Is Organizational Culture Important?
Organizational
culture is the behavior of humans who are part
of an organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions.
Culture includes the organization values, visions, and norms, working language,
systems, symbols, beliefs and habits (Organizational Culture, 2013). It could also be defined as the values and behaviors that
contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an
organization (What is Organizational Culture, 2013). Imagine it as the how
or why that drives an organization toward its goals and honors its mission
statement. An organization’s culture
definitely shapes how workers administer services or render services. A happy employee will go above and beyond and
will typically spread joy to his or her co-workers. Conversely, a disgruntled employee will only
do just enough to get back. These will
be the “middle of the packers” and can be a cancer to your organization’s
culture, spreading ill and malicious will.
In my years as an assistant call center manager, I have witnessed both
good and bad organizational cultures in action.
I have seen where a company, initially for its employees happiness and
well-being, be reduced to a “meat shop” where all employees were treated like
assembly line parts with a back-up already prepared in inventory. What this brought about for the company was
1000’s of employees either quitting or getting terminated and a branded reputation
around the city as a bad company to work for.
The benefits to improving an organization’s culture are better aligning
with the company towards achieving its vision, higher employee morale, and
increased team cohesiveness (Organizational Culture, 2013). As a manager, one of the best pieces of
advice that I could issue out is to never forget about the people. A company is nothing without its human
capital. In the end, shaping employees
visions and behaviors is a part of immersing them and having them acclimated to
an organization’s culture. If it is to
be successful, it will require a joint effort from management, human resources,
and the rank and file employees!
For an example of poor organizational culture,
please see the YouTube video below:
Works
Cited:
Organizational culture. (2013). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture
What is organizational culture?. (2013). Retrieved
from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/organizational-culture.html
