It feels as if it was yesterday but it has been 11 years since I started working in the UAE: three different organizations, three different cultures, from banking to real estate and finally the media industry. The main reason that made me move from one establishment to the next was the organizational culture and working environment.
If you analysis your daily life cycle you find out that you spend most of your daily life either at work or sleeping during the night. New friendships and networks are created during your working hours. Your establishment becomes your extended family members. Your colleagues at work know what makes you happy and what turns you off. And in some cases they have the chance to know some of your deepest secrets that even your own family might not know during your life time.
No two organizations in any part of the world can have the same work culture since each organization has its own unique vision and mission. The work culture goes a long way in creating the brand image of the organization and the work culture gives an identity to the organization. In other words, an organization is known by its culture.
How important is the organization’s culture in motivating the employees? Does the organization’s culture play a role in maintaining high performance? The reading I did on the relationship between organization and performance states that an organization’s culture plays an important role in job satisfaction and motivating of the employee in any kind of industry. The founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, knew the value of organizational culture from the start: “Certainly, we are trying to preserve all of that culture, and get the advantages of being a large company with a broad product line, with stability, worldwide presence, great support, and yet have the advantages that a small software company has”.
I have asked a few of my friends about their view of the relationship between their organization’s culture and their performance. Saif’s answer was that he enjoys his time at work due to the fact that the working environment is less political and everyone knows their job and duties. As well, the establishment’s culture emphasizes team work. His boss is there as part of the team and to manage the outcomes and expectations. I asked Saif if his current working environment changed, what would be his reaction? His answer was that he would start looking for a new place to work. I asked him why? And Saif’s answer was that the culture had changed.
On the other hand, Ahmed portrayed to me a bleak, gloomy picture of his working environment, whereby it is highly politicalized and work is driven by personal interest. He feels that he is not that much challenged at work to be creative. As a result Ahmed is only just doing his job, nothing more or less. However he is developing his personal skills by enrolling in training courses to find a better job in the near future.
I personally could relate to the views I heard. When the corporate culture and environment change I work to adapt to the new changes. Change does not necessarily mean a positive or negative thing: it can mean just that the way business is conducted has changed with a new system which will help the company to achieve it is goals. If the new direction does not fit me and I start to turning into this negative human being, then it is time for me to move on. As for myself, I love to work for a culture where I am challenge to achieve goals, a new day that starts with a new challenge and the most important to me personally that the organizations has the trust in my ability to achieve goals and objectives and are willing to invest in me by developing my skills and career plan.
A strong organizational culture usually translates into having high employee job satisfaction and motivation to be working for the organization. And I personally believe that could result in low employment turnover and high work efficiency that could yield high returns for the organization.
And do not you agree that organization culture and performance go hand to hand?
2 thoughts on “The Culture in Organizations”
Great Article and its great to see interest in the subjects arising in the market.
Organization culture has been the subject of many “talks” and “slogans” in the corporate world, but not many understands what it really means & its implications on the bottom line.
Creating a culture always starts with the top of the pyramids. Whatever the head of any given organization represent in values, will come down to spread in the organization and create a culture of the same values. that’s how many corporate cultures change and experts study and research the reasons of change without linking it to the person holding the pyramid.
you are absolutely right, the corporate culture can be a deal breaker in terms of retaining employees. If the unwritten values of the organization that employees see in its culture doesn’t represent their own values, then there is a big chance that we’re looking at a short term relationship between both.
There is a lot to be said about this subject, and hopefully your article – and others to come- can ignite further interest from decision makers to look more seriously into the effect of corporate cultures on both its employees and its bottom line.
Thank you for your invitation to read,
Love, peace & Light
@MunaHarib
Great Article Mohammed !
I agree with you and Muna , corporate cultures have a huge impact on employees.
It is also important for us to remember that us employees have a huge impact on the organization culture. If we dont believe and respect our organization values this will not drive us forward.
@Maggieabd