Company culture or organizational culture is one of the determinants of failure or success of any organization. Also known as business culture, company culture can be defined as the proper way to behave or act within an organization and encompasses both management and employees. As the people in charge of recruiting, training, hiring and firing company staff, HR managers play a very important role in the shaping, changing or reinforcement of company culture. Their actions can have either positive or negative effects on the company culture as discusseffecthe below section.
Pay/compensation
An organization’s pay structure, usually developed by the HR department, is one of the key drivers of organizational culture. A poorly designed pay structure that does not take into account the skills and qualifications of workers will affect the culture in a negative way. This is especially true when the pay is lower than the average in the same business.
On the other hand, a well-designed and competitive compensation scheme is bound to attract highly qualified professionals who will be happier, more motivated and loyal to the business. This will have a positive impact on their behavior within the organization and their interpersonal relationships.
Training and development
HR can achieve a positive business culture by incorporating training programs that stress on the importance of employees behaving or acting in the proper way. Training can be internal or external. HR managers the employees, the in-house experts, and the external consultants who visit the organization for internal training.
External training can be in form of sponsored workshops, seminars or even approved self-development training such as part time or online degree programs. Whatever the training program, it should stress to the employee the need to think, behave and act in a way that is acceptable to the company rules and culture.
Employer-employee relationships
HR managers are very much like a bridge between the executive level management and the employees. They do job advertisements, carry out interviews, hire, and determines the job description and remuneration for the employees. As such, the interaction between the employees and HR office has a very big effect on the overall company culture from the very start of their employment tenure.
Having in place effective conflict resolution processes, open lines of communication and clear chains of command are some of the ways in which the HR office can improve the employee-employer relationship and consequently the organizational culture.
Leadership
Based on the nature of their relationship with the employees, HR managers are typically the most influential workplace leaders. The HR office delegates responsibilities, set employees rules and guidelines and supervises performance and behavior. Thus, the conduct of HR managers in their leadership roles can have a negative or positive impact on the employee morale.
HR conduct will affect the company culture. Positive results can be achieved by having communication channels that allow for open talks and exchange of feedback. HR can also improve the culture by criticizing their employees constructively when they go wrong and rewarding them when they perform above expectations.
Performance management
There are currently tons of performance management tools that may be useful to HR in their quest for a great business culture. A proper performance management system will put emphasis on working smarter, instead of the usual pattern of working harder or longer. It will also focus on equipping employees with the necessary technological tools to aid them in various roles.
Conclusion
The human resource department is one of the most important units in any company. While dealing with the management of the employee affairs it has a significant effect on monitoring and injecting competency in the culture. A well-designed system that actually works will go a long way in creating a culture that stresses on high performance, with a positive impact on productivity and business profits.
