How Does One Create a Positive Organizational Culture - Essay Example

?CREATING A POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE of Culture is an aspect of human life drawn and taught to the members of a given society to help govern and guide how things need to be done. Accepted codes of conduct entail what socialists could refer to as positive culture that promotes harmony and peaceful coexistence in the particular societies or organizations. Negative cultures have never been the desire of any society or organizations. Individuals with negative codes of conduct are usually apprehended and rebuked by the given organizations while those with positive codes of conduct get rewards and related welfare. Positive culture has the potential of enhancing and improving the performance of given organization. It is mandatory for any visionary leader of given organization to identify and promote positive principles and conduct. Organizational leaders bear the greatest responsibility of determining the course of culture in their respective organizations. Leaders are the ones to identify, set, operate and promote the good cultures to guide the operations of an organization in a long time. In order to create and promote the positive organizational cultures, leaders need to be ready to make sacrifices and delegate some of their duties to their subordinates. They also need to think broadly and make elaborate consultations to avoid mistakes in making choice of particular organizational cultures. Creation and promotion of positive organizational culture does not happen ones nor in easy way, but relies on various processes of learning and adoption throughout the life of an organization. One of the critical stages in the running of an organization which is capable of shaping organization’s culture is recruitment (Burg & Mann, 2008, p. 7). Effective and well decided recruitment process is one of the tools that can help leaders to ensure positive organizational culture. To achieve this, leaders have to employ employees based on their individuals’ merits and qualification. This aspect will ensure recruitment of highly productive workers who work extra hard to ensure conformity and promotion of the organization’s culture and goals. Flatt and Kowalczyk (2008, p. 22) concur that recruitment based on merit has the invaluable advantage of producing highly disciplined and respectful workers who are ready to engage in team work for the prosperity of the organization as opposed to self gain. More impressing about merit based recruitment ensures that selected workforce exhibit high levels of knowhow in their particular fields and may have appropriate capability to enhance innovation and creativity in the production processes. Creative and innovative production processes have the potential of fostering high job output that will automatically increase the profit margins of an organization. As indicated by Burg and Mann (2008, p. 10), employee orientation is another tool capable of fostering a positive culture when employed by organizational leaders. Employee orientation involves informing the newly recruited employees the code of conduct, rules and regulations governing the given organization and to which every employee must subscribe. To achieve this, organizational leaders have to introduce new employees to the existing ones to familiarize employees with each other and build confidence of interaction in the new recruits. This will help new employees to adapt quickly by learning prescribed organizational practices from the older employees (Flatt & Kowalczyk, 2008, p. 30). Dilley and Kleiner (1996, p. 5) do confirm that orientation has the potential of encouraging the spirit of consultation among the individual employees on misunderstood and challenging issues. Employee orientation in the new institution should also involve issuing of booklets exemplifying the accepted codes of conduct. Embedding posters depicting policies and procedures on the walls and notice boards in a given organization is one way of orientating employees to the cultures of the organization. Organization leaders can also assign specific personnel within the institution to monitor and help the new recruits to access places and get what they want for sustainability until they get to understand the institution well (Dilley & Kleiner, 1996, p. 8). Leadership itself also has to act and present itself as role model to be emulated by the employees. Leaders should be available as much as possible within the vicinity of the employees to express readiness to address any potential problem to be faced by the employees. Training is another tool that can help organization leaders to create positive cultures. Upon recruitment, leaders have to initiate training programs targeted at informing the new employees about the production processes and principles of the given institution (Burg & Mann, 2008, p. 9). The training programs have to be inclusive and motivational to enable quick capturing and understanding of lessons. Foreign employees need to be taught the local language to ensure easy mutiny with others. Employee training is particularly important for boosting the morale of employees and assists the new recruits to familiarize themselves with the environment while at the same time harnessing their effectiveness in the production process. Additionally, subjecting new employees to training programs helps in reducing if not eliminating errors that may derail production or wastage of raw materials. Flatt and Kowalczyk (2008, p. 13) assert that leaders who consider creating positive organizational culture should encourage positive communication across the organization hierarchies. Fearless communication among employees in the given organization has the potential of promoting peaceful engagement and harmony in the given organization. Communication also helps in relieving stress that would otherwise lead to depression among the employees, thereby affecting the output of the organization. Evink (1999, p. 98) observes that when leaders create a work environment that supports positive communication, employees will be able to ask questions and seek clarifications on the issues that they may find unclear. This will help in the reduction of errors and mistakes that can otherwise impact negatively on operation of the given institution. Adaptable communication among employees helps in imparting sense of involvement and belonging among employees in the production processes. This has the potential of creating sense of ownership that may be vital in increasing the level of care and diligence among the employees when attending to their duties (Evink, 1999, p. 99). Effective communication also enables leaders to delegate part of their duties to the other employees. This helps in informing cohesive relationship and trust among the stakeholders working in the given organization. When leaders delegate their responsibilities to the juniors, they also delegate or diffuse leadership to them. Delegation of leadership role makes everyone in the institution to feel as a leader thereby increasing level of accountability amongst all employees (Chan, 2006, 162). When workers become more accountable to for roles, they tend to be more stringent and abide by the established laws and principles with minimum supervision. This results in easier management of workers and narrows the gap between management and the workforce. Ensuring positive communication among employees facilitates sharing of ideas, talents and views in the production process to help foster creativity and innovation of the production process, which earns the organization differentiation advantage to the given organization. Product differentiation has the potential of opening up newer markets and expanding the existing ones for the organization (Flatt & Kowalczyk, 2008, p. 19). Furthermore, communication should also entail regular meetings of leaders and employees to review the success levels of the organization and to forge a way forward to eliminate any impediments. The meetings should also be convened with intent of evaluating individual performance of the employees while challenging the underperformers to improve in their ideals. Meetings can also develop good avenues to communicate and share ideas about existing opportunities vital for the growth of the organization. Open communication channels coupled with open offices to launch complaints and seek clarifications does not only boost employee confidence but also motivates them to work harder for the greater good of the organization. Readiness of leadership to listen to the concerns of the employees depicts inclusivity that encourages transparency amongst employees (Chan, 2006, p. 163). It is also important for leaders to communicate regularly whether on bad or good occasions. When leadership adopts a culture of making communications or calling for meetings only during crises, employees will also develop negative perception towards meetings. As observed by Kaliprasad (2006, 27), another important tool to be considered by leaders in to create and promote positive organizational culture is recognition of performing employees. Leaders have to distinguish and recognize the negative and positive practices within the organizations. Negative practices should be punished to discourage repetition of such practices in the organization. Employees indulging in positive practices capable of promoting an organization’s credibility should receive rewards for their effort. Kaliprasad (2006, p. 34) adds that rewarding performing workers has the ability of encouraging further positive performances in bid to gain subsequent rewards. Rewards also inspire underperforming employees to work harder to win in the next reviews. Rewards can be in the form of free trips or cash bonuses awarded to the highly performing individuals. As a way of encouraging employees to respect and uphold the cultures of the organization, leaders can organize parties or arrange get together ceremonies in recognition of the particular employees. In conclusion, every organization or business institution should have elaborate codes of conduct to determine the appropriate culture. All organizations strive to exhibit and nurture positive codes of conduct and practices to foster positive cultures that govern operations and activities in the given institutions. Positive cultures are appropriate for the growth and prosperity of any organization. Building positive organizational culture is an initiative to be undertaken by top organizational leadership who later teach the junior employees. Creation and promotion of positive culture relies on the positive programs planned by the organizational leadership. Such programs involve recruitment, orientation of employees, training, communication, interactive meetings, and giving of rewards and recognition to the highly performing employees. When adapted appropriately, the above programs and systems have the effect of motivating employees to ensure high turnover and raised profit margins for the given organization. References Burg, B and Mann, J.D 2008, "Giving It Your All: Five Principles for Creating a Culture of Excellence", The Journal for Quality and Participation, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 7-10. Chan, C.C.A 2006, "Creating a Mentoring Culture: The Organization's Guide", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 162-163. Dilley, H and Kleiner, B.H1996, "Creating a culture of safety", Work Study, Vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 5-8. Evink, J.R 1999, "Journey to the Emerald City: Achieve a Competitive Edge by Creating a Culture of Accountability", The Academy of Management Executive, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 98-99. Flatt, S.J. & Kowalczyk, S.J 2008, "Creating Competitive Advantage through Intangible Assets: the Direct and Indirect Effects of Corporate Culture and Reputation", Advances in Competitiveness Research, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 13-30. Kaliprasad, M 2006, "The Human Factor II: Creating a High Performance Culture in an Organization", Cost Engineering, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 27-34. Read More