Company Philosophy

The ‘Solaris Way’ is captured by this slogan: ‘Excitement, Attitude, Achievement’. As language is a crucial way in which the values, norms and expected attitudes of the culture are disseminated and maintained, the company slogan is almost ubiquitous. It is printed on the training manuals, coffee mugs, poster boards, letterhead, and constantly chanted like a mantra in team meetings or at the ‘Fun Day’ activities (described below). The purpose of the philosophy is to remind telephone agents what kind of people they are required to be in this organization – exciting (not drab or dull), have a cool and fun attitude, and this will lead to a sense of achievement for both the individual and the company. A major way in which this attitude is reflected at Solaris is in the informal dress code. Indeed, employees are encouraged to wear very ‘cool’ attire at work, usually consisting of designer labels. Solaris employees are also permitted to “punk out” at work, which refers to bright dyed hair, face piecing and tattoos that give a youthful and enthusiastic flavour to everyday life in the organization.

Recruitment and Training

Workers are recruited for both their aptitude for this type of employment (e.g., formal skills) and, more importantly, their personal attitude and outlook on life. Recruitment is considered a central way in which the culture is maintained because employing ‘negative’ individuals might jeopardize the effectiveness of the programme. Training for new workers consists of prominent cultural rituals that seek to socialize and inform them about the “ways things are done around here” that could not be understood from just the organizational chart. Perhaps one of the most unorthodox socialization techniques (which is also used as a morale exercise for veteran employees too) is the ‘Sing Song’ in which inductees must stand and sing I’m Walking On Sunshine, clapping their hands in time with the music. According to Kimberly, the aim of this exercise is to “create a sense of childish fun among employees and loosen them up”. It is hoped that this friendly feeling will be transferred to phone customers, and thus make for a better service interaction.

Teams

The decentralized company structure aims to empower workers with autonomy and cut bureaucratic red tape. Each team has a leader who is invested with the authority to monitor and discipline their fellow team members. This method of organizing the labour process has an important cultural dimension. It means to reflect the cultural values of autonomy, empowerment and trust in a more tangible manner. The teams are expected to think of themselves as family, and give gifts and home made gifts to each other during meetings. Indeed, the word ‘family’ is frequently used by the culture managers to explain their vision for the company because it conveys a message of security, belongingness and warmth.

Company ‘Fun Days’

In order to sustain high morale, commitment and a sense of fun among employees, Solaris organize a company ‘Fun Day’ once a year in which the whole company congregates in order to develop their values and beliefs in seminars, song and dance sessions and general partying.

Physical Environment.

The Solaris culture has a physical existence as much as a symbolic one. Indeed, its seems that the two realms virtually merge as the carefully planned physical architecture endeavours to reflect, support and trigger many of the normative codes found in the Solaris philosophy. Kimberly pointed out that, “Solaris place great significance in call-centre design and construction because a creative and stimulating environment is essential if every team member is to work at their most productive”. The walls are painted purple, the supporting pillars are vivid pink, and the carpets are a florescent yellow. These colours are designed to evoke a mood of verve, ebullience and fun. Moreover, the open-plan office layout is supposed to transmit the informal and participatory philosophy of management. Similarly, the personalisation of space is strongly recommended at Solaris. Photos of loved ones, posters of sporting personalities, personal calendars, home made mobiles, drawings of flowers and sparkle lights adorn the call-centre stations, giving the physical environment a very colourful appearance. Walls are also decorated with large murals, graffiti and other icons that give employees a relaxed and exciting feeling at work.

Date: 2015-04-20; view: 844