Is Organizational Culture Important?

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:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7_R921f1OA

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