Why Does Organizational Culture Matter?

   One of the top priorities for organizations today is how stakeholders see its firm’s culture. The people and culture aspect of an organization is either a major concern to the employer or there is no regard for it. The culture of an organization encompasses more than how many days off or what kind of compensation management is receiving. Values are the beliefs, advancement and development that an organization influences and has over the individuals within the organization, its employees, clients and third parties.
    A study by the American Public Human Services Association Journal discusses a performance indicator they utilize to measure their culture performance. Via the results of the model the article says, “Organizations at the integrative level will necessarily have positive cultures and climates, including proficiency. This foundation is essential for organizations to address the sweeping challenges required to achieve this level” (Hemmelgarn & Basso, 2016, pg. 27). A businesses culture will either be strong or weak and that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good thing or a bad thing. We all have preconceived notions of the DMV, while their culture is strong it also happens to be negatively strong. So, positive or negative, as well as adaptable or inflexible is all measured for a business culture.

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    The culture at the firm I work for is very attractive and treats us well. It is strong, positive and very adaptable; there is never a mundane moment. The culture was characterized through new leadership that came into office three years ago. As a partnership, the firm’s partner’s board elects the territory managing partners along with the central executive management team (CEO, COO, etc...). The industry has a retention rate of 7%, my firm has been able to push it to almost double at 13%. Day to day culture includes an expansion of days off, weekly outings on the firm, daily emails with raffles for sports games and theater events, new practice community groups, and so much more. It is a blessing for myself and many others.
    This gave a positive reaction to so many in the firm and has tremendously affected work behaviors of the employees, as I have shown in the retention rate described before. It was a bit tough for the firm to change culture at the time with all the business regulations and an unattractive U.S. market for the past 10 years. But now with current changes in the external environment there is a strong positive outlook.


References:
Hemmelgarn, A., & Basso, P. (2016). Joining forces: a crosswalk of the human services value curve with organizational culture and climate. Policy & Practice, (3), 24. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=edsgbe&AN=edsgcl.455057566&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=ns083389 ​​