HRD CULTURE

&CLIMATE

BYEP JOHNPHD (PT)NERIST

Denison (1996) suggested that ‘Culture’ refers to the deep structure of organizations, which is rooted in the values, beliefs and assumptions held by organizational members. In contrast, ‘Climate’ refers to those aspects of the environment that are consciously perceived by organizational members.

HRD in the organizational context is a process by which the employees of an organization are helped in a continuous, planned way to:

(a) acquire or sharpen capabilities required to perform various functions associated with their present or expected future roles;

(b) develop their general capabilities as individuals and discover and exploit their own inner potentials for their own and/or organizational development processes; and

(c) develop an organizational culture in which supervisor-subordinate relationships, team work and collaboration among sub units are strong and contribute to the professional well-being, motivation and pride of employees

HRD mechanisms measure the extent to which HRD mechanisms are implemented seriously. These mechanisms include

Performance appraisal Potential appraisalCareer planning

Performance rewards Feedback and counselling

Training Employee welfare for quality work-life and

Job rotation.

Organizational or corporate culture is the pattern of values, norms, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions that may not have been articulated but shape the ways in which people in organizations behave and things get done. ‘Values’ refer to what is believed to be important about how people and

organizations behave. ‘Norms’ are the unwritten rules of

behaviour.

Characteristics of culture, Furnham and

Gunter (1993)

• It is difficult to define.• It is multi-dimensional, with many different components at different levels.• It is not particularly dynamic and ever-changing.• It takes time to establish and therefore time to change a corporate culture.

Significance of culture, Furnham and Gunter (1993)

Culture represents the ‘social glue’ and generates a ‘we-feeling’, thus counteracting processes of differentiations that are an unavoidable part of organizational life.

Organizational culture offers a shared system of meanings which is the basis for communications and mutual understanding. If these functions are not fulfilled in a satisfactory way, culture may significantly reduce the efficiency of an organization.

The values and norms that are the basis of culture are formed in following ways;•over a period of time,•by the leaders in the organization,•is formed around critical incidents,•develops from the need to maintain effective working relationships among organization members,•is influenced by the organization’s environment.

Culture is learnt over a period of time, there are two ways in which this learning takes place.

•THE TRAUMA MODEL, in which members of the organization learn to cope with some threat by the erection of defence mechanisms.

•THE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT MODEL, where things that seem to work become embedded and entrenched.

The components of culture▶Values▶Norms▶Artefacts▶Management style

Areas in which values may be expressed – explicitly or implicitly• Care and consideration for people.• Competence.• Competitiveness.• Customer service.• Innovation.• Performance.• Quality.• Teamwork.

Typical norms• How managers treat the members of their teams (management style) and how the later relate to their managers.• The prevailing work ethic.• Status – how much importance is attached to it; the existence or lack of obvious status symbols.• Ambition – naked ambition is expected and approved of, or a more subtle approach is the norm.

• Performance – exacting performance standards are general; the highest praise that can be given in the organization is to be referred to as ‘very professional’.• Power – recognized as a way of life; dependent on expertise and ability rather than position; concentrated at the top; shared at different levels in different parts of the organization.• Politics – life throughout the organization and treated as normal behaviour; not accepted as overt behaviour.

• Loyalty – expected, a cradle to grave approach to careers; discounted, the emphasis is on results and contribution in the short term.• Anger – openly expressed; hidden, but expressed through other, possibly political means. • Approachability – managers are expected to be approachable and visible; everything happens behind closed doors.• Formality – a cool, formal approach is the norm; forenames are/are not used at all levels; there are unwritten but clearly understood rules about dress.

Artefactsare the visible and tangible aspects of an organization that people hear, see or feel and which contribute to their understanding of the organization’s culture. can include such things as the working environment, the tone and language used in official environment.can be very revealing.

Management style

is the approach managers use to deal with people. It is also called ‘leadershipStyle’, it consists of the following extremes:• Charismatic/non-charismatic.• Autocratic/democratic.• Enabler/controller.• Transactional/transformational.

Classifications of organizational culture

• Power-oriented – competitive, responsive to personality rather than expertise.• People-oriented – consensual, management control rejected.• Task-oriented – focus on competency,dynamic.• Role-oriented – focus on legality,legitimacy and bureaucracy.

Supporting and changing cultures• It may not be possible to define anideal culture or to prescribe how it can be developed.• But embedded cultures exert considerable influence on OB and therefore performance.• If there is an appropriate and effectiveculture, it would be desirable to take steps to support or reinforce it.• If the culture is inappropriate, attemptsshould be made to determine what needs to be changed and to develop and implement plans for change.

HRD climate is the perception that the employees have about the policies, procedures, practices, and conditions which exist in the working environment.

HRD Climate has three dimensions of (T.V. Rao and E. Abraham) –General climate, OCTAPAC culture and Implementation of HRD mechanisms

The general climate deals with the importance given to human resources development in general by the top management and line managers.

The OCTAPAC items deal with the extent to which are

Openness Confrontation

TrustAutonomy Pro-activity

Authenticity andCollaboration

valued and promoted in the organization.

Openness is there when employees feel free to discuss their ideas, activities and feelings with each other.

Confrontation is bringing out problems and issues in open with a view to solving them rather than hiding them for fear ofhurting or getting hurt.

Trust is taking people at their face value and believing what they say.

Autonomy is giving freedom to let people work independently with responsibility.

Pro-activity is encouraging employees to take an initiative and risks.

Authenticity is the tendency on the part of people to do what they say.

Collaboration is to accept interdependencies to be helpful to each other and work as teams

HRD climate is characterised by the tendencies such as •Treating employees as the most important resources •Perceiving that developing employees is the job of every manager•Believing in the capability of employees•Communicating openly •Encouraging risk taking and experimentation

•Making efforts to help employees recognize their strengths and weaknesses •Creating a general climate of trust•Collaboration and autonomy supportive personnel policies, and•Supportive HRD practices

An optimal level of development climate is essential for facilitating

HRD activities

Organizations with obetter learning otraining and development systems oreward and recognition andoinformation systems promotes a favourable HRD climate.

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