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

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 situation that I profiled in my submission for module one was a description of when
the City Manager of a local municipality decided to move the Diversity Office from one
department to another. The Diversity Office was set up to implement programs resources
and services for all residents regardless of their status. The department was originally
held in the Community Services department which encompassed the Housing Authority
and Community Revitalization divisions. The City Manager made the decision to move
the Diversity Office into the City Manager's office after a summer of social justice
protests as well as the societal and organizational rise of diversity, equity, and inclusion
being at the forefront of organization decisions. This additionally meant that the office
staff was cut from 4 to 1, as well as allocated budget being stripped and the office’s
budget was absorbed by the City Manager.

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

By very nature of the organization in the case study, it asks as a symbol within itself.
Having a distinctive identity or community around a brand name for your organization is
crucial in the prolonged success of your leadership. A municipal government agency like
the City of Mesa has the benefit of having an immediate identity with its stakeholders.
Being that they are the first of level of government interaction for all of their residents,
there is almost immediate name recognition and external status. Delving deeper in the
organization, the symbolic value of the Diversity Office and it move was also a
considerable factor in the case study. Because the DO was viewed by large swaths of the
internal workforce as a partner in employee advocacy, the office had a meaningful value.
Additionally, the external community like community leaders and non-government

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 organizations relied on the DO to be a conduit for the local government and outlet for the
community, such as the Human Relations Advisory Board that is staffed by DO staff.

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

Because implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion policies are complex and at time
constraining with timelines, it is important for us as leader to be patient with the process
and not make rash decisions just for the sake of making them. When it comes to the
transition of the DO, the symbolic value it held with both internal and external
stakeholders meant that there was going to be a heightened focus on the process and
ultimate ending of the transition. I think this presented a unique opportunity to reaffirm
the organizations commitment to not juts DEI, but the work and organizational support it
takes to make the progress that the workforce deserves and policies that the public
demands. It may have even been a benefit for the office itself to go under a rebrand so
that there is no perception that the organization was stagnating in its mission.

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

After really understanding that symbols are such powerful motivators of success and
sustainability, I think that I would absolutely pursue the rebranding or at least a
reintroduction to the community and the workforce for the newly moved Diversity
Office. A lot of the problems that people have with government, is that it too often
symbolizes corruption or non-caring to too many residents. The connections people
people and their government has been increasingly strained and is in need of
reinvigoration. By reintroducing the DO to the public as a new a more accessible place
for their options to be heard and for meaningful collaborations to be conducted is a great
way for there to be an increased building of trust between stakeholders and their
government. Also, more attempts to meaningfully engage with employees can really go a
long way in maintaining and inevitably growing that symbolic value that already exists
within the organization.

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Reference or References