How Does Understanding Your Organization's Culture Impact Your Work Life and Happiness?

Understanding Organizational Culture

In order to understand what organizational culture is, you should first understand what the word "culture" means. Culture is defined as the beliefs, values, attitudes, underlying assumptions, and behaviors shared by a group of people. Culture is also the behavior that results when a group arrives at a set of unspoken and unwritten rules for working together.

An organization's culture is made up of the combined life experiences that each employee brings to the organization. An organization's culture can be characterized by a group's daily work practices, language, decision-making skills, the nature of the business or industry, values and workplace policies, and even the geographical and physical environment.

Something as little as the pictures chosen to hang on the wall can tell a lot about how employees participate in an organization's culture. Try paying attention to the information on the bulletin board or in the company newsletter. How do employees interact with others in meetings, at lunch, on breaks, or at the proverbial water cooler? Start to take notice of the little things you probably have been overlooking all this time, and you will start to better understand your organization's culture.

Most people probably don't think about what it means to understand the culture of their organization. All they know is they have to show up for work, do their job, and do it well in order to get a paycheck. When you think about it, the majority of people spend more time with their co-workers than they do at home with their families.

The majority of people work anywhere from 40 to 60 hours a week, and what they all hope for is a job that is enjoyable, meaningful, and engaging. The time spent working for these organizations must be more valuable than the money they bring home each week. This is vital in order for them to feel good about spending all that time away from the ones they love. When people are engaged, they are safer, more productive, and happier. And when employees are happier, so are the customers.

A company or organization should be concerned with its working environment, the relationships between employees, and how things get done within that environment. This is because people are the organization's most valuable asset, and therefore the organization should focus on building and sustaining those assets in order to build a solid, long-lasting, and successful organization. It is for these basic reasons that understanding organizational culture is important.

This is a really good post. I have a small question or need guidance. Many folks, including myself, would like to know how to understand a particular organization's culture without actually being a part of that organization, such as in an interview scenario. I believe it is crucial and beneficial to have this understanding beforehand when considering joining a new place.

Acquiring Knowledge of an Organization's Culture

How can one acquire a deeper and more comprehensive knowledge of an organization's culture at an early stage? Once someone has joined, if the culture is not as expected or desired, they may feel somewhat helpless initially. Changing jobs frequently is not a viable solution, and it is challenging to influence or alter the company culture as an individual in the early stages. When one realizes they are not in the right place, their happiness diminishes, leading to inevitable consequences. How can one navigate through such a situation effectively?

Thank you in advance.

Dear Ms. Shilpa, you posted excellent information about Organizational Culture. To my knowledge, there is no organizational culture as such in this world. Instead, it is all about the individuals (employees, employers, board members) and their attitudes, behavior, mentality, perception/interpretation level, living style, and everything else. These individuals form a group containing like-minded people, promoting their own values, principles, and working style, etc.

When you refer to an organization as "a professional organization," it means it is managed by broad-minded/optimistic professionals. These individuals do not give preference to culture, values, beliefs, attitude, etc., except professionalism and a disciplined work culture with regards to productivity, organizational goals/targets. However, it's important to remember that we are all human beings and need to behave like civilized/disciplined human beings rather than educated uncivilized illiterates.

Your information taught me something I was truly looking for.

Dear Mr. Sagar, it is very difficult to understand organizational culture without being part of an XYZ organization. Many employees have tried their best to adapt just for survival reasons. It is a fact that everyone is living a selfish life, and because of this pattern, organizational culture has emerged as our expectations increase. We want control over many things, including others' activities, we want to rule, we want people to listen to us, and much more.

Instead of focusing on organizational culture, we need to understand ourselves and discuss human psychology, mentality, perception/interpretation level, optimism, broad-mindedness, etc. Once we as human beings are perfect, our organizational culture will be perfect.

With profound regards,

I think the very fact that we have so many professional forums like this one should solve the issue you have so rightly pointed out. The World Wide Web has opened up so many possibilities for all. I guess if one wants to know about any organization's culture, they should and must interact with its stakeholders. And when I say stakeholders, it is not just the employees, but clients, vendors, and everyone attached to that organization.

I do agree that at the end of the day, it is all about ATTITUDE. Having the right attitude is such a powerful tool. You can turn around almost anything, face anything, and create exciting opportunities for your own and others' betterment and growth.