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

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

Every year my corporation completes an anonymous Employee Survey. This survey asks
all the non-management employees to anonymously answer questions in regards to major issues
that large corporations face. Topics such as performance management, competencies, recruiting
the right talent, retention, and communication. Management is provided the results to review
with the team and facilitate candid conversations about these results. During the conversation,
the management team was met with mostly silence and vague responses to how they could
improve these scores. Something I noticed after was that over the past few years my management
had scored low on a few of the categories consistently. As a part of my professional development
I asked if I could review the scores and create an improvement plan that I could present to
management. Currently I work in the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) organization as a
Product Data Management (PDM) Specialist. As a lead within my organization I believe I can
work with the leadership team as well as my peers to develop a solution to the low performance
scores that will benefit all members of our organization.

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

The Symbolic frame focuses on how individuals use meaning, beliefs and sometimes
faith to create a culture within a team. Within any organization there are rituals, values,
ceremonies and stories that make up the environment and symbols of the team. These
occurrences help attract members to support the mission and bring interest to the team’s efforts.
Symbols help us to make sense of the events occurring around us and allows people to see and
understand events from a symbolic interpretation rather than a literal perception, creating unity
and adding meaning to the culture of the organization. Individuals create symbols to eliminate
confusion and ambiguity. The Symbolic frame recognizes exploring the various values, stories,
heroes, and vision that create the culture of an organization and provide the roots to motivating
the team to achieve the common goals.

When looking at the employee survey and how the Symbolic frame influences the
situation I find that it is more based off how I view the culture of my team. While this frame is
important in recognizing the unifying qualities of organizations and the unique symbols that
motivate progress, I believe each individual will view the symbols differently. When I look at the

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 values I hold in regards to the employee survey, I value the leadership teams listening to our
concerns and recommendations and feel respected. The employees relationship with the
management are important parts of ensuring positive productivity and reviewed in detail in the
Human Resource frame. I think reinstituting the values the team finds symbolic when reviewing
a course of action to improve the employee survey will have a better turn out than if the
managers attempted to improve the survey on their own. Individuals who believe in these things
become apart of it and incoming employees are welcomed through the same rituals and
ceremonies that have already bonded the team prior.

3) Recommend how you would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of action
regarding your case.

The Symbolic frame is beneficial in the foundation of every organization and customizes
the core qualities which help create the ideal culture for the teams future. This frame explains the
value in knowing the organization you are entering and immersing yourself in and gives you an
opportunity to become involved in the efforts to make a change. When looking at it from that
perspective I don’t believe the symbolic aspect of our team needed to be altered and but I do
believe a stronger symbolic meaning within the team would have possibly allowed the managers
to score higher. When you have that connection with your management team, I do believe
employees are more willing to overlook the minor mistakes and rate the managers higher. Just as
sororities are rooted in symbols and understanding the meaning placed on certain values and
stories that are passed on from previous members, an organization thrives in a similar
environment. There is a need for community, service and achievement. Individuals working as a
team may not see their desires to succeed as wanting to benefit their team, but when there are
common goals success can be celebrated together.

Being appreciated by your team and sharing values that not only align your business
goals but your morals as well allows you to feel at ease when dealing with stressful situations at
work. Having that comfort at work allows for open and honest communication which was one of
the lower scoring sections. I believe if the management team focuses on rebuilding the symbolic
aspect of the organization they would find the concerns would be addressed prior to the
employee survey and they could attempt to improve their scores prior to the next survey. These
things are what make up our culture and are a large part of what bonds us not only as teammates
but as an entire organization. Having a strong symbolic frame in my opinion will eliminate the
nervousness of the team to come forth with recommendations as well as the doubt that their
concerns will be heard. Bolman and Deal describe the Symbolic Frame as a foundational
resource for all organizations. It is emphasizing the values of the group through specific stories
of their background and creating a culture to support the vision of the group’s future.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned about this
frame.
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 I personally could not impact the symbolic structure of the organization in my current
role but if I was in a management role I believe I would host multiple team bulding excercises to
help the team bond throughout the year. Having a team that can put the stress of the day to day
job behind them and enojoy the company of the teammates they spend over 60% of their life
with, is beneficial to a peaceful team. Working with your team leading up to the employee
survey would have been my first approach. While the year was busy learning to work from home
was the perfect time to request feedback and ask how as a manager they can improve or support
the team better. This stressful time is so crucial to improve their symbolic meaning and the
culture of the team, especially when all individuals are stuggling to manage the daily tasks. The
symbolic frame addresses people’s need for a sense of purpose by making the organizations
direction feel significant and distinctive.

Creating a motivating vision and recognizing outstanding performance through company

rituals and celebrations. If the leader is able to see that the largest problem lies with the lack of
motivation and commitment they could easily turn around the scores of the employee survey. If I
was the manager I would have used the year following the prior employee survey to really build
a connection with my team members and investigate where I could improve. I find that most
managers review the survey with their team and then continue on with the day to day business as
though the survey had no impact on their life. In relation to the symbolic frame, an organization
is a unique culture driven by stories, ceremonies, rituals, and heroes. This is in contrast to other
frameworks in which an organization is driven by rules, authority or policies. Symbolic
decisions, particularly those related to resource allocation, internal promotions or hires, job
assignments, reorganization, and oddly enough, space allocation, often impact staff morale and
consequently, performance. Intended or unintended messages conveyed from such symbolic
decisions yield power within an enrollment organization. A culture where people share a
common purpose and are willing to sacrifice to achieve that purpose is also fostered when
consistent, symbolic actions are taken. There must be an internal consistency between what the
enrollment leader is promulgating and actual behavior. Lastly, symbolic traditions provide
emotional and social anchors for an organization. In an enrollment management environment
traditions might include celebrating enrollment successes, helping new students move into the
residence halls, attending new student convocation as a group, having dinner together following
special events such as prospective student information sessions or commencement, or hosting
strategy meetings to prepare for semester start-up. Social functions are necessary parts of the
traditions mix. Staff picnics, softball games, parties, whitewater rafting excursions, and the like
are illustrative of the kind of social functions common among enrollment management
organizations.

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 Reference or References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership
(6th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass