Scribd
Upload
53 views

5 Symbolic Frame Worksheet 1

The document describes applying the symbolic frame to analyze a situation at the author's organization. [1] The author's role involves advanced customer support and their company has a hierarchical structure where managers sometimes fail to support employees based on politics rather than merit. [2] The company's symbols of promoting internally are not aligned with nepotism in practice, and different employees experience situations differently. [3] The author recommends changing symbols and evaluations to better align with upholding values of equal opportunity and merit-based advancement. [4] Going forward, the author would shift the culture through manager education and better promotion rituals celebrating all employees' work.

Uploaded by

api-650394296
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
53 views

5 Symbolic Frame Worksheet 1

The document describes applying the symbolic frame to analyze a situation at the author's organization. [1] The author's role involves advanced customer support and their company has a hierarchical structure where managers sometimes fail to support employees based on politics rather than merit. [2] The company's symbols of promoting internally are not aligned with nepotism in practice, and different employees experience situations differently. [3] The author recommends changing symbols and evaluations to better align with upholding values of equal opportunity and merit-based advancement. [4] Going forward, the author would shift the culture through manager education and better promotion rituals celebrating all employees' work.

Uploaded by

api-650394296
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet


Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the symbolic frame
2. Apply the symbolic frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.
1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

My role in the organization is as a Program Specialist. The role itself is advanced


customer support for high-level restaurant partners. These requests will come from
internal stakeholders typically after other teams have failed to resolve their issues. We are
required to provide white-glove customer support and in doing so, turn poor experiences
into positive ones. Additionally, we must stay up to date with changes to our processes
through a number of trainings and weekly team meetings.

My company has a hierarchical organizational structure which has allowed managers to


fail at supporting lower-level associates, working for and with you, and taking
accountability for their lack of managerial skills. Getting ahead in a company where
managers may need to vouch for you can be based on politics and nepotism instead of
merit. Additionally, managers do not educate themselves on the full extent of the roles of
their employees so their reviews can seem to be rooted in subjectivity instead of
objectivity.

2) Describe how the symbols of the organization influenced the situation.


The company prides itself on promoting internally while simultaneously hiring people
who get into positions that allow them to gatekeep and promote nepotism without
correcting them. Some components of this frame that stood out to me were that “what is
most important is not what happens but what it means” and “activity and meaning are
loosely coupled; events and actions have multiple interpretations as people experience
situations differently” (Bolman & Deal, 2021, p. 272). The company has values in place,
but what is happening is seemingly not as important as what their values mean, which is a
miss for them.
If they value promoting internally, it should be based more on merit and a little less on
who you know. Although networking and building relationships is an important factor,
this value is remiss of the fact that everyone does not currently have the same access to

1
mentors or the ability to network and be accepted despite their many trainings on
diversity and inclusion. Many of us are in the process of experiencing things differently
and while some employees are having a pleasant experience, others are having a
completely different one.
3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of
action regarding your case.
This would tie into the changes I would want to make with the organization’s structure
and its human resource department. All of the frames would need tweaking, however, for
the symbolic frame, I would want to see the company put more emphasis on what
actually happens in lieu of what their values and symbols mean. As it stands, their
symbols are not in alignment with their actions and this is creating a corporate
contradiction.
I would also want to change their symbols, and their evaluation processes, and push for a
culture that encourages employees to go to their managers’ manager if they can’t get
what they need from their manager. The symbols–not excluding values and
vision–similar to the human resource policies mentioned in that frame would actually be
created and upheld. Evaluations would allow for those lower on the hierarchy to evaluate
their managers just as well as managers can evaluate them.
4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.
As previously mentioned, I would utilize different techniques to ultimately shift the
culture of the company. The issue with management is not a surface-level issue. It is
deeply rooted in the culture and a reorganization could be needed. Getting managers into
different roles and educating them on the vision and values and how to uphold them
could be one method.
Another could be to create better rituals for promotions. Rituals would be based in
celebrating everyone based on the work that they do instead of managers silently
gatekeeping and advancing people based on their proximity to them or their affinity
biases. Managers would be micromanaged to confirm that they are practicing the visions
and giving everyone an equal opportunity to create bonds.

2
Reference

Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2021). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(7th ed.). Jossey-Bass.

You might also like