Organizational Culture of NESMA - Assignment Example

Introduction An organization is a dynamic social structure that forms and maintains itself to achieve collective goals (Buchanan & Huczynski 2004). Contemporary organizations are very aware that change is a key factor to maintaining a diversified company that provides effective services (Flower, 1992). Buchanan points out that the ideal of most organizations is that their staff relationships are inclusive, collaborative relationships of trust and openness, however, he points out that this is often not the case. I agree with the observation that contemporary organizations view competition as having to be held in balance with cooperative working policies. And that it is the informal "backstage" or company policies, and culture embodied by these policies that determine the values and assumptions of all employees, and their subsequent performance. In the following paper I am taking a reflective approach to concepts discussed in class, and using them as a filter to interpret organizational practices of the organization that I work for, that is NESMA. Organizational leadership. culture and human resource management at NESMA shall be presented and interpreted through he theories presented in contemporary management literature. Throughout this reflective process, I remind myself and the reader of Lewin's (1951) comment that to understand any organization we do by virtue change it, and so any diagnosis that I make will also be an intervention on my part. What a responsibility! [background of me : ) you!! How old, gender, how long been with company, duties within the organization, why taking this management course, what hope to get from it, how is the course relevant to being a manager]. Organizational Leadership I am inspired in the knowledge that leaders can be developed. Policies implemented within my organization (generic skills training, progression of responsibilities) provide me with opportunities to develop more as a person, and as a contributing member of NESMA. It would be great if my company adopted a more formal mentoring program, as advocated by Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) in their text Organizational Behaviour (5th ed.). I have an informal mentor, however, I would like to see more support from management towards a mentoring program for all levels of our organization. Bennis and Thomas (2002), in their book, Geeks and Geezers: How Era, Values and Defining Moments Shape Leaders, identify factors that are shared across leaders of all cultures. It made a lot of sense to me to view leadership through a filter such as era. Post World War II "geezer" organizations were very military styled, leaders having a commanding or controlling style. Modern organizations are a lot more team-focused, with leaders acting as facilitators and encouragers. I can relate to the "geeks" of today, who want a life, not just a career. We accept that diversity is necessary for an organization to grow, and for ourselves to grow as a people. Diversity of thought should be encouraged so as to cultivate personal characteristics that contribute to the organization, and to the employees that make up that organization (Wickenberg & Kylen, 2004). Collaborative problem solving is a much more feasible style of leadership, that enables leaders at all levels of an organization. Service and production can only be enhanced when all employees realize that the sum of their organization can be so much more than the sum of its parts. Bennis and Thomas (2002) also note that geeks want to believe they can contribute, and that they can make a difference in the world. However, this is interesting I think, as the authors point out that contemporary employees have less company loyalty and are becoming entrepreneurs in their wok life. I am one of those employees who are curious, adventurous and experimental in my approach to my working goals, and the goals of my organization. I am willing to try different methods and techniques to lead myself, and to learn to lead others. I understand that change is a necessary part of life, including work. I, like many geek co-workers have multiple careers. My mantra is "flexible balance", especially as I live in a dual income household. I have many commitments in my life, and it is important to me as a developing leader to keep in mind the pressures that others too have to bear. As a leader I wish to be able to provide co-workers with tasks from which they can learn and develop as a human being and as an effective employee of NESMA. Bennis and Thomas have also inspired me to be aware that I can contribute to my organization, and further, the wider community of which we are a part. I have begun my leadership training by maintaining a journal of my workdays, issues and conflicts that arise, and how they are resolved, or not! [date.] Today is the day of my first entry into my work journal. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the knowledge and skills required of a leader in the 21st century. I agree strongly with the Bennis-Nanus's model (1985, as cited in Buchanan & Huczynski 2004) for the 21st century leader, which suggests that a company lead by vision, have leaders at all levels, encourage creative diversity of thought, foster inter-relationships at all levels, and "flatten" the divide between company levels. An organization should encourage its leaders to inspire, empower, facilitate a sharing of information, and develop a learning organization with mentors and coaches for all levels. Organizations should seek to inspire leaders to be catalysts for change, and to assist in the development of future leaders. I am empowered by reading this, and will maintain my journal in an attempt to cultivate leadership qualities within myself. To begin, I will make a greater attempt to share information and resources with colleagues. I will also write a letter of proposal to my supervisor to initiate a mentoring program in our division, and I will offer my services as a potential mentor to new recruits. I am confident I have numerous skills and knowledge to contribute to another's learning, and to facilitate their leadership development. I think that my company could do more to develop leadership amongst our staff. Considering the numerous theories that exist today, NESMA management has many resources and research papers to draw from. For example, a particular favorite of mine is "upside down leadership", conceptualized by O'Hare who was once director of the World Bank. O'Hare has stated that all employees should be considered potential leaders, and that interpersonal relationships are the responsibility of all personnel within the organization (cited in Merriman-Clarke 2003). What are my key relationships in the workplace (A question posed by O'Hare in many of his consultations). My key