ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE: HOW TO CREATE IT AND NOT TO DESTROY
УДК 65.014
Мішньова К.С., студентка 4 курсу
ХНЕУ ім. С. Кузнеця
Анотація: Організаційна культура визначається як основні переконання, припущення, цінності та способи взаємодії, які сприяють унікальному соціальному та психологічному середовищу організації. Стаття містить опис особливостей організаційної культури, методів визначення потреб і бажань працівників у процесі її формування,а також окремі рекомендації з конструювання організаційної культури.
Ключові слова: організаційна культура; потреби працівників; формування організаційної культури.
Abstract: Organizational culture is defined as the underlying beliefs, assumptions, values and ways of interacting that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization. The article contains a description of peculiarities of organizational culture, methods for determining preferences, needs and wants of employees in the process of its formation, as well as recommendations for designing the organizational culture.
Key words: organizational culture; needs of workers; formation of organizational culture.
Organizational culture includes an organization’s expectations, experiences, philosophy, as well as the values that guide member behavior, and is expressed in member self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. Culture is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid [1].
For my article I have decided to choose exactly this topic, because in my opinion, a common platform where individuals work in unison to earn profits as well as a livelihood for themselves is really important for development such inside as outside.. A place where individuals realize the dream of making it big is called an organization. Every organization has its unique style of working which often contributes to its culture. The beliefs, ideologies, principles and values of an organization form its culture.
The culture of the workplace controls the way employees behave amongst themselves as well as with people outside the organization [2]. The culture decides the way employees interact at their workplace. A healthy culture encourages the employees to stay motivated and loyal towards the management.
The culture of the workplace also goes a long way in promoting healthy competition at the workplace. Employees try their level best to perform better than their fellow employees and earn recognition and appreciation of the superiors. It is the culture of the workplace which actually motivates the employees to perform.
Every organization must have set guidelines for the employees to work accordingly. The culture of an organization represents certain predefined policies which guide the employees and give them a sense of direction at the workplace. Every individual is clear about his roles and responsibilities in the organization and know how to accomplish the tasks ahead of the deadlines.
No two organizations can have the same work culture. It is the culture of an organization which makes it distinct from others. The work culture goes a long way in creating the brand image of the organization. The work culture gives an identity to the organization. In other words, an organization is known by its culture.
The organization culture brings all the employees on a common platform. The employees must be treated equally and no one should feel neglected or left out at the workplace. It is essential for the employees to adjust well in the organization culture for them to deliver their level best.
The work culture unites the employees who are otherwise from different back grounds, families and have varied attitudes and mentalities. The culture gives the employees a sense of unity at the workplace.
Certain organizations follow a culture where all the employees irrespective of their designations have to step into the office on time. Such a culture encourages the employees to be punctual which eventually benefits them in the long run. It is the culture of the organization which makes the individuals a successful professional.
Every employee is clear with his roles and responsibilities and strives hard to accomplish the tasks within the desired time frame as per the set guidelines. Implementation of policies is never a problem in organizations where people follow a set culture. The new employees also try their level best to understand the work culture and make the organization a better place to work.
The work culture promotes healthy relationship amongst the employees. No one treats work as a burden and moulds himself according to the culture.
It is the culture of the organization which extracts the best out of each team member. In a culture where management is very particular about the reporting system, the employees however busy they are would send their reports by end of the day. No one has to force anyone to work. The culture develops a habit in the individuals which makes them successful at the workplace.
Сorporate culture has a significant impact on whether or not your company accomplishes its most significant goals. You may need to tweak the culture, or you may need a complete culture overhaul. Although changing your organizational culture can feel like rolling rocks uphill, it will likely result in increased growth and revenue.
For beginning the process of building of your organizational culture, you should make some necessary steps for doing it in the best way. From employees’ point of view, the best way to build internal culture is to pay attention on opinions of people who are involved in the processes in this culture. Below you can see some methods for defining preferences, needs and wants of employees (tab. 1).
