Organizational Culture - Term Paper Example

?The Organization System- Culture and HR Policies and Practices Organizational culture or Performance culture The practices and behaviours that an organization adopts and believes it to be the right practice for the organization and its performance over time, becomes its culture. Thus, culture would differ across organizations. Culture comprises of the values, norms and beliefs shared by a group of people or by the people in the organization. In other words these norms, values and beliefs culture an individual to think and act in the same manner as others within the group. These beliefs are transmitted to all others who come into the fold so that all employees are cultured in the same manner and can work in harmony towards organizational goals. These beliefs and norms direct activities within the organization. This establishes a link between culture and organizational performance. Focusing on performance implies that the organization has a culture of focusing on corporate mission that informs business decisions. It generates customer loyalty, and ignites employee passion. When the culture is value-driven it attracts the best talents and also focuses on retaining talent thereby reducing the cost of training when labour turnover is high. Moreover, a motivated workforce translates into higher productivity. Values-driven culture also promotes an emotional contract between the employer and employees which enhances performance. Team work is encouraged through shared goals. Employee commitment enhances which is one of the greatest benefits of shared values and goals. The culture of the organization becomes a high-performing culture and the focus need not be in attaining high performance. Focus on maintaining the organizational culture results in high performance. In other words the culture of the organization is to achieve high performance. Culture and high performance become synonymous. High performance is not only in terms of higher profits but team work, employee commitment, motivated employees and better employer-employee relationships are manifestations of high performance in any given organization. Implications of ‘going out of business’ A construction company that I am associated with has recently undergone change of management. This is a regional organization with 5 offices employing about 200 people from different educational backgrounds. The top directors have been replaced while the managers and the employees continue to work. Hence there is no coordination between the employers and the employees. Both groups have no familiarity and no understanding; both are not willing to help the other group adjust to the new demands and situation. There are no shared values or missions; no shared goals to pursue. Orders have been steadily declining and performance is affected. The client complaints have increased and the compliant resolution period has become indefinite. Power culture resides in the company which is evident in reserving the car parking space for the new bosses. Such restrictions have been communicated through memos circulated among the employees. There is practically no co-ordination or trust between the two groups at this organization. This is because there is no continuity of the top management and since there is no established culture employees are generally unhappy and not motivated to give their best. There is weak focus on both performance and culture. Individual employees are concerned with their own career goals and organizational commitment is affected. Clearly the organization is in the first quadrant – going out of business. Reform measures to achieve excellence Each organization is unique and so are their problems. Thus, they need to follow their own unique path to shape and sustain high-performance culture. Rosenthal and Masarech (2003) describes five stages that can help an organization achieve the high-performance culture but these steps need not be followed in the exact sequence as suggested as each organization is unique. Since this construction company has no espoused or shared values, it would have to first clarify, identify and define them. Only when the top management is convinced of the values and mission, can they involve the other employees. Unless they are willing to lead by example, they would not be able to motivate the others or integrated them with the company’s objectives. Being a construction company while the focus has to be on the customer, the core values should be to achieve excellence. If productivity is excellent the customers are bound to be satisfied. Moreover, in attempting to achieve excellence the workers have to work cohesively as a group which indicates that they share the values. Thus, in defining and transmitting the shared values as ‘excellence’ the company prepares itself for the next stage. However the responsibility of transmitting the core values and mission to the employees lies solely with the top management so that the values are known and embraced. This requires effective communication and merely posting it on the website or even sending individual mails would not suffice. This would be too impersonal and would not serve to engage the employees. Professional corporate communications strategy would need to be adopted. This has to be followed by entrusting the respective managers to take care of the employees in their department. Communication is not just informing the employees but allowing for two-way dialogues. It also involves encouraging them to ask questions and clarify doubts. At the construction company however, the number of employees is not too large and hence it would be fairly easy for the managers to handle the employees. Moreover, with only 5 offices within the same region, even networking could be used to maintain regular communication with all the employees. The managers and the top management have to transmit the core values through living them, by leading them. This is the hallmark of a transformational leader and this requires maintaining discipline. Their behaviour must be linked to the values and this should be visible to all. At this company there are very few senior leaders or managers and hence it is up to them if they would like to be the role models or train a few senior managers to help them carry out the responsibility. The first step would be to lift the restrictions on car parking which separates the top management from the rest of the workers. This would encourage the employees to listen to the management. Aligning the day-to-day operations with espoused values is a major block to achieving the desired performance culture. Since the core values is to achieve excellence and since this organization is facing downturn, the first requirement is to achieve profits. At this juncture if they ask for cost-cutting measures, it could lead to resistance from the employees. Hence it would be advisable for the senior management to take reduced pay for a few months. This would encourage the employees to give their best and cooperate with the management. This way they would become role models for the staff and encourage cooperation. The focus should not be on short-term gains but on greater benefits. This itself is enhancing performance as performance is not measured in terms of profits alone. The culture of the organization undergoes a change through this strategy. Conclusion Through this strategy of keeping the employees’ interests at heart, the construction company would be able to engage the employees. The right leadership would be able to inspire every employee to own the culture, to live the culture and to sustain the culture. If the leaders are able to personally connect with the organization’s values, they would be able to engage the employees and evoke similar response from them. It would be able to engage the employees in a way that become passionate about the organization and passionate to achieve the organizational goals. This is the true test of a performance culture. References Rosenthal, J., & Masarech, M.A. (2003). High-performance cultures: How values can drive business results. Journal of Organizational Excellence, 22 (2), pp. 3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_culture Read More