Organizational Culture at Charter
The last two weeks have blurred into one as I have been working on my final projects, presentations, and tying lose ends as I get ready to leave Charter. I have paid close attention in the last two weeks to the organizational culture of the company to see in what ways employees of the company act. The relationships that are formed at this company are strictly business, and are exhibited in very formal ways. There is no talk about anything that could be considered inappropriate, people don’t speak very much about their personal lives or their personal opinions about current day issues, and everyone respects the higher up regardless of their personal opinions on the decisions made. The cable industry is a conservative one. With the target demographic of the company being older consumers, the company tends to sway towards this culture in the sense that the way it is run would be considered “old school.” There are cubicles everywhere, nobody really strays from their cubicles. Everyone gets there right at 9 am and everyone leaves right at 5 pm every single day, there is no straying from this really at all. There is an exec team and they are highly respected; they sit on the 10th floor of the office in personal rooms with beautiful views. Their subordinates have a sense of both respect and fear towards them, wanting to please them and gain their respect. This is historically the way that cable companies are led: in a very formal way. Those who work at the company understand the value of hard work and how working hard can pay off in the long run, however many people who I have worked with, probably wouldn’t consider Cable to be their passion, but they like working for Charter. The attitudes of the employees are all very similar. They all are very friendly and outgoing, especially in my department which was Marketing, a specialty notorious for attracting outspoken and rambunctious people. There is a generally upbeat feel on my team, as well as throughout the entire company. People value each other and their work and are generally respectful to everyone, even when there is an internal conflict, the issues are resolved quickly and in the easiest way for all.