Organizational culture can be described as one of those factors which tend to have a very strong impact on the manner in which the organization functions at large. This is because the culture of an organization is passed down to it from its core founders and members which then runs in the veins of the firm at large (Lewis & Tatli, 2015). The primary aim of the essay is to highlight the manner in which leadership helps in maintaining an inclusive and multicultural organization along with discussing the essential elements of a strong culture. The latter part of the essay will also critically reflect on my experience of the given topic.
Meaning of organizational culture
Organizational culture can be defined as a unique personality which is possessed by the organization. Although the culture of an organization is not a visible component, it is powerful enough to have a strong impact on the overall functioning of the organization and the ways in which the different members in the organization tend to behave. According to Kulik (2014), the organizational culture can be rightfully described as a system of shared values, beliefs and assumptions which tend to have an overall impact on the performance of the different employees and reflects on the way in which they dress, act and tend to perform their jobs (Marshall & Oliva, 2017). It must be noted that the culture of an organization is unique and relative to different types of culture. The Apple Company, Ford organization, L’Oréal and AIG are some of the firms which are believed to have a strong organizational culture.
Each organization has a set of elements which tends to contribute towards a strong organizational culture. The following section of the essay will discuss certain elements which are essential to the development of a strong culture in a firm.
The first element is a well-defined mission. One of the most important elements of a strong organizational culture is a clear mission along with a clear purpose. When any organization has a clearly defined mission and vision, along with the face that all the organizational members are aware of it, it reflects the presence of a strong organizational culture (Myles et al., 2017). Hence, all the companies must ensure that they have the presence of a valid mission statement which guides the organization.
The second crucial element is strong communication. Another important component which must be present in the organization for a good culture is a strong communication base. This means that all the employees must feel free to contact one another and the senior level management, middle level management as well as the lower level management must freely communicate amongst themselves and contribute towards solving the different organizational problems as faced by the firm (Heifetz & Linsky, 2017). In this manner, the conflict between the different members can be avoided and the communication as present in the organization can be kept as transparent in nature and the dissemination of information becomes comparatively easy.
The third element is the respect. In order to foster a relatively strong organizational culture, the different employees must respect one another. It needs to be noted that respect does not just come from the lower level employees towards the higher level employees but from the top to the bottom as well. According to Shamir and Eilam-Shamir (2018), when the different employees feel respect towards one another they will then, contribute in a better manner towards the organization performance and prevent higher turnover rates along with regular outbursts.
The fourth element is the Performance. Although this is always not the case in an organization, one of the essential elements of a strong culture is the ability to produce a superior performance (Harvey & Allard, 2015). When the culture is strong, it generally comes from the fact that the different members who are present in the organization are happy and work hard towards goal achievement. As the overall environment of the business is quite positive in nature then, the culture is strong and efficient by default.
The last important element is commitment to learning. A rigid organization often lacks the capacity to perform well and be successfully able to develop or foster a nurturing culture (Northouse, 2018). Hence, if the organization is a flexible one with all the employees volunteering willingly to newer ideas, learning activities and the development of the firm, then the organizational culture of the firm becomes stronger than before and a strong culture can be developed.
The manner in which Leadership can ensure a multicultural and inclusive culture
Leadership can be defined as the efforts which are essentially taken by the different managers in the organization in order to guide the different members of the firm. It is important to note that only a good leader can ensure that the organization has a multicultural as well as inclusive culture (Janssens & Zanoni, 2014). Hence, a leader must take the following measures to ensure successful accomplishment of these goals.
The first step which a good leader can take to ensure an inclusive culture is recognizing the shift which takes place and how the organizations have been incorporating diversity and inclusion. It must be understood by the leader, that in the present scenario, the diversity scenario is not as simple as gender and race. It needs to be understood that Diversity in the workplace includes components like Sexual orientation, religious affiliation, Generation, ethnicity, disability as well as thinking style (Moore, 2016). Once the leader will be able to understand this only then will he be able to ensure that the culture fostered is inclusive and diverse. In this domain, the leaders at the Ford Company have been very successful in supplying diversity and has witnessed positive results.
The next step which needs to be taken by a leader is to use his charisma and authority in order to build an inclusive environment. These efforts can help the organization in improving its earnings (Saxena, 2014). An environment should be formed in a manner such that the different voices as well as opinions are heard and the focus is shifted from a single group of workers. In this manner, when the different members as present in the organization will be able to draw upon their unique experiences they will be able to achieve business goals in a better manner (Cole & Salimath, 2013). The organization Johnson and Johnson has taken various collective steps in order to ensure that they are successfully able to combine the diverse efforts in order to make the organization successful. Hence, through efforts, the creation of an inclusive environment is a must.
