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Save Multi-agency services: Organisational culture
The most commonly understood definition of culture is 'the way we do things around here'.
It is a difficult concept to pin down, but could be said to consist of the norms, values, beliefs and attitudes of an organisation. These drive its actions and its environment, guiding the way staff think, act and feel.
Culture doesn't define what an organisation does, but it does define how it does it and how it achieves its goals. It is informed by a number of elements:
- vision and purpose
- people
- rewards
- technology
- procedures.
Organisational culture can be compared to a tree:
The diagram above shows organisational culture represented as a tree, with beliefs at the roots, norms forming the trunk, values as a branch and behaviour as the leaves.
Click to view a scalable vector graphic (SVG) version of the tree diagram.
Examples of cultural beliefs include:
- everyone is equal
- it is OK to make mistakes
- the client is always right
- honesty is the best policy.
Examples of cultural norms include:
- things that are taken for granted
- the definitions of acceptable behaviour, language and presentation
- the way decisions are made.
Examples of cultural values include:
- individuality versus conformity
- team work versus solo work
- attitudes towards other people
- attitudes towards the organisation and its vision and purpose.
Examples of cultural behaviour include:
- the way desks are laid out – open plan or territorial?
- people's gestures – do they smile and chat?
- work–life balance
- dress code.
So, an organisation's culture can broadly be defined as the social and behavioural manifestation of a whole range of issues such as:
- the way work is organised and experienced
- how authority is managed
- how employees feel rewarded, organised and controlled
- the values and work orientation of the staff
- rules and expectations about such things as dress and interpersonal relations
- differential status
- emphasis given to rules, procedures, performance and results, team or individual working
- the scope for initiative, risk-taking, scope for individuality and personal expression.
In a multi-agency service, staff from education, social care, health and the voluntary sector will bring their own cultural assumptions and ways of working. Before going through a process of developing a sense of shared identity and purpose it helps to understand more about where they are coming from.
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Last updated on 05/05/2009
