Culture Clash – Military and Corporate
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Sequoia Freeman , V3 Training
Coordinator
Welcome!
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webinar!
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Sara Potecha, V3 Curriculum Developer
Our Guest Speaker:
Saddiq Holliday, Staffing & Diversity Specialist
and Military Programs Coordinator
Dominion Resources Services, Inc.
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Learning Objectives
• Define Organizational Culture
• Describe the Military culture and its
characteristics
• Illustrate a typical Corporate Culture and its
characteristics
• Give examples of the culture clash
• Detail the Change and Transition process
for different categories of Veterans
• Provide examples of how to be a cultural
translator
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Organizational Culture
• A system of shared
assumptions, values, and
beliefs, governing how people
behave in organizations.1
• Dictates how members dress,
act, and perform their jobs.
• Every organization develops
and maintains a unique
culture.
• Cultures are self-reinforcing.
• Cultural norms are “known”
and become assumed ways of
doing things and other ways
appear “wrong”.2
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Military Culture Begins With Its
Mission
“to provide the military forces needed to
deter war and to protect the security of our
country.” -Department of Defense Mission
statement.3
– Mission accomplishment is placed above life itself.
– Values of duty, honor, loyalty, and commitment to
comrades, unit, and nation.4
– To fulfill its mission, the military must be
regimented and unambiguous.
– Established ways of doing things; standard
operating procedures and a large infrastructure.
– Boot camp removes young new recruits from
society and then inducts them into the military way.
– Because lives are at stake, full compliance with
procedures is required.
– Absolute norms about professionalism and
subordination. Demands discipline.5
– Highly centralized control and decentralized
execution with lower leaders given a great deal of
authority. 6
– Belief in a merit-based rewards system.
– Specific rituals and symbols to convey important
meanings and transitions. 7
Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy
Photographer: Navy 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley
Photo courtesy of U.S. Marine Corps
Photographer: Marine Sgt. Jonathan Herrera
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Elements of the Military culture
•
•
•
•
•
Discipline
Professional Ethos
Ceremony & Etiquette
Cohesion
Additional subcultures
– Service branch, (Army,
Navy, Air Force,
Marine, Cost Guard)
– Type of unit (e.g.,
fighter squadron)
– Branch (e.g., Infantry)
– War Fighting
community (e.g.,
aviation, submarine,
special operations)
Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Army
Photographer: U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Alex Manne
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Corporate Culture is driven by
the “bottom-line”
• A corporate culture exists to insure the organization remains competitive.
• Must evolve when the culture is no longer working.
• Corporate missions are defined by the leaders at the top and may not be fully understood
through out all parts of the organization.
• Organizational behaviors become less clear further down in the organization. Sub-cultures
can be created within departments or branches, etc.9
• Individuals may be encouraged to bring their values into the culture and change the culture.
• Egalitarian, individualistic, adaptive, less structured.
• Focuses on measurable outcomes such as timeliness, budgets, efficiency, quality and
customer satisfaction.
• May or may not onboard new personnel explaining cultural norms.
• Both decentralized control and execution, may limit authority of junior leaders.
• Personal expertise emphasized over
individual accomplishment.
• Performance based reward systems.10
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Military-Civilian Culture Gap
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•
•
•
•
US Military
Command & Control Operations
Model
Hierarchical / vertical structure
Heightened sense of urgency
Large scale operations; more authority
Emphasis on personal character
More exact rules of conduct
Corporate/Non-military
Collaborative Model
•
•
•
•
•
Matrix structure
Less urgent, more profit driven
Smaller scale operations; less authority
Emphasis on personal expertise
More implied or “understood” rules of
conduct
• Defined roles, rank, & status
• Flexible / ambiguous roles & status
• Consistency across units/organizations
• Variations across team / divisions
• Clearly defined career progression
• Less defined career progression /
opportunities for lateral assignments
• Common beliefs bonds, traditions, and
values
• Communications direct, concise
• Corporate culture imposes values of
organization
• Open ended, conversant, consensus
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Culture Clash in Real Time
Lisa Rosser, founder of The Value of a Veteran shares these examples:
Is the Veteran being….
Or …
Decisive
Not seeking consensus
Curt, concise
Abrupt, dismissive
Direct
Rude
Respectful of authority
Rigid
Taking ownership of a situation Overstepping his/her role?
