Business adaptations are necessary when cultural changes occur in small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). These changes can be due to economic, social, or political factors. Data were collected from a sample of 518 employees working in SMBs located in Turkey.
This research provides evidence that organizational culture affects employee satisfaction by influencing job characteristics and job satisfaction directly and indirectly.
Organizational values
There are several sources of information that you can use to identify your organization’s values:
- Your own values
- Those held by your employees
- Those held by the community around you
- Those adopted by other organizations
- Those identified by experts in the field
Values are expressed differently across individuals and groups.
- Individuals may hold more than one set of values at any given point in time. People tend to shift between sets of values throughout their lives.
- Groups may share common values but express them in different ways.
- Organizations may adopt values that reflect the values of the leaders or managers who run the organization. Or, they may choose values that align with those of the customers or clients whose interests they serve.
Organizations can adopt values that support their mission. For example, a hospital may decide to adopt values related to patient safety and quality of care. However, it is not always easy to determine what values should guide your organization.
Shared values are the foundation of culture.
They’re also the basis for a lot of conflicts, and that can be good or bad depending on how you look at them. The problem is that we often don’t know what our shared values are. We might think we do, but we usually only have vague ideas about them. And even if we did know exactly what we stand for, there’s no guarantee that everyone else does too. So how do you find out? How do you get your organization to share its values?
Here are some tips:
- Start by defining your company’s core values. It doesn’t matter whether these values are written down somewhere or not; just make sure that everyone knows them. If you need help coming up with them, check out this article.
- Ask yourself why you believe in those values. What makes them so important to you? Why do they mean something to you? Try to explain them to someone outside your organization. You could ask a friend or family member, or maybe even a colleague. They might have different opinions than you do. That’s fine—you’ll learn more about your own beliefs after hearing theirs.
- Make sure that everyone in your organization understands the values that define your company. Do this by sending out emails, posting signs around the office, and making announcements over the loudspeaker.
- Once you’ve established your values, use them to guide decisions. For example, if you decide to buy new equipment, ask yourself which ones will best support your company’s values.
- Keep your values top of mind. Don’t let them slip into the background. Think about them whenever you’re faced with a decision.
- Finally, practice sharing your values. Find opportunities to talk about them and see how others react. You might start by asking people inside your organization to describe their experiences with your company’s culture. Then try talking to outsiders about your values. See if they agree with your interpretation of them.
Once they’re understood deeply, values become accepted.
They are no longer a matter of opinion or preference; they are the foundation for all decisions and actions in our lives. If you’ve ever asked yourself “What am I doing here?” then you already understand the importance of values. Values are the reason that we go to work every day. They motivate us to keep working hard and strive for success. They inspire us to take risks and explore new possibilities. They give us hope when things seem hopeless.
Values aren’t just important to individuals. They affect entire communities. When we live in places where people share similar values, we feel connected to our environment. In contrast, when we live in places where our values are different, we feel isolated and disconnected.
Values shape everything we do. They determine how we treat one another, how we spend money, and how we act toward nature. They influence the choices we make as consumers, the products we choose to purchase, and the services we seek out.
The fact is, values are everywhere. Whether it’s a corporation, a government, an individual, or a community, values play a central role in shaping our world.
Underlying values are revealed by supportive systems and behaviors.
The underlying value is the reason for your behavior, not just a reaction to something else. If you have an underlying value that motivates your actions, it will be reflected in how you behave. Your underlying values are what drive your actions.
You can identify your underlying values through self-reflection.
Ask yourself:
- What do I want to achieve?
- How do I know I’m going to succeed?
- What do I stand for?
- Why should anyone care about me?
- What makes my life meaningful?
Values such as diversity, equity, and inclusion
Values like D&I are increasingly recognized as important to the success of health care institutions. However, D&I is a complex concept that has been difficult to operationalize in practice. The National Academy of Medicine\’s definition of D&I states that it is “the full range of efforts needed to create environments that enable all patients, providers, and staff to thrive—including eliminating barriers to care, reducing disparities, and increasing participation of historically marginalized groups in healthcare.” This definition highlights the need to address multiple aspects of D&I simultaneously.
In addition to addressing these issues, there is also a need to develop effective strategies to measure progress on this front. To date, most studies of D&I have focused primarily on measuring outcomes rather than processes. As a result, many organizations struggle to assess whether they are making progress towards achieving their goals.
Cultures that succeed adapt to new values and behaviors,
The success of a culture is determined by how well it can respond to change. The concept of “culture” has been used in many different ways over time. For example, some cultures are defined by religion, race, ethnicity, gender, occupation, language, politics, and so forth. Other cultures are based on shared beliefs and values.
A successful organization must be able to respond effectively to changes in its environment. If it cannot adapt to changing circumstances, then it will fail.
A good place to start thinking about organizational culture is to examine the values that guide the decisions made within an organization. These values help define the culture.
Leaders often use the term “values” to refer to the core principles that guide decision-making. Values represent the fundamental beliefs that guide people’s actions.
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