Organizational cultures form over years of interaction among participants in the organization. It usually takes a significant event for people to consider culture change, such as flirting with bankruptcy, a significant loss of sales and customers. There’s no use sugarcoating it: organizational culture management is hard, and it only becomes harder as companies scale and grow. It’s a process that requires visionary leaders who can inspire every member of the organization to commit for the long haul.
The elements fit together as a mutually reinforcing system and combine to prevent any attempt to change it. That’s why single-fix changes, such as the introduction of teams, or Lean, or Agile, or Scrum, or knowledge management, or some new process, may appear to make progress for a while, but eventually the interlocking elements of the organizational culture take over and the change is inexorably drawn back into the existing organizational culture [3].
Table 1
Methods for defining preferences, needs and wants of employees
| Method of defining the way of development | Description |
|---|---|
| Social Survey | involves obtaining information in a standardised from large groups of people. The main survey methods are questionnaires and structured interviews |
| Internal observation | is the ability to pay a lot of attention to things and to notice more about them than most people do |
| Poll | a sampling or collection of opinions on a subject, taken from either a selected or a random group of persons, as for the purpose of analysis |
| Study of internal/external documents | this studying can help to understand internal strengths and weaknesses of company to making conclusion about system which are working in company right now |
| Analyzing the rules and traditions inside company | analysis of rules and traditions which are existing in company could help to underlying what is normal for employees, their habits, preferences and it also helps to understand better in which way we could develop a company both in internal and external sides |
| Analyzing of management system in company | system of management plays a key role in a form of organizational culture because exactly from the head of team everything depends |
Changing an organization’s culture is one of the most difficult leadership challenges. That’s because an organization’s culture comprises an interlocking set of goals, roles, processes, values, communications practices, attitudes and assumptions.
Changing a culture is a large-scale undertaking, and eventually all of the organizational tools for changing minds will need to be put in play. However the order in which they deployed has a critical impact on the likelihood of success.
In general, the most fruitful success strategy is to begin with leadership tools, including a vision or story of the future, cement the change in place with management tools, such as role definitions, measurement and control systems, and use the pure power tools of coercion and punishments as a last resort, when all else fails [3].
Your corporate culture has a huge impact on the success of your transformational change initiatives. Any time you have a major organizational change underway, the organization’s culture is at play. It will either support the new state reality you are implementing, or block it.
Most likely, many of your organization’s patterns will surface as helpful or inhibiting as your organization shifts from its old ways of doing things to the new. The new strategies, structures, systems, processes, and/or technologies are likely so different from your current state that they require people to adopt new ways of being and working. Employees will likely have to change the way they interact with one another, what they choose to prioritize and focus on, and how their results are measured [2].
Without clear shifts in cultural norms and expectations, your organization’s change initiatives are likely to fail. Your culture has been developed to be successful in your company as it has been, not as you’d like it to be. Without cultural transformation at the most basic level, employees will soon revert to their old ways of working. You must make changes to culture overt and specific so people know what they need to do differently. Leaders should design the new culture to deliver on the new transformational change initiatives, so that employees can see how the new corporate culture will fit into the larger change picture.
Organizations used to focus primarily on the bottom line but times have turned to putting employee wellbeing and happiness first. As we’ve always believed, if you take care of your employees, they will take care of your business. By creating daily positive experiences for employees, you can drive long-term changes in your organization. An organization that invests in its employees through initiatives designed to improve wellbeing, can positively influence culture, increase engagement and drive positive business results. By recognizing employee wellbeing as the foundation to improve company culture and engagement, organizations can be positioned to thrive.
REFERENCES
1. Needle D. Business in Context: An Introduction to Business and Its Environment / D. Needle. – Andover: Cengage Learning EMEA, 2004. – 646 p.
2. Costanza D. The Effect of Adaptive Organizational Culture on Long-Term Survival / David P. Costanza, Nikki Blacksmith, Meredith R. Coats et al. // Journal of Business and Psychology. – 2015. – Issue 31(3). – P. 1-21.
3. 4 Types of Organizational Culture [Electronic resource] // ArtsFWD website.
Науковий керівник
к.е.н., доц.. Котлик А. В.