.139.122