Organisation Culture
Organisation culture may be described as a mixture of:
- unwritten rules
- pervading attitudes of organisation personnel
- work practices adopted by personnel
Put more simply it is embodied in the saying "It's the way we do things here!" or "It's the way our people operate". Organisation culture can be assisting the implementation of an Operational Plan or actively resisting it.
When an Operational Plan brings changes to the organisation there is always a tendency amongst personnel to have very mixed feelings. Sometimes major changes evoke fear as personnel worry about whether they will still have a job, lose their chance of promotion, or that work will become harder. Alternatively organisation personnel may welcome change and view it as leading to a better organisation, more stable employment, more job satisfaction and an opportunity to learn new skills.
An understanding of Organisation Culture is very helpful in determining how strategies might be implemented. Where organisation culture is likely to a limiting factor to the implementation of an Operational Plan it might be necessary to add strategies aimed specifically at improving people's attitudes and work practices. One key strategy to be considered is to involve all personnel in the decision making process as people in general like to feel important.