OGL 481 Pro-Seminar I:

PCA-Symbolic Frame Worksheet

Worksheet Objectives:
1. Describe the symbolic frame
2. Apply the symbolic frame to your personal case situation

Complete the following making sure to support your ideas and cite from the textbook and other
course materials per APA guidelines. After the peer review, you have a chance to update this and
format for your Electronic Portfolio due in Module 6.

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

I was employed with the organization for 20 years in which during the time I held

different positions including Administrative Aide, Coordinator, Facility & Program

Supervisor, and Recreation Superintendent. During the time of the incident, I was a

Coordinator and worked in the same department as the victim. There were three departments

total that I worked in throughout my time with the City of Lynwood. For this assignment, I

will concentrate on the importance of employment retention and lack of Human Resource

leadership/responsibilities. A very tragic situation took place in the organization that, due to

lack of Human Resources leadership responsibility, there was a loss of life.

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

Unfortunately, it seems that the organization lacked symbols. The only real symbol of the

organization was always to remain status quo. There was never any significant changes to the

organization, traditions were not existent, ceremonies were never hosted nor did we have

rituals. People were accustom to a routine and everyone was fine with that. The organization

already had a bad reputation of mismanaging funds, defect spending and law suits. There was

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 never any discussion of positive changes for the organizations. Some changes came too late

when another employee killed one of our colleagues.

The only symbol that was created because of this tragedy was that of the form of a hero.

The victim of this case will forever be remembered as a hero. He was the epitome of a true

civil service working. Someone who never missed a day of work for 30 years, never arrived

late to a meeting, took his job seriously and did his job to the highest standard. To this day,

his position was never filled because they could not find anyone of his caliber. He truly

symbolized what the term that was used to describe him, ‘Mr. Lynwood’. This man could not

live without his city. He worked weekends free because he drove around the city to inspect it

to ensure that he always kept up with the maintenance and beautification of his city. His

memory will forever be engraved on a bronzed plaque and a park dedicated in his memory.

As for symbols that may be recognized by the public regarding, the organization would

be the City Seal which is on every employee uniform, newsletter, forms of correspondence

and City vehicles. When the public sees the seal, they immediately recognize to be the City.

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

The passing of our colleague did, to a certain extent; help reshape the culture of the

organization at least among employees. It united employees and people had a deeper

appreciation for their work. Now that people had a better understanding of the red flags were

missed gave employees a platform to voice their concerns. Employees became more vigilant

to the point they began to question the Human Resources Department if the safety of

employees was a priority.

I would use organizational symbols for an alternative course of action by first assessing

what values and policies are in place currently within the organization. What works and what

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 does not. I would never want employees to feel like if changes was not necessary every

again. I would want to create an environment where communication and feedback is

welcomed and employees should never be afraid to speak up because of retaliation. In other

words, we should bring in a third party to ensure that we are following policies correctly

should assess the organization.

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

Traditions or rituals should be established within department to ensure that they are

following and abiding by all policies, such as in this case not conducting an appropriate

background check on an employee. Another practice should be to improve and continue to find

ways to improve communication. Appropriate training for employees to help determine what

situations or signs could be a potential red flag in the organization.

Anything and everything that was done leading up to the death of my colleague I would

never do. This is the reason why I went back to school to earn my degree and this case is the

reason why I want to continue my career in human resources management. Hiring policies need

to be established and followed appropriately.

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