The next way in which a leader can ensure that a multicultural and inclusive environment is created is by ensuring that various practices and measures are made use of to do the same. The promotion of inclusion in the workplace is a constant effort and hence, there needs to be multiple initiatives taken to ensure that the firm is successful in the long run. One of the most effective measures is the feedback which gives the firm a clear measure as to how the organization is performing (Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2014). Secondly. The use of measures like ROI and employee responses can also be used. The German company Bayer makes use of eLearning modules as a measure to train employees regarding the awareness of diversity and reminds them of the company’s values. Another methods comprise of Employee resource groups, multicultural talent management and Strategic partnership development.
Along with this it is important for the different leaders that they model diversity and inclusion. When the senior management will themselves become a part of the diversity which is required to take place in an organization then the rest of the firm is bound to follow the given procedure (Antonakis & Day, 2017). In order to ensure that they are successfully able to do so, the different organizational members will be required to ensure that they follow an open culture which seeks diversity, creates inclusion and drives accountability for it. If the employees are given a power to speak against the diversity then they will be successfully able to form an inclusive work environment (Riccucci, 2018).
The leader possess unlimited power and hence, it can be stated to be his duty to ensure that the organization which is being managed by him is successfully able to form an environment which fosters diversity and is comfortable for all. Hence, this section stated down the different mannerisms in which the leaders can assist in fostering a good culture.
During the second year of my university, I was working in a private organization whereby I was involved in looking after the accounts of the business. As it was a private firm, there were different members employed for different departments of the business and it could be stated that each of these members belonged to a culturally diverse backgrounds. Hence, as multiculturalism fostered, I observed that there existed the formation of various groups in an organization based on a particular religion and that the members who belonged to an alternate religion with respect to that group were then cornered. According to me, this was the influence of the management in the organization. The management of the organization could be described as a reserved person who was only supportive of his own religion and cultural similarity. Hence, he avoided hiring employees belonging to any other religion in the firm but due to his son`s views who could be described as an open minded individual, certain diverse employees were employed. However, as the father used to manage the business and remain in the office for long period of time, his behavior ailed to influence multiculturalism in an organization and due to this the turnover rate of the culturally diverse members was very high and thereby the behavior of the members towards these members was hostile (Sabharwal, 2014). From this incidence, I can reflect that the management and leaders possess a large power to have an impact on the different organizational members and to develop the multicultural environment. In this case, it can be seen that as the leader of the organization was unable to have a positive impact on the overall firm which resulted in the different members also ill-treating the employees. Had the leader portrayed a model diversity and inclusion, the members would have followed the lead and made the firm successful in having a strong organizational culture.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the given essay it can be understood that the culture of an organization plays a greater role in enabling the performance of the employees. The essay examined the concept of an organizational culture and discussed the important elements of a good organizational culture. The second half of the essay stated the ways in which leadership can contribute towards the creation of a good culture which is diverse as well as inclusive in nature. Lastly, the reflection part stated down my personal experience on multiculturalism in an organization and how the leader failed to imbibe it positively.
References
Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Cole, B. M. & Salimath, M. S. (2013). Diversity identity management: An organizational perspective. Journal of business ethics, 116(1), 151-161.
Fairhurst, G. T., & Connaughton, S. L. (2014). Leadership: A communicative perspective. Leadership, 10(1), 7-35.
Harvey, C. P. & Allard, M. (2015). Understanding and managing diversity: Readings, cases, and exercises. Pearson.
Heifetz, R., & Linsky, M. (2017). Leadership on the Line, With a New Preface: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Change. Harvard Business Press.
Janssens, M & Zanoni, P. (2014). Alternative diversity management: Organizational practices fostering ethnic equality at work. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 30(3), 317-331.
Kulik, C. T. (2014). Working below and above the line: the research–practice gap in diversity management. Human Resource Management Journal, 24(2), 129-144.
Lewis, C., & Tatli, A. (2015). Leadership and diversity. Managing Diversity and Inclusion: An International Perspective, 47.
Marshall, C., & Oliva, M. (2017). Leadership for social justice: Making revolutions in education. Pearson.
Moore, J. F. (2016). The death of competition: leadership and strategy in the age of business ecosystems. HarperCollins.
Myles, L., Brinkworth, C., Dixon, P. G., Kaufman, E. K., Quardokus Fisher, K., & Simmons, D. R. (2017). Geo Opportunity for Leadership in Diversity (GOLD): Hearts of gold. The Geological Society of America (GSA).
Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.
Riccucci, N. (2018). Managing Diversity in Public Sector Workforces: Essentials of Public Policy and Administration Series. Routledge.
Sabharwal, M. (2014). Is diversity management sufficient? Organizational inclusion to further performance. Public Personnel Management, 43(2), 197-217.
Saxena, A. (2014). Workforce diversity: A key to improve productivity. Procedia Economics and Finance, 11, pp.76-85.
Shamir, B., & Eilam-Shamir, G. (2018). “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development. In Leadership Now: Reflections on the Legacy of Boas Shamir(pp. 51-76). Emerald Publishing Limited.
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