Corporate culture is simply a set of values or customs that are reflected in organization’s HR principles, and which determine how things are done in the company. In other terms, this refers to the behaviors of the people who form an organization as they are stipulated by HR department. Corporate culture usually entails organizational values, beliefs, job language, policies, visions, systems, and habits. In order to be successful in today’s business world, organizations should try to come up with strong corporate cultures for their businesses.
The creation of a corporate culture involves myriad factors that include practices, values, people, vision, place, and narrative, among other factors. Organizational culture plays a crucial role in the development of organizations. One notable aspect of corporate culture in all the businesses is that it has a deep impact on various organizational processes and units, thus helping to determine the overall performance of the companies. This paper examines the effects of corporate culture on employee performance and satisfaction.
As it would be observed, culture has a direct impact on employees’ creativity and productivity in an organization. Numerous studies on this particular matter have indicated a significant relationship between corporate culture and employee performance and work satisfaction. There are various ways through which corporate culture can affect employee contribution to their corporation.
These outcomes, however, will depend on the nature of the culture, and how it is applied in organizations. For instance, corporate culture is a system of common values embraced by members of a company, and in that case, it serves as a key determinant of how the members will act towards each other. In this regard, good cultures are likely to bear good relationships that would, in turn bring positive outcomes to organizations. More importantly, Patterson, Warr, and West observe that “good and strong corporate cultures enhance communication of responsibilities to the workforce, and this helps to minimize conflicts among the employees” (201).
Corporate culture also serves as an identity to organizations. In other words, it provides companies with the ability to build their identities or appearances to the outside world. In this case, organization’s image becomes the identity of its workers, and in such a case, workers and staff will finally have an impact on the culture as well as culture will have a definite effect on them. Moreover, corporate culture defines and determines the way workers handle their roles within an organization. By governing the operating style of the employees, corporate culture unites the workforce, thus offering a sense of direction to the organization and its systems (Thomas and Au 311).
Also through the element of identity, employees are likely to get motivated or inspired with their responsibilities as they strive to live by the corporate cultures governing them. This observation can be expressed in sense that strong organizational cultures can always motivate the workforce to work harder to achieve business goals of their companies.
Corporate cultures can also bring various impacts to the overall performance or creativity of the employees in an organization (Bakker and Schaufeli 151). For instance, in an organization where a strict-to-the-task culture is followed, workers are likely to remain focused on their responsibilities without any distraction, and this is likely to improve their performance at work. However, employees are likely to be more socially active in those environments where the corporate culture is loose, and this can seriously affect their performances, thus leading to poor productivity. To elaborate further on the performance element, effective and acceptable corporate cultures would tend to inspire employees, thus motivating them to put more effort in their work. A perfect example here is a business which organizational culture is innovative, and the workforce is determined in making improvements and discovering new things.
The combination of these two elements can facilitate creativity, thus improving the performance of the workers. In a scenario where the organizational culture is weak and unacceptable, a complete opposite of the above will be observed, while low performance will be the final outcome.
It is also apparent that corporate cultures would tend to have a significant impact on the employees’ happiness and satisfaction. There is no doubt that corporate culture is among the key factors that will tend to play a significant role when it comes to employee satisfaction (Koh and Boo 309). For example, workers will be attracted to strong and acceptable corporate cultures, thus willing to embrace them fully. This way, corporate cultures help in promoting employee satisfaction at work. However, things would be different in those circumstances where unacceptable cultures apply since employees would be unwilling to embrace them, and this contributes to low satisfaction. The summary of this observation is that workers will be happy and contended to work in companies which corporate cultures are fit for them in all the aspects.
Another positive effect of corporate culture is that it acts a mirror through which organizations can manifest themselves to the outside world. This can be explained in the sense that organizational cultures tend to define how businesses conduct themselves, treat their workers, clients, and the entire outside world. As a matter of fact, businesss which maintain strong and acceptable corporate cultures portray good images of themselves, and therefore, their practices cannot be doubted (Sørensen 87). Obviously, this helps in manifesting organizational image in a better way. This gives the employees a positive attitude towards their job, thus enhancing their performances.
Moreover, there is no doubt that people will feel better when working in organizations that have strong corporate cultures which take good care of their personal interests. This will help the employees develop a positive job attitude which is likely to bring immense benefits to their overall performance in the organization. Also through strong corporate cultures, employees are offered the freedom of taking part in organizational decision making. This direct involvement of the employees in key organizational matters makes them feel appreciated, and gives them strength to come up with new ideas that can be helpful to their companies.
As it is shown in this paper, corporate culture has immense impacts on the overall performance of employees in organizations. In this regard, organizational leaders and managers should view their employees as important assets to their businesses and try to build their corporate cultures in alignment with their best interests. This will be an important milestone towards business success that will not only strengthen the cultures further but one attract the best employee practices. As a matter of fact, this will be very helpful to the organizations since it will help them in achieving the intended business goals or objectives.
Works Cited
Bakker, Arnold and Wilmar B. Schaufeli. “Positive organizational behavior: Engaged employees in flourishing organizations.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 29.2(2008): 147-154. Print.
Koh, Hian Chye and El’fred H. Y. Boo. “The link between organizational ethics and job satisfaction: A study of managers in Singapore.” Journal of Business Ethics 29.4(2001): 309-324. Print.
Patterson, Malcolm, Peter Warr, and Michael West. “Organizational climate and company productivity: The role of employee affect and employee level.” Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology 77.2(2004): 193-216. Print.
Sørensen, Jesper. “The strength of corporate culture and the reliability of firm performance.” Administrative Science Quarterly 47.1(2002): 70-91. Print.
Thomas, David and Kevin Au. “The effect of cultural differences on behavioral responses to low job satisfaction.” Journal of International Business Studies 33.2, (2002): 309-326. Print.