Handling the pressure of work, maintaining family relations with parents as well as the spouse and the kid can be a rather difficult job. A lot of people have to choose in between these, however, the one who juggle all of these can be called a pro at work-life balance. The movie “The Intern” gives us a look at what goes behind the corporate that apparently carries on smoothly and efficiently.
Corporate culture as we know it, is the entire work environment shared by the employees, the CEO, the manager and every other individual within the company. It is highly influenced by the societal norms yet may be unique to a company. It also defines the attitudes of employees, rites and rituals, resistance to certain alterations, and standards (policies and procedures). When we take the example of “The Intern”, a lot of things clear out in regard to a start-up set up by Jules and her partner Cameron. She was strict with her work, looked at everything closely from making and packaging of the garments. Jules used to cycle from one end to the other end of her office, just to save time, that’s how busy she was.
The work that went on in ‘About the Fit’ required the employees to be attentive during most hours of the day. Jules ran a company that operated with an open mind. There was rarely any hierarchy. In spite of being the CEO of the company she used to attend customer care calls and at times ended up over compensating for any mistake on their behalf. They were intelligent and accepting enough to take in elderly people as interns, mostly because they have a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge about the traditional method of working. As a result, the taste of change is brought in by Ben who is a 70-year-old man and previously worked in DEX One. One major traditional aspect brought in by Ben was of respecting the boss. In the past, everyone in the office used to wait for the boss and only leave after his departure, so Ben used to wait for Jules to leave before he did while the other employees left the premises. Ben always used to dress up in a way considered appropriate for a formal workplace whereas everyone mostly wore casuals. He used to communicate mostly verbally and had to ask for help with the online methods of communication. Moreover, Ben was a disciplined man who woke up at seven in the morning, dressed up neatly and was at work on time. He had also cleaned up the cluttered table which instantly cheered up Jules. This separated him from the others employees and instantly connection with the CEO. Some of the Gen Z aspects of the company was open offices, buzz and an in-house masseuse. It was uplifting for the employees when one of them go up to a bell and ring it when something good happens. In “The Intern”, getting 2,500 Instagram likes got the bell ringing. This action got the team excited.
Jules was a mother and had a mother. A lot of times she would have arguments with her mother or she would be upset about not being able to accompany her daughter to school which would result in a bad work day. The very covert operation they had to pull off in order to delete a message she by chance sent to her mother instead of a colleague emphasizes the fact that her mother meant a lot to her. This entire personal undertaking had taken a higher ground even if the company was going through a crisis. It was heart warming to see how her employees actually helped her in carrying out the entire task successfully, starting from breaking into the house, deleting the message and escaping the cops. She a good relationship with her employees which led them into going to such an extent. The striking change in Jules’ character could be seen when she talks to Ben about knowing about her husband cheating on her. She was ready to give up her post as CEO which she endeared more than anything, for the sake of saving her marriage. She started accusing herself for not giving enough time to her husband which in turn led him into adultery. Ben later talked her out of it, she just needed someone to believe in her and tell her it was not okay to hand over her position to a more seasoned CEO. However, she ended up keeping her post, resolved her marital issues and established a great trust in Ben.
Infosys and Google can be examples of two distinct types of work culture.
Google’s culture is flexible compared to most companies around the world and is known for it. Employees are encouraged to work when they like. They are just given a deadline to come up with the ideas and are not held back to work during office hours. They can work from home or in the office premises. While they are in the office, they can have fun- doze off on the nap pods, play video games or ping pong. This has improved the quality of work and helped in establishing trust. Collaboration is key – the that employees are encouraged to coach their colleagues in the ‘Googler to Googler’ programme. The CEO himself has a very friendly approach towards the people who areworking for him. He considers them as equals and gives them complete freedom of thought and ideation. The cumulative result has set an example among others as a culture to be referred to.
Work culture at Infosys helps one to get to know more people, socialize with them and most do projects with everyone’s coordination. However, it is very different from that of Google. Unlike Google, they prefer the traditional methods of management. They have buses arranged for employees who come in at a certain time and can leave only after office hours are over. Work from home is not seen in good light. Even the dress code is generic. The CEO is respected and the meetings are held very formally, mostly in the CEO’s office. Summed up they have a more formal approach when it comes to work culture.
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