Organisation Culture, a cobweb!

Organisation culture is the collective behaviour of humans who are part of an organisation and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. Organisation culture is a web that entangles employees within the framework of organisation values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. It is the organisation culture that differentiates one organisation from another and is very substantial to the existence of an organisation. There are different aspects to the culture of an organisation:

• Evident in the behaviours of individuals and groups
• Amplified by the behaviours of leaders
• Embedded in a network of organisation practices
• Visible in the way the work gets done on a day to day basis
• Shared values, beliefs, and assumptions held by members of an organisation

It can be represented, imbibed or manipulated by the leadership and members of the organisation. For the ones who join the organisation after the values and culture have been established, not much space is left to change it. One of the main paradigms of the culture is how a new employee is inducted into the system. An employee given warm treatment and sought information, through trained messengers. If the responsibilities are shared and efforts are rewarded and new ideas are welcome, the result is a reliable organisation. In such a culture, if a person is absorbed, he/she is happy about work, puts in the best efforts at work, adds to the productivity of the organisation.

On the other hand, if a person is not treated well, information is hidden, messengers are not trained, new ideas are rejected and efforts are discouraged, the new recruit becomes disoriented. He/she falls into the spiral of a conflicted organisation culture. The expected contribution is not achieved, new ideas are crushed. The productivity of the new recruit is affected and demotivated. In both the condition, the employee is pulled in by the culture and acts according to the existing set of assumptions, beliefs and working environment.

The organisation culture is old, tangled, delicate and dimensional just as a cobweb would be. With the deepening of values that takes several years, and dimensions of the culture vary from processes, rituals, control systems to power structures. For an individual to change the culture, it would require him to change the constituents of the culture like stories, rituals, language and material symbols.

Those who identify the culture as a web protect themselves from the flimsiness and the intricate plot, orient themselves away from the existing culture. One may try to change the culture but it doesn’t come that easy. It is not only an individual who can make a difference to the culture, the cultural paradigm of an organisation shifts with changes in processes, power structures, control systems and rituals. An organization culture must keep space for changes, which in itself is a long drawn process.  The new recruits must be encouraged to bring with them their uniqueness, aligning itself to the organization goals and colour the organization culture without making any radical shift. A review of culture from time to time and minor revisions in the values very long ingrained and becoming defunct can significantly change the dynamics of the new recruits and the organization culture.