Conversations
and articles about organizational culture have become more prevalent in the
past few years, especially as organizations begin to compete in the global
marketplace. What is organizational culture and why is it important? And
what can we do as HR professionals to help strengthen organization culture?
Ed
Schein, a former professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and an expert in the field of organizational development defines culture as:
A pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration… a product of joint learning.
Culture
is the way organizations work. It’s how they accomplish their objectives and
the environment in which people work. It’s the company values – its code
of conduct. It is how an organization works together to achieve its business
objectives. Organizational culture has a huge impact on an organization’s bottom
line.
A
strong culture should be tied to organizational strategy and the execution of
that strategy. It should inspire employees to work hard in both good and
bad times. It helps attract new talent to an organization and
retain existing talent. It’s visible in group dynamics – how
they deal with change and unexpected issues. Those observable patterns
permeate throughout the organization and influence how an organization does
business.
Culture
is a living organism. A strong culture changes and adapts to an
organization’s strategy and business objectives. Employees in a strong
culture are confident and empowered to play an active role in pushing the
organization forward. A weak culture creates many obstacles and affects
employee morale and impacts the bottom line. It can affect the very core
of an organization.
HR can
have a positive or negative impact on corporate culture. The way the HR
team interacts with employees and leadership, and the communication between HR
and the rest of the organization can affect culture. The way HR responds
to issues in the workplace demonstrates how employees are valued. Is the
organization doing all it can to attract new talent and retain their current
talent? If not, it’s important for HR to advise leadership on ways to
improve employee attraction and retention. Are leaders “walking the walk”
or only “talking the talk?” Organizational leaders should be setting the
setting the example of what a positive culture looks like.
Consider
your organization and its culture. What’s the current impact of your
culture on employees? Do your employees feel safe and energized and
are they motivated to stay with the organization? Are they proud of where they
work and are they excited to recommend your organization to perspective
employees? An organization must continually take a good look at their
culture and understand the impact on its employees and the organization’s
bottom line.
Mary
Walter Arthur, SPHR
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