Confident
Egotistical and cocky
…your answer depends on how well you
understand military culture.12
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Culture Clash in Real time
• The $150/hour consultant
who fixes the copy
machine13
• The benefits question14
• The meaning of an AllHands meeting
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Examples
“The biggest lesson I learned as a results-driven person, in the
civilian world, how you accomplish something is just as important as
the merit of the accomplishment itself. I went from being an Infantry
Captain in in the Marine Corps to being the only male in an all female
HR department at the hospital where I work. Needless to say, I was
bound to make a few mistakes.” –Officer, USMC1154
“ I had to let go of the expectation that I would be respected based on
role/title. The employee attitude was, ‘you can make me work but not
make me work hard.’” –Enlisted service member, U.S. Navy16
“The biggest challenge was working with civilians who were more
relaxed. A 40-hour work week was half of my previous job in the
military. There appeared no urgency in decision making. The
mindset was an adjustment.” –Enlisted service member U.S. Army17
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Understanding Change and Transition
Type of Veteran
• Recently separated
or retired service
members (leaving
the service may
not be the choice
of the service
member)
• Disabled Veterans
• Returning National
Guard or
Reservists
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How to be a Culture Translator
•
•
•
•
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Develop specific orientation materials for
newly hired Veterans to explain your
company culture. Ideally do this before the
company's orientation program.
Offer Veteran sponsorship and/or
mentoring opportunities.19
Develop community outreach opportunities
that can assist the Veteran in engaging in
the change.
Educate Managers on Military culture
transition issues, PTSD, and the Employee
Assistance programs available in your
company.
For returning National Guard and
Reservists
– Ensure managers are trained on USERRA
– Provide support before, during, and after
deployment. This can be done with help of a
Veteran affinity or diversity group.
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Manager Tips
• You must be the one to anticipate these
cultural differences as the former service
member may be unaware of your cultural
norms.
• Anticipate the transition process for all
types of Veterans by observing and
staying connected.
• Keep communication lines open to clear
confusion. Allow the Veteran to ask you
about things that are confusing or
unclear.20
• Explain the context and nuances of your
culture.
• Set clear expectations and define success
and how it will be measured.21
• Provide on-going coaching and feedback.
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Questions?
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Thank You!
Thank you for time and attention!
•Feedback: we only get better with feedback! When you log off the
webinar, you will see a link to take a brief survey. Please take the
survey!
•Contact information:
• Sara Potecha, V3 Curriculum Developer
Email: Sara.Potecha@dvs.virginia.gov. Ph. 804-399-0561
• Saddiq Holliday, Staffing & Diversity Specialist and Military Programs
Coordinator Dominion Resources Services, Inc.
Email: saddiq.k.holliday@dom.com Ph. (804) 771-4244
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Endnotes / Further Reading
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21.
Study.com webisite. “What is Organizational Culture? - Definition & Characteristics”. Accessed May 3, 2016
http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-organizational-culture-definition-characteristics.html
New Noveux Horizons Effectiveness Consultants website.“Change and Culture Change”. Accessed May 3, 2016.
http://www.nhorizons.ca/en-change-culture-change.asp
U.s. Department of Defense website. “About the Department of Defense”. Accessed May 3, 2016.
http://www.defense.gov/About-DoD
Emily King. Field Tested: Recruiting, Managing and Retaining Veterans. (New York, Amacom,2012), p.18.
Ibid.
Lt Col Alan Docauer, USAF, “ Peeling the Onion“. Air & Space Power Jornal March-April 2014, Accessed May 5, 2016.
http://www.au.af.mil/au/afri/aspj/digital/pdf/articles/2014-Mar-Apr/F-Docauer.pdf
Jeanette Hsu, Ph.D. , “Overview of Military Culture” VA Palo Alto Health Care System , September 2010. Accessed May 3, 2016
https://www.apa.org/about/gr/issues/military/military-culture.pdf
Emily King.
Ibid.
John Rey. About money.com. “Company Culture”. Accessed May 5, 2016.
http://management.about.com/cs/generalmanagement/a/companyculture.htm
Hudson, D. “Understanding How Military and Civilian Cultures Differ”. Job-hunt. Accessed June 10,2015. http://www.jobhunt.org/veterans-job-search/military-vs-civilian-cultures.shtml
Lisa Rosser, Value of a Veteran Helping Military Members Transition to the Civilian Workplace. SHRM webcast 2012. Accessed
April 29, 2016. https://www.shrm.org/multimedia/webcasts/Documents/12rosser.pdf
Emily King,
Ibid.
Ibid., p.34
Ibid., p. 19
Ibid.
EBA website. “The Change Curve – How do we react to change?”. Accessed may 6. 20-16. http://www.educational-businessarticles.com/change-curve/
Lisa Rosser.
McMullen, L. “4 Tips for Hiring Veterans.” US News & World Report. Money. April 16, 2015. Accessed June 4, 2015. Accessed
June 8, 2015, from http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2015/04/16/4-tips-for-managing-veterans
Ibid.
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