The culture of an organisation is often described as the attitude or atmosphere of a company. This can include the shared pattern of beliefs, assumptions and expectations held by the people who belong to the organisation and they way they perceive the organisation's environment, norms and values.
The culture of an organisation can also be defined by the physical setting, whether the offices are open plan or closed off; the way people interact, the way they dress, how decisions are made and even how management deals will a variety of situations.
It is not uncommon to hear about problems concerning the 'fit' between a person and their role. In many cases the real problem is the mismatch between the person and the culture of the organisation. How you 'fit' with an organisation can determine your comfort levels and how happy you feel at work. More importantly your organisation's culture can determine whether you succeed or fail in your role.
At a recruitment level it tends to be easier to screen for particular competencies when hiring new staff rather than deciding on how well someone will 'fit in'. If there is a bad fit between the organisation and the culture, nobody wins. However, it tends to be up to the individual to decide whether or not they will 'fit' with the organisation.
In a recent survey asking search4job readers to respond, 43% of you agreed or strongly agreed that when you were at work, sometimes you feel like you are from a different planet. What does this say about our organisational fit? To ensure a good organisational fit, you need to be aware of your own personality, and be able to compare it to the culture of the organisation you work for, or intend to work for.
Be aware of the issues that are important to you and be prepared to do research to find out how the organisation handles these issues. For example, if you tend to be quite an outgoing enthusiastic individual, you will probably have a preference for working in an environment that is more fast paced and exciting rather than a conservative workplace.
This is not to say that you could not successfully work in a conservative environment, being aware of and respecting the boundaries of the organisation, it is possible to bring your individuality into play, adding a new perspective and new energy to organisational life.
Even if you have had success in a previous organisation, a poor organisational fit has the potential to see you fail. However, in saying this, you must allow for some tension between the cultures of a new employee and the existing organisation.
If we know about potential gaps between ourselves and our organisation's culture we have a chance to make a plan on how to work at closing the gap, at the same time hopefully helping us to feel like we are back on planet earth with everyone else.
For further information on assessing value sets and organisational culture, please contact info@careeranalysts.co.nz
The culture of an organisation is often described as the attitude or atmosphere of a company. This can include the shared pattern of beliefs, assumptions and expectations held by the people who belong to the organisation and they way they perceive the organisation's environment, norms and values.
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