Organizational Culture

Culture is an important element in employee, customer, and employer relationship. If the relationship between the three is not maintained, it follows that there will be problems. This paper will look at organizational culture and the effect the same has on training, succession, and social media use. All the mentioned concepts are somewhat old besides social media and other upcoming trends.

Culture, according to Bunch (2009), has been described as the indifferent patterns, combination of practices, traditions and customs that determine peoples’ actions, as well as communication. Culture is the roadmap that lies in the organizational subconscious and is used in problem and conflict resolutions besides routine interactions Bunch (2007). To pass on culture from a generation of workers to the next, leaders pass it to their team members through the support of reward and punishment systems. Culture is what can build or destroy an organization. It is clear that training is heavily dependent on culture more so because training cannot happen in vacuums. Training is intended to impact positive change on the behavior or skills of people. To impact such a positive change, there is a glaring need for organizational support. If the organizational culture does not allow for structures that can offer such support, then no positive behavior or skills can be impacted on the employees of an organization. For instance, trainees or employees who are being trained on independent thinking and acting will find it useless to be trained if the culture in their place of work centered on autocracy. Another example is that of training on the use of hierarchical kind of problem solving in a place where the culture allows an open-door policy.

Cultural continuity and change on organizational succession planning has significant effects which can be either positive or negative. According to Weber and Dacin (2011), succession planning entails development of talent in a proactive approach so that the developed talent can take up leadership positions. The process succeeds well if, for instance, the culture allows for delegation of duties by senior staff to their juniors. If such a culture does not exist, it then follows that juniors will find it difficult to fit in the positions. Another instance is when an organization hunts for talent through programs such as trainee programs or graduate programs. Succession should be customized, and focused on the future.

Social media differs from other traditional media in terms of scalability and accessibility. Further, social media accommodates personal opinions which are instantaneous. Businesses have exploited this space by utilizing the high personal spaces that it provides for marketing purposes. Product and client experience review are easily documented and followed through. Firms utilize internal social media by having staff interact through sharing of knowledge and other important updates. Giving of feedback to management with regards to internal or external developments are functions that can easily be achieved. Management’s coordination work is thus eased. Externally, the firm is expected to influence or be influenced on social media by customers, suppliers, and the authorities. Social media can change cultural aspects like decision making, execution of tasks, marketing and cost management. The choice of social media platform to be used should be dependent on what customers and employees prefer.

Social media is not the most effective way for employees to share knowledge. Social media is suitable for non-official business. When the business is official, social media should be used to give prompts about the news and direct where more official information can be found. Social media should have preferred due to the scope of its reach as well as the speed of making such communication as well as the speed for getting feedback for any specific work. Feedback from clients and staff should be made fast to let the staff use public resources. When it comes to means that require record keeping and referring of information, social media should not be contracted again as he does not have enough for the email. Where documentation is necessary, social media becomes too expensive Laid ambush.

From the paper, it has been demonstrated that training and culture have a horizon at which they react and collide. It is true that succession of positions, something that generates too much boardroom heat can be managed easily through training. Such training should be deliberate and intended for the greater good. Social media is another concept that has been demonstrated as a powerful force that allows for exchange of information and feedback. Companies are promoting the us of social media since it is relatively cheap as compared to conventional means of doing things. Social media is utilized due to the strategic advantages it offers including speed, accuracy, wide reach, and scope.

References

Bunch, K. (2009). The Influence of Organizational Culture on Training Effectiveness. In The Cultural Context of Human Resource Development (pp. 197-212). Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Bunch, K. J. (2007). Training failure as a consequence of organizational culture. Human Resource Development Review, 6(2), 142-163.

Weber, K., & Dacin, M. T. (2011). The cultural construction of organizational life: Introduction to the special issue. Organization Science, 22(2), 287-298.