PROGRAMME:
Postgraduate Diploma in Management
MODULE:
General Management
Total Marks:
50
Read the article below and answer the questions that follow:
Twitter’s company culture? ‘Used to have an amazing culture, unsure of future’
November 8, 2022
Cloey Callahan
A total of 3,700 Tweeps were fired on Nov. 5. It was the end of an era for many Twitter employees,
with some working there for more than a decade. There’s no question that it was a sad day for those
who will no longer be employed by the social media platform recently acquired by Elon Musk, but
what about the other half of the company that remains?
It’s inevitable that Twitter will never be the same again, which begs the question if those still
employed should stay or leave. Musk already made decisions to say goodbye to “days of rest,”
cancel the remote work policy and have staff return to the office full-time.
“He’s let go of half of a 7,500-staffed company, and that’s going to have a significant impact,” said S.
Chris Edmonds, president, CEO and founder of the Purposeful Culture Group. “It goes back to
what’s the strategy? What are you promoting? How are you communicating this saying this is our
reason for being and here’s how these changes are going to help us get there? It doesn’t seem as if
there has been a formalized strategy.”
“What you have to say is here’s where we’re going, here’s what we’re going to stand for, and here’s
how we’re going to operate,” he continued.
Since the news that came at the end of last week, Twitter employees have taken to anonymous
workplace community platform Blind expressing their concerns with the future of the company. “Used
to have an amazing culture, unsure of the future,” said a machine learning engineer at the company.
A software engineer wrote “recent changes in management are causing a lot of uncertainty and
stress from people being let go or quitting.” Another person said “since Elon took over, everything is
unpredictable, bad management and communication.”
An anonymous Twitter employee told Business Insider that “one of Twitter’s core values is — or was
— transparency. All of our calendars were open. You could look at our former head of engineering’s
calendar and see where he was having lunch that day. Documents were usually open and viewable.
With a project, you could see who initiated the work, who was the assignee, who was in the chain of
command. That’s all gone now.”
Twitter employees on Blind used to say things like “Twitter has this great culture of collaboration, it’s
people first and I love that about it” and “Great compensation, great culture.” Now on Twitter,
employees are using the hashtag #LoveWhereYouWorked to share stories of their memorable times
at the company.
Business Insider reported that “staff at Twitter have been clocking much longer hours than usual
since Musk took over, with his team assigning staff big tasks on tight deadlines.” CNBC reported that
Twitter managers have told some staff to work 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, while The New
York Times reported that some managers slept at the office on weekends.
“I think there is survivor’s guilt for those who remain,” said Kaydee Bridges, the former head of
corporate marketing and brand at Cardinal Health who has worked with employees at Twitter for
over a decade. “They are probably wondering if they’re next on the chopping block, and even if
they’re not, it’s certain that their workload is going to increase substantially.”
“Those survivors are going to want to know where they’re going, what the new company is going to
stand for,” said Edmonds, who from a company culture standpoint says that Musk must be
intentional instead of only acting on instinct in order to see success. “Without a formalized vision,
mission, values, it’s pretty hard to inspire people.”
Edmonds teaches that an organization with a good culture is one where employees feel respected
and validated. “Doing cuts of 50% or more, that’s not going to feel very respectful to those that were
cut, but it’s also not going to feel respectful to the survivors,” he said.
Bridges agrees, saying top talent today doesn’t seek a workplace that has an uncertain future or a
sense of fear on a day-to-day basis because it ultimately doesn’t allow them to thrive. Most
companies today are on the flip side and ask their employees what they want and need to ensure
their success at a company and often prioritize wellbeing more than ever before.
“For many of those folks, they might only stay as long as it takes for them to find their next job at a
company that truly values them,” said Bridges. “People shouldn’t be treated like commodities
because it dehumanizes the workplace.”
At the end of the day, the remaining employees will either have to choose to adapt to the new
company culture or to leave entirely. It’s something that anyone needs to decide when experiencing
a leadership change at the top, however much more amplified with Twitter and Musk. Additionally,
when there is a leadership change, it’s more common for that individual to take the first couple of
months to get to know how employees have been operating, what they wish would be different, and
make an overall assessment before conducting major changes.
“A leader signals what they value,” said Bridges. “If they value facetime and results, no matter how
those results are achieved, that’s the behavior that is going to be rewarded. If a leader shows they
value not just the end result, but how it was achieved, like risk taking, wins, failures, inclusivity, then
employees will focus on exemplifying those behaviors.”
Either way, she says that the company culture should be identified sooner rather than later so that
employees can decide if it’s somewhere they want to be.
Source: Callahan, 2022
QUESTION ONE
[30]
Analyse the article above and assess the impact of the change in Twitter’s culture on
1.1
employee motivation, and
1.2
organisational performance.
QUESTION TWO
[20]
“A leader signals what they value,” said Bridges. “If they value facetime and results, no matter how
those results are achieved, that’s the behavior that is going to be rewarded. If a leader shows they
value not just the end result, but how it was achieved, like risk taking, wins, failures, inclusivity, then
employees will focus on exemplifying those behaviours.”
Evaluate the validity of the statement above in context of Twitter.
Guidelines
1. This is a research-based assignment and requires evidence of research
2. Make sure that you have carefully read and fully understood the question before answering.
Answer the question fully but concisely and as directly as possible. Follow all specific
instructions for questions (e.g. use examples to support your answer).
3. Answer all questions in your own words. Do not copy any text from the notes, readings, or
other sources. The assignment must be your own work only.