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The importance of understanding organizational culture
Information Outlook, June, 2005 by Debbie Schachter
For example, if the organization's mission is to provide expert customer service, yet the strong hierarchical structure means that employees are not empowered to assist customers by providing creative solutions or don't have the required authority to provide responses or results, there is a disconnect.
The organization that I surveyed was eager to see positive change and the time was right for providing impetus to staff to follow a new path. The assessment can reveal the opposite, however, which is just as valuable to managers or library leaders. If there is resistance to change, if the espoused values of the organization don't match with the staff perceptions and prevailing culture, you must try to change the culture or change the objectives and mission to reflect reality.
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Ask the Staff
From interviews and surveys, staff will provide a variety of examples of symbols that reflect particular cultures. For example, symbols that might reflect a clan culture might include: coffee parties, potlucks, Halloween parties, postcards from staff trips, gifts from patrons. Symbols that indicate a hierarchical culture could include procedures manuals, statistics, stability, structure, and insistence on punctuality, accuracy, respect, politeness, privacy, efficiency. From these examples, you can quickly get a sense of the types of symbols you could attribute to our own organization's culture.
As a library manager, it may not be possible for you to change the organization's overarching culture. Understanding the culture, however--especially if you want to adapt your departmental culture to create a more positive culture--is possible. Departmental cultures may differ greatly in organizations, depending on the leaders and the staff within those departments. You may not be able to have an effect on the organization overall, depending on your position in the organization and how large it is, but with work you will be able to make a difference at the library level.
Some ways that you can try to change the organizational culture include reviewing the mission and vision for the library with the staff to ensure that they are accurate. If changes are needed to reflect the reality of what you want to do and what you can do, then do so. For a start, make sure that departmental statements and staff actions reflect the type of culture you want.
For example, to increase the market culture, try increasing the measurements of service activities and have staff involved in developing metrics and outcomes for services (as part of the performance management system, for example).
Reward staff of particular service areas who respond to changes in customer demands through developing new programs or services. To reduce hierarchical culture, for example, begin by empowering staff to provide suggestions and to help implement their new ideas. You should also empower staff to make more decisions for their own areas of expertise.
As the library leader, you should always be aware of your actions and model the behavior you expect of your staff. Ensure that the statements you make are consistent with the values and the symbols of the culture you would like to develop. You may not be able to change the overall organizational culture immediately, but the positive results and positive impact at the departmental level should have some level of spill-over effect onto other departments. Moreover, it will make it a more pleasant culture for you and for your staff to be working in.
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