Organizational Climate and Culture - Assignment Example

Organizational Climate and Culture Introduction Organizational climate and culture are important aspects of studies regarding organizational growth. Healthy climate and culture promise organizational growth through the promotion of leadership, communication, employee development, values, vision, and principles. This paper focuses on the description about organizational climate and culture. An organization is described along with a description about its prevailing climate and culture, which can be perceived through the interviews that are also described. The paper critically analyzes the organization’s climate and culture, and makes some recommendations to remove the discrepancies. Organizational Climate and Culture Organizational climate and culture are studied simultaneously as they interpret somewhat similar characteristics of an organization’s setting. To be very specific, organizational climate refers to how the employees perceive the workplace setting, and how they relate their perception to their job satisfaction and employee wellbeing. Organizational climate involves features like leadership, communication, conflict resolution, reward emphasis, low stress level, and the like. Organizational culture generally focuses on values and standards that form the basis of organizational beliefs and practices. Organizational climate is more related to employee satisfaction than organizational culture. However, the two terms, climate and culture, typically overlap each other, and so, they are understood and studied simultaneously. One important aspect of organizational climate is leadership that promotes communication (Papa, Daniels & Spiker, 2008). The definitive goal of the leadership is to create such teams that work successfully to generate superior results. The most important thing is concern regarding internal and external communication (Papa, Daniels & Spiker, 2008). Leaders want that employees participate in a dynamic collaborative environment where they interconnect with each other in an improved way to share their thoughts and concerns (Papa, Daniels & Spiker, 2008). They take steps to improve their communication with their workers, listen to their problems, talk to them, and work out their issues. Behavior of individuals, which is an important aspect of organizational culture, within formal organizations counts a lot toward the success or failure of businesses (Jex & Britt, 2008). Employees get to know organizational values and norms through socialization. Kinicki and Kreitner (1999, p.51) define organizational socialization as “the process by which a person learns the values, norms, and required behaviors which permit him to participate as member of the organization.” Through the use of this process, organizations entrench their organizational culture in the behaviors of their employees (Saks & Gruman, 2011). Description of Organization Security24/7, Ltd., which started in 2009, is a small business organization that provides security guards and surveillance equipment to its customers, who come to seek security services from far off places due to the good reputation of the company. The company maintains a skilled staff, and runs a database that stores and maintains information about its 37 employees including security guards, surveillance equipment, inventory, customers, and competitors. The hierarchical structure of this organization is strong enough, in which due authorities and responsibilities have been assigned to positions at every level. There is one owner and a few managers. The managers manage the employees who run the whole business. Reason to Study This Organization I have chosen to study this organization as it is well-known in offering a myriad of employee benefits and employee development programs to its employees. I believe that these aspects improve organizational climate and culture. Interview 1 First interview that I conducted was with the HR manager of the said organization. He said that employees experienced conflicts everyday in their personal lives and in the organizational culture. Employees were expected to give first priority to communication. He said that it employees who were favored in the organization were those who solve conflicts like power struggle, gender discrimination and other employees’ issues through effective communication. However, there was need for a mediator that resolved conflicts on regular basis, because sometimes the parties were not ready to communicate with each other. When he was asked what the role of leadership was in his organizational climate, he responded that the CEO of the organization played the main role in establishing a happy environment where all employees felt satisfied. The organization treated employees as its assets. The leader always gave them positive feedback whenever they needed them, and awarded them with monetary benefits when they showed good performance. On being enquired about employee development process, the manager replied that the company conducted training sessions with the employees. These sessions had greatly improved the climate, as the employees got to learn about their jobs which increased job persistence. Interview 2 (200) The second interview was with the database administrator of the organization. Regarding the organizational climate and culture, he stated that the organization took important steps to keep the workplace stress free. This kept the climate very relaxing, in which the employees felt free to interact with each other and with their seniors. He also mentioned that the leader of the organization gave importance to feedback and employee motivation that were important aspects of organizational climate. As for the organizational culture, he asserted that the leader had clear vision based on which he ran the organization. The CEO was the leader, and he valued his employees’ concerns and suggestions. The interviewee told that the CEO was an ethical leader, and liked to work according to ethical standards and principles, which added to the overall culture of the organization. He also mentioned that the CEO treated all employees on a fair basis, and did not believe in biasing. However, the organization yet had to work a lot in the field of fostering employee benefits like vacations and leaves. Although monetary benefits were given, but the employees sometimes complained that they did not get vacations when they requested. Critical Analysis of the Above Mentioned Organization It is really appreciable how the above mentioned organization dealt with employees and their affairs. The way the leader took along the organizational matters with his exquisite leadership, makes sure that the organization flourishes through establishing its climate and culture. Nearly all the aspects of organizational culture have been satisfied. Critically speaking, there is no mediating party that resolves conflicts among the employees, especially in cases when they are not ready to communicate with each other. Also, employee benefits are few, since the database manager mentioned that employees often complaint about not getting vacations. Recommendations Since the organization enters into conflicts very often, which is very natural, this makes it important for the leader to arrange a mediating party which must be consulted for conflict resolution. Mediation is “a structured and staged process” (Doherty & Guyler, 2008, p.9) in which a third party intervention is sought for reconciliation between individuals or groups. The purpose of mediation is to make possible the re-establishment of mutual tolerance between the parties involved. However, since mediation itself depends upon friendly signals shown by the opponents leading to friendly re-union and cooperative bonding, hence the organization should motivate its employees to consult mediation whole-heartedly. Secondly, there is need to introduce a wide range of employee benefit schemes, of which vacations should be an important part. Conclusion The paper focused on the description and importance of organizational climate and culture. Both climate and culture are important for overall organizational growth, job satisfaction, and job persistence. Organizational climate is based on good and aspiring leadership that promotes communication among employees. Reward emphasis and conflict resolution add to the health of the climate. As for the culture, the organization must have strong vision, values, and standards in order to possess a vigorous culture. This way, both the climate and culture collectively help establish a strong organization. One example of a strong organization was the organization mentioned in the paper. References Doherty, N., & Guyler, M. (2008). The skills of a mediator. The Essential Guide to Workplace Mediation & Conflict Resolution: Rebuilding Working Relationships. USA: Kogan Page Publishers. Jex, S.M., & Britt, T.W. (2008). Organizational Psychology: A Scientist-Practitioner Approach, 2nd edition. USA: John Wiley and Sons. Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (1999). The organizational psychological process. Organizational Behavior 3E. New York, Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Papa, M.J., Daniels, T.D., & Spiker, B.K. (2008). Organizational Communication: Perspectives and Trends. USA: SAGE Publications. Saks, A.M., & Gruman, J.A. (2011). Organizational socialization and positive organizational behavior: implications for theory, research, and practice. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 28(1), pp. 14–26. DOI: 10.1002/cjas.169 Statement of Originality As a member of the academic community, my typed name below certifies that this paper is my original work. I am familiar with and acknowledge my responsibility to follow the guidelines for academic integrity as described in the course syllabus. I have used quotation marks for materials quoted verbatim, and I have identified all sources of information, whether quoted verbatim or paraphrased, that I used to write this paper. Name: Read More