Building an Intentional Workplace Culture on the Identity of Community

By Mariella Palacios, Diversity and Sourcing Consultant, DePaul University, with introduction and workplace culture background by Gary Miller, Director of HR Process Transformation and Integration, DePaul University 

“Peter Drucker famously said, ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’ What that means ... is that if you do not intentionally create the culture that aligns strategically with your organization's objectives and intended results, you will find yourself in an unintentional culture that may be negative, haphazard, and automatic. What results do you want?” – Suzi Pomerantz 

In the fall 2016 issue of Update (page 9), we highlighted the first step in creating an intentional workplace culture, in accord with David Ulrich and Wayne Brockbank’s customer-centric approach. They propose that an intentional workplace culture should be built on “the identity of a company as perceived by its best customers.” For a Catholic college or university, these “customers” include students and their families, as well as other stakeholders such as alumni, donors, and community leaders. That earlier article made the case that one possible core identity for Catholic colleges and universities should be community.

 In this column, we’ll use the identity of community to explore the next two Ulrich and Brockbank steps to create an intentional culture: “translate the ideal customer-centered identity into behaviors for employees” and “design the right processes, practices, and structures for supporting and encouraging those behaviors.” We’ll conclude by providing some concrete examples of human resources practices that can foster community. “Translate the ideal customer-centered identity into behaviors for employees.”

“Translate the ideal customer-centered identity into behaviors for employees.”

This phase suggests that key principles and concepts related to the customer-centered identity (in our case, community) must be explicitly stated so that faculty and staff can determine how they might align their own behavior.[1] While several facets of community could be emphasized, such as common purpose or sense of belonging, none may be more foundational than that of solidarity. In the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, Section IV, solidarity is highlighted as one of the four permanent principles of the Church’s social teaching.

What might solidarity look like as a principle of community? Using words from the Compendium, solidarity is “a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good. That is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.” It’s clearly not a reach to see this as a reason why families might choose a Catholic university — a place where staff and faculty feel connected with a strong sense of responsibility for the success of others, including the success and well-being of each student, as well as for the broader communities in which the university operates.

“Design the right processes, practices, and structures for supporting and encouraging those behaviors.”

Explicitly stating key principles and concepts is not enough. Supporting processes, practices, and structures must be developed to create and sustain solidarity. The human resources (HR) office can design structures and practices to build and promote internal solidarity among faculty, staff, and students. That office can also develop practices that bring the university to greater solidarity with members and groups of the broader communities in which the university functions.

Solidarity with these broader communities might seem to be more the realm of enrollment management or community relations. HR, however, can play a significant role in building solidarity through fair hiring practices and outreach activities that ensure the most qualified applicants are hired. Effective outreach practices create broader and more inclusive applicant pools, thus increasing the likelihood of the university finding better candidates. For the community, effective HR outreach creates opportunities for groups that might be overlooked or underrepresented in the university’s workforce. Overall, effective outreach practices are a powerful way for the university to build its solidarity within the community.

From the experience of DePaul University, proactive outreach practices also can help build a university’s Catholic brand because those actions can support an inclusive and fair recruitment and selection process, with a special concern for reaching qualified applicants from all segments of society. The following section offers some practical examples.

Outreach in Practice

To build solidarity with the community, it is essential that the outreach professionals be passionately dedicated to this work and actively involved with both internal employee groups and external resources. A comprehensive approach to outreach should include developing supportive processes and practices, reducing barriers, and developing structures that create and sustain solidarity, as well as increase the representation of underrepresented populations.

Given this comprehensive approach, outreach professionals may find themselves wearing many hats. For instance, in addition to my formal role, I (Mariella) am the:

• Staff co-chair for the employee resource group LEAD, Latinos Empowered at DePaul. 
• Founder and co-chair of the Military Employee Resource Group (MERG).
• HR diversity representative on the President’s Diversity Council. 
• Co-chair of last year’s annual diversity university forum.

 Additionally, I attend monthly Illinois Diversity Council meetings, quarterly veteran working group meetings, and an annual Disability Inclusion Opportunity Summit in order to learn from other organizations, share best practices, and bring back ideas to put into action.

Your outreach also needs to be authentic and match your institutional identity. The identity of DePaul University is Vincentian and these examples of outreach activities demonstrate our commitment to that heritage in the community:

• I’ve begun to build a partnership with an organization for visually impaired and legally blind individuals. This social service organization assists its clients with training programs and helping candidates find employment. The first step for DePaul was inviting representatives to attend a meeting of our Talent Acquisition, or hiring, team to meet our staff and learn about our hiring efforts and current opportunities. Then, the Talent Acquisition team went to the facility and met with their staff, enjoyed a tour, and learned about their services and candidates. We observed candidates working and training others in a call center environment. A few weeks later, they asked us to attend a career event at which we conducted mock interviews with some of their candidates. At that time, I invited a hiring manager from the university’s call center to come with us so he was able to meet candidates. We’re building our relationship and hope to hire some of their candidates.
• Our Talent Acquisition team and Military Employee Resource Group have also hosted a hiring event. Three area veterans organizations invited their candidates and the university invited student veterans, as well as hiring managers so they could conduct brief interviews with the candidates. The collaboration was extensive and varied, and the candidate feedback was very positive. One individual received an offer of employment at our first hiring event and we are often asked, “When is the next one?
• I recently began working with an organization that identifies, trains, and jump-starts technology careers for Chicago-area low-income young adults who, although lacking access to education and employment, demonstrate the extraordinary potential for success in business and in their communities. Members of Talent Acquisition have interviewed their candidates and I’ve been asked to present an informative session on interviewing do’s and don’ts. We are working on other creative ways to build this relationship.
• Recently, our Military Employee Resource Group hosted a breakfast and panel discussion of ways to support veteran retention. The panel included a representative from the Mayor’s Office of Veterans Affairs, a military-to-civilian employment strategist, and student veteran success expert. The event was well-attended by staff and faculty, student veterans, and alumni. Other diversity organizations with which we have relationships attended, as well. Attendees learned about the challenges and successes of veteran employment and transition from the panelists’ own stories. The post-event feedback was amazingly positive, with half of the attendees saying the panel exceeded their expectations. This type of event can build camaraderie and community, assist with employee engagement, help with retention, and provide learning opportunities for a range of people both on and off campus.

These few examples reveal that there are many ways in which you can creatively build bridges to solidarity. Effective outreach is about seeking and attracting talent from all segments of the community and building relationships with community organizations. In my experience, you need to build long-term and meaningful relationships with minority, disability, and veterans organizations and events such as these help accomplish that goal.  Just as important are finding ways to educate staff and faculty on the value that diverse individuals offer, and then retaining that talent once you’ve hired them.

HR can help create an intentional culture consistent with our Catholic brand; strengthen the sense of community, affinity, and institutional pride among all constituencies; and foster sustainability. Never underestimate your own power to do good. In St. Vincent’s words, “Action is our entire task.”

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1 Suzi Pomerantz is a member of the Forbes Coaches Council and was quoted in a May 2, 2016, article in Forbes magazine, ”Should Culture Be Created Intentionally, or Should It Be an Evolutionary Process?”

2 Ulrich and Brockbank provide this example: “For Amazon, the focus on disciplined customer-centered innovation sends a clear message to potential and current employees. As their website puts it, ‘If you love to build, to invent, to pioneer on a high-performance team that’s passionate about operational excellence — you’ll love it here.’ This agenda signals to employees what customers expect from Amazon.” 

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