relationships are with those I work alongside with, as well as my supervisor who wants updates from me throughout the day. There are also my relationships with clients by email, phone and teleconference. How much time in a year do I spend cultivating these relationships Well, I have to admit that I have never thought about it. Not so much really, beyond what is required by my supervisor and organizations mission values. I have to say that I have not prioritized my working relationships as important factor in my leadership development. Like any of my co-workers, I expect my organization to have a very proactive approach in my working career, and development as a leader. It is m upper managements symbolic behavior that supports or de-motivates my work efforts. I sometimes wonder if my upper management is aware of how powerful a message they can send through just one word. O'Hare contends that managers are accountable for the learning development of their employees (cited in Merriman-Clarke 2003). A leader looks at current operational goals and objectives, identifying skills, and noting the experience of others. Organizations should evaluate how much time a manager spends developing another employee's work and leadership abilities. Peer, self, client and supervisor evaluations can be used as performance indicators. Organizational Culture Culture is a phenomenon in which we are all embedded. Culture helps us to understand the world we live in, helps us to make decisions, to choose what is important and what is irrelevant, prescribes our actions for different situations (Schien, 1990). Culture is structured stability that defines leadership styles and values within a system, including organizations. As Schien states, to understand an organization is to understand its culture. It is culture that determines the rights of people within that society, and the customs and values that are important to that social group. As such, organisational culture is multidimensional and reflects employee's efforts at all levels to cope with daily work life, and to continue learning on the job. [date] I remember a time, about three years ago, when the staff kitchen was always a grotty mess - tea and coffee cups left unwashed, the toaster and bench would be constantly covered in crumbs, the floor was always sticky, the tea-towed dirty and there would be spoons, dishes and cups all over the sink and benches. It seemed that no one ever washed up or cleaned up after them, yet all of us insisted that we did our own dishes. Each week one man from administration would tidy and clean the kitchen. He had never been formally or informally asked to, and when I asked him why he cleaned the kitchen each week he said that he just could not stand the mess, and that " that someone had to do it". I often thought about how this situation could be resolved. Did people not care Who was responsible for kitchen maintenance Do we need a leader to tell us to clean the kitchen, and to monitor our behviour Could peer pressure resolve our messy service area And importantly, was the kitchen not a reflection of our values and respect for our co-workers Schein's (1985) model of organizational culture has an observable level, a value level (not directly observable), and a level of basic assumptions. Basic assumptions determine values, and values feed back into basic assumptions, so too values direct surface manifestations of organizational culture and feedback into values (cited in Buchanan & Huczynski 2004). In the case of our staff kitchen, the observable behavior was a lack of care for the state of the kitchen, and a lack of motivation to consider others. When speaking to people who used the kitchen the main value seemed to be "everyone should clean up after themselves", and so was very individualistic. Apart from the man in administration whose values appeared to be "cleanliness and cooperation". The basic assumption most people appeared to hold was that "this was the way things were", and that "nobody really cared, so why try". Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) list several benefits of a strong organizational culture: enhanced inter-relationships between employees and a feeling of belongingness and inclusiveness. Employees having an enhanced sense of identity and purpose. A worker is more satisfied with their workday in an organization that has a strong culture, and the worker is more motivated to contribute to organizational goals. The informal rules about how to act within the culture constrain ambiguity, and so provide a way of being within the organization. However, at the time of the kitchen dilemma, my co-workers felt the best way to resolve the issue was to do nothing, and to allow the man from administration to be the sole kitchen caretaker. In contrast I felt we cold have taken an approach favored by Buchanan and Huczynski, who state that there are a variety of ways to resolve issues was available. We needed to understand that there are multiple perspectives (its not my kitchen, I'll do it later, everyone does it, I'm the boss) and needed to be aware that perception affects how one interprets and responds to the conflict. We could have used a unitarist framework (Buchanan & Huczynski 2004) in that we all had a common interest - a staff room and common room that was clean, sociable, pleasant and informative. We could have been more resolution focused. As such, compromises could have been made, accommodating to individual differences and collaborating on the best solution for kitchen maintenance. Unfortunately, management at the time was not open to suggestions, and so I said nothing. My supervisors have often pointed out that I often see situations differently from others in the workplace, and that this is refreshing. However, at the time, encouraging leadership amongst lower levels of employees was not a consideration, and so my personalized style of problem solving was not encouraged, or included in policy decisions, even to do with the staff kitchen. Today, NESMA management has outsourced a cleaning contractor, who comes in twice a day and services our kitchen space. To me this is very sterilized, and we have missed an opportunity to develop relations between staff, and their inclusiveness in decision-making processes. As such, we have negated our organizational culture, and sent the message that an "un-kept kitchen" is not the responsibility or employees. I think my organization could enhance its culture by taking some tips from O'Hare. During recruitment, management should look to achieve diversity of thought, and a richness of knowledge and skills. Having diversity of thought as a core organizational value, that becomes automatic in day-to-day work life, will encourage behaviors that further support diversity. The value of diversity is then rewarded, and staff is able to model their