OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Structural Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the structural frame
2. Apply the structural frame to your 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.

The organization I have chosen is the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and
I am currently a Regional Director supervising a team of Field Representatives
responsible for multiple assignments including membership recruitment. Membership
recruitment had largely been strong pre-COVID, however after COVID hit most
employers went virtual. Signing members up virtually became a new challenge facing the
organization and as such new membership signups dropped 40%.

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

The structure of the organization relies on the Field Representative and member leaders
to attend new employee orientations in-person. Field Representatives are trained to make
a presentation and present a membership card to all new employees. Typically, 85-90%
of new employees sign up to be members of the union. State legislation was in California
to make union presentations at orientations mandatory. When COVID hit, all new
employee orientations became virtual through Zoom. The structure of the organization
relied on face to face meetings and in-person sessions.

While an entire system had been designed for how new employee orientations were
delivered. There was no single point of contact person who oversaw this aspect of
membership recruitment. With seven different regions, each Director developed their
process with their team to do the orientations. Senior staff members, with no online
experience, placed themselves as the subject matter experts and designed a program that
matched the in-person meetings, only online using a link in the chat to sign up for
membership. Field Representatives did not have access to the sign-up notification to
know if new employees signed up and unfortunately left a meeting thinking everyone
signed when in reality only 25% did it.

1
 The existing training department largely relied on experience of organizing principles
based on 1 on 1 or in-person meeting tactics. The staff in general did not have the skill set
to operate comfortably with the technology and there was no one on staff with the
experience to develop a brand new program.

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

The structure of the organization places a high emphasis on new member recruitment and
yet there is not a single person who is solely responsible for creating a system-wide
operation. The structure also must re-invest in the Information Technology department to
have the capability to operate virtually. The board of the organization had not invested in
IT and staff were using primitive iPhone technology and outdated laptops. Investments in
the IT structure are critical to future success regardless of the pandemic.
The training department has largely relied on old tactics of training from the 1990s and
early 2000’s of organizing. Most staff are not comfortable with technology and when the
pivot was required were unequipped. The structure of the training department must be
redesigned to develop a basic skill set that includes the use of technology.
While each region has a Director. The Regional Directors need centralized support for
progams that impact the union across the organization. Instead of individuals not doing
the work designing the program, the Regional Directors and Field Staff should be
included in developing new processes that work.

4) Reflect on what you would do or not do differently given what you have learned
about this frame.

Based on this frame, I would review the hierarchy of the organization and review where
centralization needs to occur and where regional autonomy makes sense. I would create
an interdisciplinary workgroup to review existing processes and look for ways to make
improvements. I would also recommend the team seek out new ways to conduct
membership recruitment outside of reliance on the new employee orientation. Phone
banks to new members with voice authorization, setting up new events or looking at what
materials need to go out. These are all functions of the structure that do not currently
exist. Also since membership is such a critical aspect of the organization, there should be
a single point of contact managing the program and working with Regional Directors.

2
 Reference or References