Through the lens of a Human Resource Management Professional, this paper is a humorous look at the similarities between zombies, unmotivated employees and ineffective organizations.

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HAVE ZOMBIES
TAKEN OVER
YOUR WORKPLACE?
By: Jolie Thompson, PHR
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Early last summer I ventured out for what was supposed to be a typical afternoon at the movies
followed by an early dinner with friends. Little did I know that I would experience more than just a great
movie, but much to my surprise, a Human Resource Management revelation of sorts! As mentioned,
some friends and I decided to take in a movie, to be more specific, we decided to catch the new Zombie
action Flick- - “World War Z”, starring Brad Pitt. With the spate of Zombie movies on the big screen and
the growing popularity of prime time shows such as “The Walking Dead”, we were amped (to say the
least) to see this new take on the archetypal Zombie flick. The movie was a good mix of exciting,
surprising and all-around very entertaining- the audience was definitely engage and let’s just say I was
all in. Then it happened! We had to be at least ¾ ways into the movie and the action and suspense built
up by this time was palpable. Now, Brad’s character- Gerry Lane and some of his new found non-zombie
allies, were making their way through a zombie infested wing of the abandoned World Health
Organization (WHO) building in Wales. As they stealthily navigated a series of corridors and entryways,
Gerry came across a few zombies standing around in one of the now ramshackled labs. These zombies
had clearly once been employees of the organization, perhaps even bright rising stars, but now, infected
with the zombie virus, they had become dull, half dead (undead), and frightening versions of their
former selves.
Although I am sure it was not the intended purpose, this scene struck a note with me as a
Human Resource Management professional on not only an personnel management level, but also from
an Organizational Effectiveness viewpoint. How many organizations, due to poor management including
inadequate human resource management, ineffective staffing, feeble leadership, the absence of
formalized employee career paths, and the presence of a misaligned relationship between strategy and
organizational structure, create ineffectual workplaces in which employees do not thrive and self-
actualize but to the contrary, wither away into real-life workplace zombies. The characteristics exhibited
by the archetypal zombie are more relatable to the plight of the underemployed employee at an
ineffective organization than one may think. For the purpose of this brief post, I have chosen 3 of the
most common characteristics that come to mind when I think of the works of zombie fiction that I have
seen on screen or in writing over the years: (1) zombies are poor communicators, (2) zombies lack
independent/ creative thinking, and (3) zombies in most cases are slow to respond to stimuli.
Zombies are poor communicators:
The image of a group of zombies meeting to discuss the “hot and colds” of their last zombie raid
is virtually non-existent. In fact, once an individual has become a full-fledged zombie he/ she typically

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loses all ability to participate in any meaningful exchange of information be it through verbal or non-
verbal cues. It is because of this lack of communication that the always loquacious heroines of most
zombie storylines are able to overthrow their zombie rivals time and time again. Just as the zombie’s
lack of communication abilities leads to their eventual demise, so too does a lack of communication in
the workplace lead to an unsuccessful organization. For workers to be most effective and subsequently
for an organization to achieve its vision, mission and goals, open communication must exist.
Communication in the workplace must be clear and deliberate. Leadership must clearly communicate
their expectations, strategies and objectives. There must also be established and formalized channels of
communication from the top down as well as from the bottom up. For example, a front office employee
with 7 years of experience, should have the facility to suggest a more profitable way of providing a
specific customer service to upper management; and have that suggestion seriously considered and
implemented if practicable. In another example, if management identifies an opportunity for the
company to utilize a new technology in order to improve efficiency, information and training on the new
system must be quickly made available to all applicable employees.
Our ability to share information, learn from that information and improve as an organization
from what we have learned is what sets us apart from "the zombie". Furthermore, the role of open and
clear communication in the workplace is an essential component in promoting employee involvement,
engaging workers and ultimately motivating staff. Zombies are unable to suggest new ways of capturing
victims, they are unable to warn each other of impending danger, zombies are incapable of teaching
their horde lessons from individual past mistakes. With all of this in mind, organizations operating with
ineffective communication in place are slowly but surely fostering workplace zombies of their own and
this is not good for the bottom line.
Zombies lack independent/ creative thinking:
Think about a typical zombie attack. For the most part, they all look the same. An unsuspecting
victim walks by and comes across a zombie mob. Alerted to the sound, the mob begins to slowly
descend upon its prey. In this scenario, the victim, quickly realizing that he is being attacked, is able to
escape by simply running away from the zombies in the opposite direction. There is nothing innovative
about a zombie attack and this is one of the main reasons why zombies always ultimately meet their
defeat. This is also true for organizations that do not encourage creative thinking in the workplace- -
they ultimately fail or in many cases, stay in operation but fail to ever reach their full profit potential.
Dictionary.com defines creativity as “the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns,
relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms, methods, interpretations, etc.”
Isn’t this the purpose of the business organization?- - To create something from a thought or an idea. To
build on old ideas and in so doing make something new. To create value for stakeholders.
To successfully meet business objectives, it is important for organizations to not only encourage
creativity among its employees but to also develop creative approaches to problem solving throughout
the organization. Organizations that stifle creativity and restrict innovative thinking and problem solving,
in essence, are promulgating the zombie epidemic at work.
Zombies in most cases are slow to respond to stimuli:
One of my favorite zombie movies in recent years is “Shaun of the Dead” staring and co-written
by English actor Simon Pegg. Early on in the film when Simon’s character Shaun and his best friend Ed
discover a zombie man and woman in their backyard, they proceed to throw various items at the couple

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including cans, plates, a toaster, and eventually classic vinyl records from Shaun’s collection in an
attempt to make the zombies desist. Despite the efforts of Shaun and Ed however, the zombies’
approach does not wane until the two main characters violently beat the zombies in their heads with a
cricket bat and a shovel. Zombies in general are slow to react. Visuals abound of attacking zombie
hordes that keep attacking despite being shot at, clobbered with various items or in general, viciously
assaulted by the non-zombie protagonist and his team.
Just as the zombie, organizations that are not responsive to changes in the business climate,
political environment, economic landscape or technological infrastructure of the time are sadly doomed
for failure. The arena in which business is done today is highly dynamic and constantly evolving. It is for
this reason that companies must be able to learn quickly and respond efficiently to ever evolving
business needs in order to remain viable. Some of the first steps to ensuring this level of responsiveness
are by maintaining open communication, fostering a learning work environment, and by encouraging
and rewarding innovation at work. Taking these steps as a starting point will definitely ensure that the
zombies do not take over your workplace.
Although this was somewhat of a satirical take on the Zombie diaspora as it relates to the
ineffective organization or workplace, I hope that you were able to gain from the Human Resource
Management insight discussed. At the very least I hope you enjoyed the read but I would be interested
to find out if anyone out there can offer some additional examples of workplace zombie behavior within
a management context. Did this post make you think of ineffective behaviors you have observed at your
work place that, in a theatrical context, could be mistaken as zombie behavior?