Organizational-Culture-at-GE potx

Introduction GE International "As one of the world’s most diverse and best performing global enterprises - recognized repeatedly for leadership and innovation - they offer our employees an environment where what we imagine we can make happen, developing new technologies and services to grow our businesses. About the company GE traces its beginnings to Thomas A. Edison, who established Edison Electric Light Company in 1878. In 1892, a merger of Edison General Electric Company and Thomson-Houston Electric Company created General Electric Company. GE is the only company listed in the Dow Jones Industrial Index today that was also included in the original index in 1896. Today GE is a diversified technology, services and financial services company with operations in more than 100 countries and with over 300,000 employees worldwide. The Company has 11 global businesses, ranging from Advanced Materials, Commercial Finance, Consumer Finance, Consumer and Industrial, Energy, Equipment and Other Services, Healthcare, Infrastructure, Insurance, NBC Universal, and Transportation. GE is a company where possibilities are unlimited. You can change jobs, change industries, even change career direction, without ever changing companies. Our diversity provides limitless educational opportunities, which is unmatched in world business. We invest $1 billion per year in training our people. Page  Why we choose GE GE and its employees are committed to being a good corporate citizen through high ethical standards, leadership in corporate governance, environmental compliance and community engagement. GE continues to earn the respect of the business world. Once again, GE topped Fortune magazine’s top 500 companies. It holds 6 th position consecutively for the second time. GE is recognized as being among the world's best-run companies and was named the World's Most Respected Company for 2003 for the sixth consecutive year by the "Financial Times". GE was also presented with the Catalyst Award 2004 for its innovative, effective and measurable initiatives to advance women employees. GE was honored as one of the 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers GE has a long and proud history of supporting the communities where its employees live and work. Contributing more than $140 million and over one million volunteer hours worldwide in 2003, GE is making an impact in local communities, educational standards and the environment in its communities all over the world. Page  BIBLE OF GE ‘THE SPIRIT AND THE LETTER’ Former CEO Jack Welch (now retired), introduced this concept at GE. During his work period GE was prized most deal-making, cost-cutting and efficient organization. Every day, everyone at GE has the power to influence company’s reputation — everywhere they do business. The Spirit & the Letter helps to ensure that, after more than 125 years, we still conduct our affairs with unyielding integrity. For well over a century, GE employees have worked hard to uphold the highest standards of ethical business conduct. They seek to go beyond simply obeying the law — they embrace the spirit of integrity. GE’s Code of Conduct articulates that spirit by setting out general principles of conduct everywhere, every day and by every GE employee. GE’s code of conduct The laws and regulations governing the business conduct world wide • Be honest, fair and trustworthy in all your GE activities and relationships. • Avoid all conflicts of interest between work and personal affairs. • Foster an atmosphere in which fair employment practices extend to every member of the diverse GE community. • Strive to create a safe work place and to protect the environment. • Through leadership at all levels, sustain a culture where ethical conduct is recognized, valued and exemplified by all the employees. It also provides other information regarding the rules and regulations of the business like hoe to deal with the government; customers etc. Employees and leaders who violate the spirit or letter of GE’s policies are subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment. Page  OTHER IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE • Six sigma Six Sigma is a highly disciplined process that helps us focus on developing and delivering near-perfect products and service. The central idea behind Six Sigma is that if you can measure how many "defects" you have in a process, you can systematically figure out how to eliminate them and get as close to "zero defects" as possible. To achieve Six Sigma Quality, a process must produce no more than 3.4 defects per million opportunities. An "opportunity" is defined as a chance for nonconformance, or not meeting the required specifications. This means we need to be nearly flawless in executing our key processes. • Fair practices Fair employment practices do more than keep GE in compliance with applicable labor and employment laws. They contribute to a culture of respect. GE is committed to complying with all laws pertaining to freedom of association, privacy, collective bargaining, immigration, working time, wages and hours, as well as laws prohibiting forced, compulsory and child labor and employment discrimination. Beyond legal compliance, we strive to create an environment considerate of all employees wherever GE business is being conducted. • Base employment decisions On job qualifications (e.g., education, prior experience) and merit. Merit includes an individual’s skills, performance, values, leadership and other job-related criteria. without regard to a person’s race, color, religion, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, age, disability, veteran status or other characteristic protected by law. • Provide a work environment Free of improper harassment and bullying. Page  • Respect the privacy rights Of employees by using, maintaining and transferring personal data in accordance with GE’s Employment Data Protection Standards and related procedures found at integrity.ge.com. (While seeking to maintain employee privacy, GE reserves the right to monitor use of company property, including computers, e-mail, phones, proprietary information, etc., in accordance with applicable law.) • Take lawful affirmative actions In the United States, and elsewhere if required by local law, to increase opportunities in employment for women, minorities, people with disabilities and certain veterans. Page  Working Environment Employees’ performance can only flourish in a sound work environment. That is why GE is committed to supporting its leadership culture through systems and policies that foster open communication, maintain employee and partner privacy, and assure employee health and safety. • Operating with Integrity The way they deliver results is as important as the results themselves. GE seeks to lead in workplace and marketplace integrity by respecting the human rights of everyone touched by our business, and by enforcing legal and financial compliance. • Work and Life Balance Naturally, the passion that our people bring to their work extends to their own private worlds, and GE is committed to enabling a healthy balance between the two. GE encourages our people to meet their work commitments while balancing their own life responsibilities. To support this balance, flexible work arrangements are an integral part of the way we conduct business. The Company also offers many programs and resources to support employees including financial management, family counseling and more. • Quality of work life GE assures complete support to all its employees on both professional and personal fronts. Apart from creating a friendly and stimulating work environment, GE also extends support to its employees in their domestic lives. Page  ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR AT GE 1) Leadership at GE GE views its leaders as an extension of HR with the capacity to communicate how each employee fits within the overall business strategy. A leader must: create a culture of compliance in which employees understand their responsibilities and feel comfortable raising concerns without fear of retaliation; encourage ethical conduct and compliance with the law by personally leading compliance efforts; consider compliance efforts when evaluating and rewarding employees; and ensure that employees understand that business results are never more important than ethical conduct and compliance with GE policies Leadership Development The Corporate Leadership Development group's mission is to run training programmes to develop high-performing leaders, introduce and drive cultural change, and spread key corporate initiatives. These programmes can be held at business-owned training facilities like the GE Energy Learning Center in Florence, Italy or at our head quarters in Brussels. Such facilities bring people together to work, learn, and share across boundaries. It is also where we introduce newly acquired companies to our culture, offering them a network of peers enabling them to share best practices and business successes. GE also offers intensive management training through special leadership programmes. These programmes are designed to accelerate learning for high performing employees, using a variety of methods from e-learning to action learning, from boot camps to leadership summits. A core curriculum is managed at a corporate level, but each GE business complements these with business specific just-in time learning opportunities. Page  All Leadership development programmes have similar core objectives: • Educate employees- focusing on leadership, change, and Six Sigma. • Communicate and strengthen our employee's commitment to GE and the GE Values. • Build bridges across boundaries by letting people interact across businesses, functions, and hierarchies. • Enhance our customer focus; build relationships with strategic customers and other key stakeholders. GE works at being a true learning organization - instilling learning not only as part of the everyday work life but also counting on employees to help train their colleagues in their field of expertise 2) Communication GE views communication as the most critical element. The most important thing that they see with the HR function is that there always is a constant dialogue, as they don’t like to hide things in GE. GE offers several channels for raising concerns. Use the channel that is most comfortable for its employees. • GE Board of Directors An employee may report concerns about GE’s accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters, as well as other concerns, to the Board of Directors or the Audit Committee. directors@corporate.ge.com • GE corporate ombudsperson The GE Ombudsperson process allows an employee to voice his integrity questions and concerns, Page  ombudsperson@corporate.ge.com • Within the business Generally, the supervisor or manager will be in the best position to resolve an integrity concern quickly. However, the direct supervisor is not your only option. Other resources include: • Your compliance leader or auditor • Company legal counsel • Next level of management 3) Measuring performance Beyond the idealized growth traits, GE also upholds four basic actions to drive performance: imagine, solve, build and lead. Stemming from those action-oriented qualities are the foundational values that represent GE and its common set of beliefs: passionate, curious, resourceful, accountable, teamwork, committed, open and energizing. This specific set of corporate values lies at the heart of GE’s unique approach to leadership development. Ongoing appraisal processes and evaluations help to measure performance and also to sustain the values that GE leaders aim to embody. “Your ticket to entry at GE, your base premise to be a part of this game, is you have to perform and you need to have the GE values, 4). STRESS MANAGEMENT factors such as increasing completion, corporate restructuring and downsizing have compelled employees to work for longer hours to meet their deadlines. This stress could lead to various health problems. At GE,   !!!    "#!  $ $%!" 5) ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE Page & It is a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations, this system of shared meaning is, on closer examination is a set of key characteristics that the organization values.  individual effort is much more important than group or collective efforts  rebels are heroes (Jack Welch was an effective rebel against most of GE's official management practices throughout his career before he became CEO)  going around the hierarchy is encouraged (this is the hidden purpose of work-out, not team-based participation and improvement)  competition is king, internally and externally  loyalty is determined by performance  poor performers lose face publicly  communications are direct and confrontational  leadership comes from individuals, not groups or teams At General Electric, they have all begun programs aimed at keeping women professionally engaged. The results are starting to show, as more women who skipped out on companies that did not offer them intellectually challenging work resurface at companies that do. G.E. has women's networks, coaching and mentoring programs, and family- balance policies. But Susan P. Peters, vice president for executive development, says G.E.'s insistence that "everyone has quantity and quality to their work" may be most responsible for the fact that 15 percent of its officers are women, up from 9 percent in 1997. Jeanne M. Rosario is a case in point. While rearing her two children, she worked truncated hours and even turned down a big promotion. But, she said, G.E. never put her on a mommy track. "They gave me as much work as I could handle; they always let me be the one to say, 'No more!' “She said. Ms. Rosario, 53, is vice president for commercial design and services engineering at G.E. Transportation, making her G.E.'s highest-ranking woman in technology. Women’s network The GE Women's Network (GEWN) was formed to support the professional development of women at GE, with the mission of fostering professional women's Page '