Organizational Culture

Getting to know about organizational culture for better interactions and professional relations

Organizational culture can have varying effects on your staff morale ranging from being ‘super motivated’ to immensely demoralized. Suppose, you are called for an interview and you are nervous about meeting and interacting with the manager. And how things will go there? Will you be selected or rejected? All these thoughts are normal for any employee. But why you are being nervous is due to the fact that you are unaware of their organizational culture. Getting to know about the organization through website is one thing but meeting their staff is another and more experiential. 

Therefore, you felt relieved the next morning by observing, interacting and feeling about the environment of the office or workplace you want to work for. You will sense out whether it is based on support or cooperation or it is ruled by a dictator? 

The level of comfort in the business environment for the employees can determine how happy and satisfied they are with the organization and its culture. 

So, you will be happy to work there in case you get the offer from the company. 

In theory. the business organizational culture is well-defined as the underlying beliefs, values, assumptions, and ways of interacting with each other that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization.

The social aspect refers to the level of interaction between the employees and also with their manager, or higher authorities even in certain cases. And psychological aspect refers to the behavioral demonstration of the employees towards each other and their feelings or mental caliber that they exhibit while working as a team or individually within an organization. 

In business terms, other phrases are often used interchangeably, including “corporate culture,” “workplace culture,” and “business culture.”

What is the definition of organizational culture within an organization?

According to The Business Dictionary, 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. 

it is important to keep in mind that people make culture and they maintain it afterwards. Moreover, group of people or individual’s perspectives or views are not same always, they will differ at times and organizational culture helps them to solve their internal differences about certain things as well as guide them for better mutual understanding about particular projects or tasks.

Culture is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid.

Another definition given by Needle in 2004 explains that, the 'culture' also includes the organization’s vision, values, norms, systems, symbols, language, assumptions, beliefs, and habits.

To understand more about this phenomenon, lets look in to the definition given by Deal and Kennedy in 2000. Simply stated, organizational culture is “the way things are done around here”

While the above definitions of culture express how the construct plays out in the workplace, other concepts and definitions insist that employee behavioral components directly influence the behaviors of employees within an organization.

Other definitions suggest the same that organizational culture is a set of shared assumptions that guide what happens in organizations by defining appropriate behavior for various situations. Organizations directly or indirectly train or modify the behaviors of their people by instilling organizational beliefs through interactions and discussions. 

In 2002, Schrodt says that ‘Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders. Also, organizational culture may influence how much employees identify with their organization’.

The role of higher management and organizational leadership is very important in creating an upbeat cultural environment at the workplace in coordination with the employees. 

It is important to know that how an organizational culture has created and maintained in the workplace?

Business leaders play vital role in creating the organizational culture. They communicate with their employees about how to create workplace culture. However, the relationship between leadership and culture is not one-sided. While leaders are the principal architects of culture, an established culture influences what kind of leadership is possible.

Organizational leadership should play its major part in materializing their norms, beliefs, expectations, and code of behavior in the workplace. Their employee friendly policies are much appreciated in their organization. 

Leaders should be visionaries

Leaders should understand their role in maintaining as well as evolving an organization’s culture. A deeply rooted and recognized culture illustrates how people should behave. It can help employees achieve their goals. This behavioral framework is directly linked with job satisfaction of an employee. He or she feels motivated, relaxed and confident when a leader is helping him or her complete a goal.

Therefore, we can conclude that from this perspective, organizational culture, leadership, and job satisfaction are all intimately linked.

The healthy triangle of a leader, culture and employee’s job satisfaction also determines the positive growth of an organizational culture