Organisational Culture and Employee Engagement

Organisational culture plays an important role in influencing employee behaviour, motivation, and engagement in the workplace. The organisational culture includes the values, beliefs, and working environments that guide how employees interact and perform their work. A positive organisational culture can improve employee engagement, job satisfaction, and organisational performance.

Hofstede (1980) explained that cultural dimensions, such as power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, and uncertainty avoidance, influence organisational culture. These cultural factors influence management styles, communication, and employee behaviour in organisations. A culture that supports collaboration, communication, and employee involvement is more likely to improve employee engagement.

In practice, organisations try to build a positive organisational culture by encouraging teamwork, open communication, and employee participation in decision-making. Many organisations also focus on employee well-being, work-life balance, and a supportive workplace environment to improve employee engagement.

Managers play an important role in developing organisational cultures because their leadership and communication styles affect employee behaviour. Organisations that encourage teamwork, respect, and communication create a positive organisational culture, which leads to higher employee engagement and performance.

Dialogue Axiata Sri Lanka provides a practical example of organisational culture. Dialogue promotes a teamwork culture and open communication environment where employees are encouraged to share ideas and feedback. The company also focuses on employee development, training programmes and employee well-being initiatives. These practices help create a positive organisational culture and improve employee engagement and organisational performance.

Organisational culture is important for employee engagement and organisational success. However, changing organisational cultures is difficult and takes time. Employees may resist cultural changes, especially if the organisation has followed a traditional management style for a long time.

In addition, multinational organisations may face challenges because employees come from different cultural backgrounds, which can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts that hinder the implementation of a cohesive organisational culture. Therefore, organisations should develop HR policies and management practices that support a positive organisational culture.

From a practical perspective, a positive organisational culture that fosters teamwork, respect, and open communication leads to higher employee engagement. Therefore, organisations should focus on creating a supportive organisational culture to improve employee engagement and organisational performance.

In conclusion, organisational culture plays an important role in influencing employee engagement and organisational performance. Organisations that develop a positive organisational culture are more likely to have motivated employees and achieve long-term success.

References

Hofstede, G. (1980) Culture’s Consequences.
Schein, E. (2010) Organisational Culture and Leadership.
Armstrong, M. (2014) authored Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice.
CIPD (2016) Organisational Culture and HRM.
Deal, T. and Kennedy, A. (2000) Corporate Cultures.