Organizational Culture

The shared values and expectations within a work environment, which are used as behavioural and problem-solving cues.

What is organizational culture?

Organizational culture is a mix of norms, values, beliefs, meanings, and expectations that group members hold in common and that they use as behavioural and problem-solving cues. Organizational culture can enhance the psychological safety and health of the workplace and the workforce when:

a)    it is characterized by trust, honesty, respect, civility, and fairness or

b)    when psychological and social support recognition and rewards are valued.

An organization with good organizational culture may be able to state that:

• All people in the workplace are held accountable for their actions and behaviours.

• People at work show respect for others’ ideas, values, and beliefs.

• Difficult situations at work are addressed effectively.

• Workers feel that they are part of a community at work.

• Workers and management trust one another.

This video was developed by The Mental Health Commission of Canada, in partnership with Ottawa Public Health with content adapted from The Mindful Employer.

Why is organizational culture important?

An organizational culture built on trust can help to create positive and effective work relationships. When trust exists, cooperation is enhanced, job commitment, and loyalty is increased. This can help to retain and attract talented employees. When an organization has a health-focused, positive, supportive, and nurturing organizational culture, well-being, job satisfaction and job commitment can be increased. For those who may be experiencing emotional distress, including anxiety or feeling depressed, a positive workplace culture may help to reduce the likelihood of symptoms.

The culture of an organization sets the tone for that organization. If the culture is negative, it could reduce the success of the programs, policies and services created to support workers. An unhealthy culture creates more distress in the workplace, with the risk of negatively affecting well-being. If an organization has a culture of “profit at all costs” and constant chaotic urgency, burnout may increase.

FAQs

• Where can we start if we want to improve our organizational culture?

  • Create a respectful work environment where values of honesty, tolerance and fairness are modeled, encouraged, and reinforced.

  • Promote an open environment for positive communication, which can help to create a culture of connection and cohesion.

  • Involve employees in the development of workplace mission statements, values, and codes of ethics.

• How do we train our team and leaders to maintain a positive organizational culture?

  • Provide opportunities for teams to learn and develop together in order to strengthen relationships (e.g. team-building exercises).

  • Identify role models for mentorship and support programs. This may help new or developing team members to recognize and strengthen the organizational culture.

  • Commit to providing reasonable time and budget allowances for workers and leaders to obtain training on topics such as effective communication and conflict management.

  • Communicate with employees about management decisions and ask for their input, whenever possible.

• How can we improve communication around organizational culture?

  • Provide training to all employees in the art of effective communication.

  • Encourage social opportunities for all employees to gather and interact (e.g. employee lunches). This can be done virtually, if necessary.

  • When facing a difficult conversation, encourage face-to-face interaction.

  • Provide clear reasons for decisions in a respectful, timely and considerate manner, especially when the results of decisions may be seen as negative by some.

• How can we embed a positive organizational culture into our policies and procedures?

  • When conflict arises, ensure timely and effective responses.

  • Ensure values of trust, honesty and fairness are included in your mission statement, and share it widely with employees and customers/clients.

  • Create values-based policies and procedures that guide the decision-making and employee conduct throughout your organization.

  • Hold all members of the organization accountable for their actions and ensure that leaders are held accountable to the same or higher standard.

• How do we continually improve when it comes to organizational culture?

  • Gather input from employees on their perceptions of trust, honesty, and fairness in the workplace. This could help you uncover any concerns. Create an action plan to resolve any issues.

  • Ensure all employees are equally held accountable for their actions.

  • Foster an environment where employees show respect for others’ ideas, values, and beliefs.

  • Continually work on team-building so that workers feel like part of a community at work.

  • Leaders should gain worker trust by being honest, respectful and open in communication at all levels.

Next Steps

Committing to a positive organizational culture

• Objective

  A work environment characterized by trust, honesty and fairness.

• Benefits

  • Higher job satisfaction and morale.

  • Improved teamwork and productivity.

  • Enhanced retention and recruitment.

  • Positive public/community image.

• Reflection questions

  • Do issues related to organizational culture present a greater risk to particular groups of workers (e.g. new workers, certain jobs, shift workers, etc.)?

  • What are the strengths in your workplace in terms of organizational culture (e.g. what do you do well and what should you continue doing)?

  • What could your workplace do to improve in this area (e.g. what could you do more of and what could you do less of)?

Downloads

View example action plan

Complete the action plan worksheet

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