Culture audit is an integral part of initiating and managing change in organizations. This implies that the well-being of an organization heavily relies on the existing culture. As a result, it is crucial for the leadership of an organization to devise and pursue cultural practices that are in tandem with the broad goals and objectives.
In other words, any form of culture embraced and adopted by a firm should be able to sustain the vibrancy or satisfaction of employees. Needless to say, succession management demands an effective culture in place. Nonetheless, corporate culture is often hardly seen by persons practicing it. This brief essay assesses the culture of my workplace organization.
I am an employee in a governmental hospital working as an ambulatory care pharmacist. Although this healthcare institution has been performing quite well over the years, there are still areas that need to be improved within its corporate culture (Buick, Blackman, O’Donnell, O’Flynn & West, 2015). For example, a number of barriers that impede patient wellness exist.
To begin with, communication style at this healthcare facility is relatively effective. Grassroots conversations are highly valued by the leadership of the organization instead of one-way broadcasts from the senior management (Tabuena, 2013). In most instances, employees are often requested to voice their opinions on any aspect of change that is due to be executed by the organization.
It is apparent that the organization has realized the importance of involving employees in the wider process of decision making. Decisions are made after thorough consensus even with the subordinate employees. Using the four-quadrant matrix for culture audit, it is evident that consensual decision making and effective communication have been long-term growth opportunities for this healthcare organization (Buick et al., 2015).
In order to get work done, the organization has developed a long term culture of team work coupled with group collaboration. Although each department is mandated to perform its unique roles and responsibilities, it is vital to mention that departmental collaboration is a long-term practice that has existed in this organization.
The management usually organizes for team-building exercises on a regular basis as part and parcel of boosting the morale of workers. However, the main long term threats to collaboration and team building include social loafing and lack of innovation. When employees are assigned tasks to complete as individuals, it is highly likely that they will be innovative and productive.
Besides, individual assignments can be easily accounted for because only one person is responsible. Worse still, employees tend to emphasize more on methods rather than results when they work as teams or groups. The corporate culture of my workplace organization is also influenced or witnessed through the immediate environment.
For example, the organization’s vision is to be the industry leader in the provision of sound healthcare services to the community and also be compassionate enough to patients who are receiving care. This is definitely a long term aspiration of the organization (Buick et al., 2015). As much as the organization always endeavors to attain this vision, there are still visible missing links.
As it stands now, establishing additional ambulatory care facilities is a long term opportunity that the healthcare institution can use to attain its vision. However, there are no plans in place. The ambulatory care division is often overwhelmed by the amount of incoming and outgoing patients seeking emergency care. The inadequate number of ambulatory care pharmacists is also a major short term threat in attaining a viable corporate culture in the organization.
The stated implicit values of the organization are not in line with the quality of services being offered to patients (Tabuena, 2013). In regards to key guidelines to change management issues identified in the above culture audit, it is evident that a number of change measures should be initiated in order to improve the corporate culture. The proposed changes include additional capital investment in ambulatory care and hiring adequate ambulatory care pharmacists to expedite care delivery to clients.
References
Buick, F., Blackman, D. A., O’Donnell, M. E., O’Flynn, J. L., & West, D. (2015). Can enhanced performance management support public sector change? Journal of Organizational Change Management, 28(2), 271.
Tabuena, J. (2013). Can you audit corporate culture? Compliance Week, 10(114), 32- 33.