The Amazon logo is seen on a podium during a press conference in New York, September 28, 2011. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos introduced a line of four new Kindle products, the Kindle Fire tablet, the Kindle Touch 3G, the Kindle Touch and a new lighter and smaller Kindle. AFP PHOTO/Emmanuel Dunand (Photo credit should read EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)Can employee engagement go wrong? On August 16th, the New York Times published an article about Amazon. Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace1 stirred a debate about Amazon’s culture. The article even stirred a response from CEO Jeff Bezos himself: Jeff Bezos and Amazon Employees Join Debate Over Its Culture2 He said that “The article doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with every day.”

 

Can a CEO who drives a company’s culture evaluate the way it is seen by others?  Having read The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone, I have to believe there is more truth in the New York Times article than Mr. Bezos admits.

 

The culture revealed in these sources made me think of a fraternity. I use fraternities instead of sororities because the article states that Amazon’s executive team is all male.  However, there are sorority traits that come into play like cattiness when it comes to the “Anytime Feedback Tool, the widget in the company directory that allows employees to send praise or criticism about colleagues to management.”3

 

For reference, I have experience with fraternities. I am a Lambda Chi Alpha alumni. Known as the “everyman” fraternity, we are different in that we don’t have pledges. We have associates that have all the rights and privileges of members except for voting on membership. My brothers were extremely diverse (and still there was room for improvement) and that made us special. However, we were the exception. The rest of the fraternities on campus seemed to follow the same script:

  • Only let a “select” few enter the brotherhood.
  • Those that join tend to be “alike” in many ways, i.e., clones.
  • Members protect each other from outsiders.
  • Bad behavior seems to be the norm instead of the exception.
  • Hazing is accepted and expected.  Of course the President would be immune to any hazing activities.
  • Members rationalize their behavior and that of others because they want to be part of the “in” crowd.  They’ll do almost anything to be a part of the group – even if it means going against their normal behavior.  They become numb to their actions as long as they get where they want to go.

 

Do each of the points above sound similar to the Amazonian fraternity? Sadly, they do. Let’s hope that Mr. Bezos and his fellow Amazonians will take this opportunity to reevaluate their expectations of the culture at Amazon. Employee engagement should bring out the best in employees instead of the worst. In their effort to “rule the world,” it could be worse. After thinking about the similarities of Amazonians and Fraternities, I was led back to a previous post where I compared Amazon to Death Eaters: Employees Are Might – Amazon meets Harry Potter. Muggles beware.

 

 

What do you think of the fraternity comparison? What are your thoughts on the New York Times article, Jeff Bezos’ response, and / or The Everything Store?

 

 

1 Kantor, Jodi, and David Streitfeld. “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace.” New York Times 16 Aug. 2015, Business Day sec. The New York Times Company. Web. 18 Aug. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0>.
2 Streitfeld, David, and Jodi Kantor. ” Jeff Bezos and Amazon Employees Join Debate Over Its Culture.” New York Times 17 Aug. 2015, Technology sec. The New York Times Company. Web. 19 Aug. 2015. < http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/18/technology/amazon-bezos-workplace-management-practices.html>.
3 Kantor, Jodi, and David Streitfeld. “Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace.” New York Times 16 Aug. 2015, Business Day sec. The New York Times Company. Web. 18 Aug. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?_r=0>.

Photo credit:  EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

 

 

Let’s Engage!

I’m Agent in Engagement Simpson…Gregory F Simpson.

Employee engagement is a critical mission. I hope I can count on your help! Subscribe to the RSS Feed to receive the latest intelligence/insights and/or register to make entries in the comments log.

I'm Simpson....Gregory F Simpson, Agent in EngagementYou can follow me @agtinengagement.
Email me at g…@a…t.com.
Connect via LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/in/GregoryFSimpson.
Learn more about me at gregoryfsimpson.com.

 

 

 

P.S.  First contact? Welcome to the Agent In Engagement community. Explore and join fellow employee engagement operatives in targeting a known thief – alias: Disengagement. Together we can bring this thief to justice and make the world a better place for all companies and their employees.

Other recent Agent in Engagement data/reports by Agent Gregory F Simpson: