WHAT IS AN ORGANISATION CULTURE?
Organisation Culture is the basic value system with which the people in the organisation function i.e. do their day to day tasks. It’s based on this that the major decisions of the organisation are taken. This is the value system passed on by the leader to the employees till it reaches the grassroot level and forms a part of their ethos. To instill such values in people takes a lot of time and relentless effort.
WHY DO WE NEED AN ORGANISATION CULTURE?
We need to build an organisation culture because it becomes the very essence of our organisational being. The world we live in manages to function at peace with each other to an extent only due to our culture. It is due to the value systems passed down through the generations in the form of culture. Similarly, it is very important for the leaders to come together and decide on a set of value systems. During times of decision making, these values will help to make the decision keeping the best interest of the organisation in mind at all times.
WHAT KIND OF CULTURE TO BUILD?
What kind of Organisation Culture do you want to build is a question the leader of every organisation must ask themselves. Before translation into organisation culture, the leader should have a clear picture of the kind of organisational values they want to create and let it translate down to the grassroots. They need to keep in mind a lot of factors during the process such as Mission, Vision, Brand image and so on. In order to do that, the leader has to culminate together the ideology behind defining the same which would aid in figuring out the kind of culture that would be successful for the organisation.
HOW TO BUILD?
To build a culture, it is important for someone to keep telling relentlessly “ Not like this, but like this”. A team could be formed to monitor the translation of organisational values to the team of people in the organisation. The process is to ideate, define, plan, implement and take feedback to improve the implementation process.
Ideate on how you want the organisational culture to be. You need to decide on the fundamental values that align with your organisation’s mission and vision. This forms the basis of your core resources. Once the basic idea is in place, define the values that you want to translate to the organisation. Then go on to plan a strategy on how you are going to translate the values to form the Organisation culture. Implement the plan and look at the results. Take feedback from the people in the organisation on what they feel about the culture and make improvements in the process.
WHEN IS IT’S IMPORTANCE FELT BY TOP MANAGEMENT?
The importance of organisational culture is felt by the leaders of the organisation when they see the employees respond to the situation. As they demonstrate the organisation’s values in their interaction with clients, fellow employees, and suppliers. It could get so integrated that it may also form part of their own value system. This is where the success of implementation is seen. When you see the tremendous improvement in the way the organisation as a whole functions through the culmination of every individual’s interactions, that’s when you’ll know that, “Yes, we have done it as a team!”