Formative Assessment 3 – 7ODD

Deals and Kenny suggested culture is ‘the way we do things around here’. Discuss the importance of organisational culture on change management strategies and whether it can help or hinder a business during times of change. 

Solution

Executive Summary

This report discus the importance of organisational culture on the change management strategies and whether it can assist or hinder the business during the change times. Organisational culture, described by the way of doing things in a company is central in achieving the company’s goals and objectives. The effects of the culture are reflected in its bottom line and healthy cultures are defined by revenue and stock growth. This report finds that organisational culture underpins the change management strategies. This is achieved through enhancing commitment and embracing change. Also, a healthy culture is supportive and ensures that the individual’s skills and competencies are aligned with the company’s goals and objectives.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary. 2

1.0      Introduction. 4

2.0      Organisational Culture. 4

3.0      Importance of Culture in Change Management Strategies 4

3.1      Providing an Opportunity for Collaborative Decision Making. 4

3.2      Promoting Motivation. 5

3.3      Empowering Employees for Innovativeness Better Performance 5

3.4      Aligning the Individual’s Skills with the Company’s Needs and Objectives. 5

3.5      Integrity, Performance, and Resilience for Long-Term Growth and Development 6

4.0      Help or Hindering Business During Change. 6

5.0      Conclusion. 6

References 7

 


  1. 1.0  Introduction

Organisational culture is central to a company’s growth and development. The impacts of the organisational culture are reflected in the company’s bottom line. For companies with healthy cultures, their likelihood of experiencing revenue growth of above 15% in three years compared to other organisations (Wong, 2020). Further, the company is 2.5 more likely to experience stock growth over the same period. Therefore, the company’s leadership and management must understand how to build a strong organisational culture that will promote the company’s competitive advantage and ensure the employees’ skills and competencies are aligned with the firm’s vision, mission, and objectives. This paper evaluates the importance of culture in organisational change management strategies and whether it can help or hinder during times of change.

Organisational culture fundamentally refers to the proper approach of behaving within the company. It involves the leaders’ shared values and beliefs and reinforcing and communicating them through different approaches. According to SHRM, (2021), these methods are critical in building the employees’ perceptions, understanding, and behaviours. It sets the context for everything done by the company. A key aspect to note is that since situations and industries differ significantly, there lacks a one-size-fits everything culture to suffice all the company’s needs. Therefore, each company develops its culture based on preferences and needs. A strong company’s culture is the denominator for implementing various organisational strategies and priorities. The values underpin the overall behaviour of the company and achieving its goals. The firm’s leadership and management ensure that the company lives its culture daily and communicates the identity to the employees and other stakeholders, while hiring new employees.

Organisation culture is fundamental in achieving the company’s goals and objectives. Overall, employees are likely to embrace and commit to working on an organisational change if the objectives are aligned with the company’s culture and targets. According to Aguirre and Alpern (2014), the level of change needed in most organisations comprises cultural transformation. The importance of organisational culture on the change management strategies include;

An organisational culture characterised by teamwork and collaborative practice is central in ensuring employees are engaged in the decision-making process. In the change management strategies, the change’s success is defined by the involvement and dialogue with the stakeholders, particularly the workforce, on developing and implementing the new approaches. This is critical in addressing the potential sources and change resistance. Also a collaborative culture pools different ideas and suggestions to the employees, which ensures a successful and informed decisions according to the company’s needs.

An effective organisational culture affects all the company’s aspects, including punctuality and benefits. This describes the importance of the rewards. In change management strategies, the central elements are celebrating the employees’ wins, both short and long-term. A company’s culture characterised by suitable rewards to the individuals’ skills and contributions is essential in motivating the employees for better performance. Applying Vroom’s theory, the rewards are essential in employee motivation and address the intention to leave the company (Lloyd and Mertens, 2018). For individuals working in a poor culture, they are likely to leave the company in favour of one with a supportive culture.

A supportive and empowering culture characterised by transformational leadership is central in encouraging the employees for better performance. Organisations such as Microsoft and Amazon are characterised by supporting employees to enhance themselves rather than proving their skills. An empowerment-based culture ensures that employees have the right mixture of skills and competencies that work to achieve the organisational target changes. Besides, an empowering culture increases employees’ creativity, essential in ensuring the success of a change.

A key element in successful companies is aligning the firm’s objectives and the workforce’s motivations, skills, and competencies. Ensuring this alignment promotes the prospects of a successful change. During change management, the initial stages involve ensuring this alignment to ensure that the goals, purposes, and vision and addressing the same aspect. In Kotter and Lewin’s change management approaches, the initial stages focus on informing employees and other stakeholders about the change’s importance. This is vital in promoting commitment and individual’s motivation.

Among the core organisational values and beliefs are integrity, trust, honesty, and resilience. These aspects are essential in ensuring employees can operate in dynamic environments and deliver quality results. They are also fundamental in ensuring sustainable change and promoting the ease of responding to the change. In the change management strategies, the core objective is performance and quality, which are achieved through resilience to enhance the firm’s output.

4.0  Help or Hindering Business During Change

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