At first glance, it seems that the relationship between workers and the quality of products are in no way connected, but in fact it turns out that these are two sides of the same coin. It is the production culture that determines whether the business has long-term prospects. Therefore, the costs of organizing the work and leisure of staff ultimately always pay off, creating the conditions for the professional implementation of each individual employee.
Corporate culture concept
The first works in which the concepts of organizational and corporate culture began to be mentioned appeared in the middle of the last century. However, studies of the effect of friendly relations between workers on production were conducted only in the 70s of the XX century. J. Peter and R. Waterman in their scientific work demonstrated the advantages of companies in which a strong ideology has been developed on broad value systems. In 1983, L. Pondi published the first systematic analysis of the problems of symbolic management and showed the prospects for its use in the enterprise.
At the initiative of R. Reagan and M. Boldridge, evaluation criteria were developed that made it possible to prove that the production culture in the organization clearly affects profitability. J. Cotter and J. Hesket considered the main indicators to be attention to consumers and employees, delegation of obligations, and continuous improvement of the labor process.
Production Organization Culture
Any organization is first and foremost people. The main task of management is to combine them with a common goal and provide them with the means to achieve it. But how to make employees take their tasks seriously and not take off from work, trying to get their salary due with the lowest labor costs?
For this, there is a culture of labor and production. B. Fegan includes all the ideas, interests and values that are shared by a group of people. Naturally, if it is customary for the company to postpone all affairs for later and not linger for a minute after the end of the working day, then new employees, no matter how disciplined and result-oriented they may seem at the interview, will take over the majority’s behavior. As a result, hiring them will not bring any practical benefit to the company.
Corporate culture structure
The positive atmosphere at the enterprise consists of a number of components, starting with the personal qualities of the hired labor and ending with the motivation system provided for by the management. F. Harris and R. Moran believed that the culture of production includes 10 main components.
Corporate Atmosphere Criteria
- Awareness of their place in the organization by each of the employees.
- An accepted communication system and language, including non-verbal communication methods.
- Appearance (hairstyle, cosmetics, neatness) and clothing style (business, special).
- Catering for employees at the enterprise or in cafeterias outside it.
- Relation to time and traditions of its use (observance of the time schedule, reward for accuracy in meeting the deadlines).
- Relations between employees (the degree of formalization of relations, accepted methods of resolving conflicts and the emotional support provided to each other).
- A set of value guidelines, behavioral stereotypes and features of increasing personal status.
- Belief in the correctness of the actions of the leadership, in one's own strength, successful result, mutual assistance and justice.
- The process of training and informing employees.
- Motivating incentives and work ethics (prevailing attitude to work, features of remuneration and promotion, traditions of organizing production activities).
Structural Interpretation of Organizational Culture
If we talk about the specific internal content of the concept under consideration, E. Shane believed that the culture of production is manifested on three levels: superficial (symbolic), subsurface and deep. The first includes visible external manifestations (technology, architecture, behavior, communication), which are easy to detect, but not always able to interpret. At a subsurface level, scientists examine the beliefs and values that are shared by most employees. Organizational standards are enshrined in the form of an informal code of conduct that defines the desired course of action for employees, quality and service standards, ceremonies and ceremonies. Studies that analyze the production culture of the enterprise often end at this level. Indeed, the underlying assumptions that govern the behavior of people in an enterprise are sometimes difficult to recognize even by the participants in the production process themselves.
Improving the culture of production
Improving the atmosphere in an organization is associated with an understanding of each of its structural components. It depends on their critical analysis whether the goals set for employees will be fulfilled. The technological culture of production is improved in three stages:
- A study of the values, habits, rituals and rules of behavior available in the team.
- Assessment of compliance with existing standards with the goals and objectives of the company, as well as its development strategy.
- Formation of a new organizational atmosphere based on the consolidation of new values.
Identify existing corporate rules
Effective research involves phased planning. Therefore, it is first necessary to determine the main management tasks and select the constituent components by which the culture of labor and production at the enterprise will be analyzed. Then a direct study is carried out, and on the basis of the data obtained, a decision is made regarding future activities for the implementation of new corporate values and beliefs.
Corporate Culture Learning Strategies
Three methods are traditionally distinguished by which the culture of production at the enterprise is investigated: the introduction of an agent or manager, analysis of documentation, questionnaires. The most effective is the first (holic) strategy. However, it must be borne in mind that the information thus obtained is already passed through the prism of the values and views of the agent himself. The results of the study depend on its objectivity. The same problem exists when using a quantitative strategy, when the production culture is determined through interviewing, questioning and all kinds of polls. As for the analysis of documentation, it is important to pay attention not only to official regulations, but also to informal communication within the team (jokes and jokes).
Concrete atmosphere tips
The goal of improving corporate culture is always to increase the efficiency of the company. To improve the current situation, the implementation of norms of behavior, regulation of a uniform style of clothing, special trainings and organization of joint holidays, as well as other events that help to establish trusting relationships between people and create confidence among employees about the correctness of their production goals are used. The correct production culture at the enterprise, in turn, brings additional dividends in the form of increasing the productivity of each individual employee and the profitability of the organization as a whole.
