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Toward Engagement 2.0: Creating a More Sustainable Company Through Employee Engagement National Environmental Education Foundation
Assessing Your Corporate Culture: The Competing Values Framework Figure 1. Description of the Competing Values Framework FLEXIBLE
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PURPOSE
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COLLABORATE
PRACTICE
CREATE
DO THINGS FIRST
EXTERNAL
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DO THINGS TOGETHER
PEOPLE
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DO THINGS FIRST
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DO THINGS RIGHT
COMPETE
H P O E RF R T OR - T M
CONTROL
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M E ER NC A
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FOCUSED
The Competing Values Framework (CVF), first proposed by Drs. Cameron and Quinn and the University of Michigan, is a sense-making device to help organizations better understand their culture and modes of operation (Cameron, K.S., & Quinn, R.E., 2006). The CVF has been used for more than 20 years in a variety of countries and industries. According to the CVF model, all human activity has an underlying structure, and organizations, by definition, exhibit patterns and predictability in relationships. The CVF identifies dimensions to these relationships and the degree of emphasis in each of four quadrants: Control, Compete, Create and Collaborate. Each quadrant represents the way people in an organization process information, learn about their environment, organize, lead, participate in a team and create value for customers (Abbett, K., Coldham, A., Whisnant, R., 2010).
By considering the results of an assessment of a company’s culture in its sustainability initiative planning process, a company can frame and position its efforts to succeed so it is more likely to engage employees and their energy in sustainability initiatives. Below are examples of tactics for engaging employees in sustainability initiatives depending on a company’s cultural orientation (Figure 2.). For example, if a company has evaluated its culture and knows it is strong in the compete quadrant, it might consider using contests or awards to motivate employee participation. This approach may increase the likelihood of success of the initiative. Figure 2. Four Company Cultures and Associated Employee Engagement Tactics (Abbett, L., Coldham, A., Whisnant, R., 2010)
Collaborate Oriented • Facilitate group brainstorming sessions • Establish or improve employee suggestion and feedback system • Develop an online internal collaboration platform Control Oriented • Analyze or audit existing processes and environmental impacts (e.g., life cycle analysis) • Review existing policies for procedural inefficiencies and opportunities • Understand relevant regulations and associated risk exposure Create Oriented • Utilize Web 2.0 and crowd sourcing to generate new ideas faster • Create a training program to cultivate creative thinking Compete Oriented • Establish goals, objectives and measures based on company vision and standards • Benchmark performance against initiatives of key competitors • Use competitive means for project idea generation, such as a contest between individuals or teams