Unity in the Workplace

The advancement of technology has heralded a new era of business. The global markets have become more integrated, making SMEs globalised enterprises.

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With a spotlight on Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR), empathic, innovative and people-friendly organisations are able to weather the storms in the business markets.

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Covid-19 has introduced a new working model, companies are supporting a hybrid working model. This has led to significant numbers of the workforce working remotely, leading to a reduction in physical team-building exercises.

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An intergenerational workforce brings individuals with different views of life and characters together. The global population is having to work more and retire late due to the rising cost of living. A 50-year-old might have a 30-year-old team lead, this might lead to friction in terms of respect. Organisational unity is needed to cut across gender, religion, ethnic and generational biases.

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Organisational Unity is defined by Denison and Mishra, (1990) as the “unity of purpose is a positive powerful effect of creating meaningful work for individuals with a mission and sense of direction for the organisation as a whole”.

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Nayar (2010) also has a unique insight into organisational unity, it is about getting people to operate across business functioning boundaries”. Adler, Heckscher and Prusak, (2011) propose that organisational unity is about “marrying a sense of common purpose to a supportive structure where these organisations are mobilising all the workers, knowledge, talents and expertise to foster innovation, agility, efficiency and scalability”.

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Organisational culture exists with or without organisational unity. A gap in unity can influence the nature of an organisation's culture. Toxic working environments hinder the progress of an organisation.

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The importance of organisational unity can is emphasised in this quote from Abraham Lincoln “A house divided against itself cannot stand”. Therefore, an organisation with diverse and unique minds operating in unison to fulfil its mission, vision, strategy and performance goals will outperform its competitors exponentially.