OGL 481 Pro-Seminar

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

1) Briefly restate your situation from Module 1 and your role.

The most challenging situation I have experienced was when I was laid off and forced out of my position
of ten years as an administrative coordinator at Humana. A fortune 500 insurance provider that offers a
variety of medical, pharmacy, dental and vision options for its members and employees (Humana, n.d.).
It is what we consider a pharmacy benefit manager also known as a PBM for short. It serves commercial
accounts as well as Medicare members. As an administrative coordinator I was the face of Humana,
conducted new hire orientations, I was a benefit coordinator, created all the new hire folders and badges
and assisted where needed in any given department.

We were under new management, and the new manager advised me that I had two weeks to look for a
job outside of Humana. I was not offered a severance package and was not told of 3 administration
coordinators, why I was the one they were forcing out. When the manager advised me of this, she
brought in one of the other coordinators and a supervisor to advise of my future at Humana. It was a
challenging situation for me because I take pride in the work I do, I could not understand why they
wanted to force me out of my role of 10 years. I was confused, I felt under valued, blind sided and worse,
I felt I had wasted 10 years of my life that I would not get back.

I advised them I was not going to leave until I was ready, and I was not ready yet. I felt I deserved better
since the way they treated me was unjustified. I applied to a different department and have been there
for the past 5 years, I have been with the company 15 in total. I am a data analyst in our business partner
operations department.

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

“An organization’s culture is centered and communicated around its symbols” The symbolic frame is
inclusive of purpose, values, cultures and vision (Bolman & Deal, 2021). While certain companies have
organizational symbols, symbolic to them- for example Chic-Fil-a has the C that favors a chicken and they
utilize the cow’s for emphasis to steer you away from them (Fitzpatrick, 2015), Apple has the apple with
a bite taken out of it (Frith, 2011), Nike has the swoosh (Egan, 1998). Humana does not have an
organizational symbol, however its name is it’s symbol also known as a woodmark. Humana’s color is a
vibrant radiant fluorescent green. It stands out in a crowd compared to the colors of other companies -
you will remember it as it commands attention and it sets itself apart from competitors. Companies that
utilize their name as their organizational symbol do so because they are confident enough that they do
not need anything more than their name: their brand will speak for itself (Rathburn, n.d.). Humana is
just that.

Humana’s symbolic frame influenced the situation not by its organizational symbol but through its vision,
values and purpose through its cultures. Humana does have well defined values and they are displayed
everywhere, they are a consistent theme, so much so that if you do not know them upon an interview,
you will not get a job. Two of their top values are “rethink routine” which means, to think about how
they currently do things and what they can do to eliminate costs to create savings later, and “cultivate
uniqueness” which means to look for different results that will give you more lucrative opportunities.
Both are tied around savings initiatives created by the board of directors for Humana Stakeholders
(Humana, 2000).

We have subcultures of leadership that are put in place to ensure Humana is living up to their values and
ensuring they maximize savings opportunities and part of that savings initiative was eliminating positions
to save money which included my position.

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

Humana’s culture has created a tough guy environment, their main and only ritual is displayed upon the
exit of an employee, whether voluntary or involuntary, a company wide email goes out letting everyone
know, there will be changes in various departments. When this is done, it is a reminder to be a top
performer in your department so you aren’t next on the chopping block. This creates a sense of
unhealthy competition between departments. In return departments will try to outcompete the next, it
ultimately creates a hostile environment, especially for those on the bottom that are unaware that this
type of competition is going on.

There is another important Humana value, that I would recommend utilizing as an alternative course of
action regarding my case is “Thrive together”. Instead of causing friction among departments, I would
have each department work together on projects and department goals to come up with solutions
instead of trying to outperform one another. They should focus on building a stronger culture instead of
an unhealthy authoritative one ruled by fear by creating an inclusive environment and providing options
to move their employees to a different department within the company if they have to force some
departments to close.

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

Reflecting on what I would do differently after learning about this frame I would tap into the Humana
Values regarding “Thrive together”. There are many different ways the symbolic frame is utilized. At
times that can be done through metaphors, values, rituals, or visions . The symbolic frame serves as the
foundation for a company's culture and plays a significant role in the direction of the business’ direction.

When I needed a job after I was told to leave Humana, I went to the RXE department. I had heard over
the years there was a director who was fair, built a culture of inclusion, most people wanted to be in his
department because they were a top performing group. People felt safe, there was a level of trust
between leadership, management and employees. They would have themed decorating competitions
and the person with the best decorations would win a pizza party. I would consider the leader of RXE as
the hero of the story.

If I could do anything differently I would host resume classes, and internal job fairs for other
departments to come and interview people who were being laid off for potential job placements. I would
refer our top performers to the RXE department with Chris, since he is the hero at Humana. When they
forced me out of my position, I went to Chris’ department and it was the best decision I had ever made.
It’s important to utilize the symbolic frame to create a good and stable culture. The symbolic frame can
be used in leadership to empower employees or manipulate them (Bolman & Deal, 2021). I would utilize
it to motivate and empower employees by creating a positive and trusting culture.

References

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2021). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. Wiley.
Egan, T. (1998, September 13). The Swoon of the Swoosh. The New York Times. Retrieved September 19,

2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/13/magazine/the-swoon-of-the-swoosh.html

Fitzpatrick, H. (2015, July 14). Business. Meet the cows behind Chick-fil-A's most successful campaign.

Retrieved September 19, 2023, from

https://www.sj-r.com/story/business/2015/07/14/meet-cows-behind-chick-fil/33840507007/

Frith, H. (2011, October 7). Unraveling the tale behind the Apple logo. CNN. Retrieved September 19,

2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2011/10/06/opinion/apple-logo/index.html

Humana: Number of Employees 2010-2023 | HUM | MacroTrends. (n.d.). Macrotrends. Retrieved

September 12, 2023, from

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/HUM/humana/number-of-employees

Rathburn, P. (n.d.). What Is Brand Recognition? Why It's Important and Benefits. Investopedia. Retrieved

September 19, 2023, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brand-recognition.asp