values from senior staff. So that diversity of thought in problem solving, and goal setting, becomes " the way it is around here". This process would negate the need to cross-screen recruits, as the desired behavior or culture of the organization is there to be modeled from all staff that the recruit interacts with. Upper management, argues O' Hare, needs to get more involved with their staff, and to know more about what is going on in the workplace, not just "sign a memo" (cited in Merriman-Clarke 2003: 4). Upper management needs to show that they truly believe in the work being done by each member within the organization. Human Resource Management Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) outline two categories of theories for human resource management: hard and soft. Hard HRM makes no implicit promises to employees, enforces completive pressures to keep costs low, and competition leads to regular production changes to maintain low costs and the competitive edge. Organizations may downsize to strengthen management ability, and lower wages and high staff turnover are usual. Whereas soft HRM looks to motivate and encourage staff using incentive and mentoring programs, it incorporates staff training and de-emphasizes a profit focus. However, the incorporation of such policies decreases profits. It is the role of management to find a balance between the two extremes (The Center for the Study of Social Policy 2002). What is evident regardless of the overall HRM model used, it that throughout the employment cycle human resource management is required. Buchanan and Huczynski (2004) emphasize the human factor in HRM, and remind readers that it is people who make the difference. I admire the idea of consistent revision, change and implementation of policy. Contemporary HRM appears to be more focused towards encouraging workers to extend their contribution to the organization, and then it is about monitoring behavior according to a set of rules. I am able to work much better with the understanding that organizational beliefs can be integrated into the psyche of my co-workers and myself. We are very customer focused, and unlike the past where I had a more indirect relationship with upper management, today I find the differences between us more delineated, and management much more approachable and accessible. NESMA often evaluates its HRM policies, to maintain a commitment to exceptional service for clients, and exceptional working life for employees, so enhancing the effectiveness of the organization as a whole. Huselid (1995) suggests several criteria by which to establish if high performance is occurring, these criteria being divided into two broad categories: employee skills and the structure of the organization and employee motivation. Criteria include, the degree of sharing information within the organization, quality of job evaluations, amount of internal promotions, general attitude surveys of employees, quality of life programs that have been implemented, incentives and profit sharing programs, staff training, the presence of formal grievance procedures, and the quality of methods for testing recruitments. [date] NESMA recently introduced a football afternoon (there are two teams), and a meditation group on Thursday afternoons. Staffs often dine together after work on a Friday night. There is a company gym, and staff can get discounted meals at restaurants and caf's within the complex our organization is located. There is a high level of internal promotions, and staff can "earn" points for quality of work, resulting in holiday trips or visits to a spa treatment, or the movies. There is also the opportunity for further training in other areas of the organization, and the potential for working in other countries as part of the NESMA organization. I will use the Michigan Model of the human resource cycle, developed by Fombrun and Tichy (1984, cited in Buchanan & Huczynski 2004), to illustrate HRM processes at NESMA: An employee of NESMA (selection) accounting (performance) feedback from self, peers, management and clients (appraisal). Evaluation of feedback leads to behaviors that are rewarded, and identification of weaknesses to be strengthened through training and development. In turn, rewards and development feedback creating a cycle, as such they both affect performance. Development also has an impact on selection processes. Overall, HRM strategies require a strong organizational culture that implements policy that values diversity, sharing of information, team work, staff motivation and customer focus. I believe that NESMA is developing itself to be an organization that incorporates values into its policy making. In conclusion, I consider the NESMA an organization that is seeking to strengthen its organizational leadership, culture and human resource management. I have observed several incidences where NEWMA has attempted to incorporate contemporary theories of teamwork, collaborative decision-making, customer focus, and diversity of thought into its policies. I am confident that the organization that I work for is making a genuine effort to take responsibility for my learning development. I am also confident of my ability to contribute more to my leadership training, and in facilitating leadership in my co-workers and new recruits. Ultimately, I found the activity of keeping a reflective management journal instructive and insightful, as it allowed me to investigate further theories and models advocated as quality organizational resources. It has also allowed me to have a deeper understanding of my place within my organization, of my goals and values. References Bennis, W. G., & Thomas, R. J. (2002) Geeks and Geezer: How Era, Values and Defining Moments Shape Leaders. Boston: Harvard Business School. Buchanan, D., & Huczynski, A. (2004) Organizational Behaviour: An Introductory Text (5th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall. Flower, J. (1992) Human change by design. Healthcare Forum Journal, 35(4). Lewin, K. (1951) Field theory in social science. In D. Catrwright's (ed.) Selected Theoretical Papers. New York: Harper and Row. Merriman-Clarke, K. (2003) Leadership development: A continuing discussion with Donal O' Hare. ASAE, Executive Online Update, April Online] Retrieved from http://www.centeronline.org/knowledg/article.cfmID=2564&Cont [December 3rd, 2005]. Schein, E. (1990) Organizational culture. American Psychologist 45 (2): 109-119. The Centre for the Study of Social Policy (2002) Improving the Quality of Human Services Through Results-Orientated Human Resource Management. [Online] Retrieved from: http://www.cssp.org/uploadFiles/2431_CSSP_book1_FINAL.pdf Wickenberg, J., & Kylen, S. (2004) How frequent is organizational political behavior [Online] Retrieved from http://www.fenix.chalmers.se [December 3rd, 2005]. Read More