Work Culture

What is work culture?

A

company's culture is its personality and tells the employees how to do their work. It takes its signals from leaders and underlies motivation, morale, creativity, and marketplace success.

The personality of a company

Work culture is the distinctive personality of the organization that determines how members act, how energetically they contribute to teamwork, problem solving, innovation, customer service, productivity, and quality. It is the culture that makes it safe (or not safe) for a person, division or the whole company to raise issues and solve problems, to act on new opportunities, or to move in new, creative directions. company!s culture is often at the root of difficult people"related problems such as motivation, morale, absenteeism, communications, teamwork, retention, in#uries, and insurance claims.

Behavior depends upon culture $ike ethnic cultures, work

culture tells the employees how to behave, what to do, and what not to do. It is the conte%t that gives meaning to what people do. If you want to understand why people act in a certain way at work, e%amine their work culture.

Observing the culture

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observing the way people act in the work environment, one can easily tell how the culture is constructed If people are open, motivated and engaged, you know that is the nature of the company!s culture. In contrast if people are defensive, irresponsible, and passive, you also understand the company!s culture.

What is a healthy work culture?

'ore involvement in decisions that affect each worker feeling of safety(more openness and trust. &etter communication and more information. &etter teamwork and more cooperation. 'ore focus on getting work done and less on who is doing it, or making comparisons. )learer tasks, responsibilities, and boundaries, so employee can be personally responsible $ooking forward to coming to work.

Introductions to a new work culture

*hrough part"time or other work e%periences we have before #oining a company, we have a rough idea of work e%pectations and culture (also through the interview process, observing co" workers interacting, etc) +nce we are hired, it doesn!t take more than a few days, or a few weeks at most, for us to know what to do, and what not to do, and the type of interactions that are accepted within that culture.

Looking to the boss

,eople watch their supervisors for cues about how to behave. $eaders who are open and engaged will encourage this from their workers. -ach worksite establishes unwritten e%pectations. .espite written policies this is why some companies have employees who are engaged, responsible, pleasant, and highly productive. )onversely, other companies have employees who are closed, unengaged, irresponsible, unpleasant, and unproductive. *he signals about these e%pectations come largely from the company/s culture, which is established by the company/s leadership(the boss sets the tone0

.isability and work culture

Work

cultures that openly communicate about daily problems are more likely to find positive ways to solve accommodation issues. )o"workers and supervisors that feel valued are more likely to value others, including those with disabilities. 1o(finding a supportive work culture is very important to our students/ success0

eferences

,ape, 2arry. *ransforming the work culture. 3etrieved 4ovember 56, 5778. http9::www.cisgroup.com:)W1;*ransforming;Work;)ulture.htm ,hogan, &arry. What is company culture< 3etrieved 4ovember 56, 5778. http9::www.companyculture.com:basics:whatis.htm