Tips for the New Employee – Basics of Organisational Culture
If you are just out of college and have stepped into employment, you are likely to deal with a whole new world to begin with. The culture that you would have got used to while you were in your school or college is all but over and you would have to deal with a new set of realities in your organization. While you may not have known about such complicated stuff as “Organizational Culture” et al, you would definitely have got used to the word “Culture” by now.
What is Organizational Culture? In simple terms, culture is a set of realities of a given situation. In your own organization, you would inevitably be part of an organizational culture, though you may not realize the presence of it or the influence it exerts on your behavior. As a new comer, you are supposed to learn the ropes in your place of work and get used to their way of doing things.
One aspect about being part of an organization is that you are bound by the rules and regulations there; but, more importantly, you are supposed to walk in line with what is expected of you, informally. For instance, your organization may expect you to be in formals and be polite and strictly official in all your dealings. Or, you may have the liberty to be yourself and call one another in the organization by your first names. This is a reflection of the formal organizational culture as dictated by organizational rules and regulations.
Peer Pressure in organizations: You could also be in for surprises when it comes to informal codes of conduct. The informal culture may well be contradictory to what the organization stipulates as its rules and regulations. You may have a target to achieve as set by the organization; however, your peers may have their own imposed restrictions that may expect you to “Walk the fine line”. The “Peer Pressure”, in most organization, is in line with the “Good enough, but not too much” principle, where organizational outputs are artificially restricted. So, do you go ahead and reach the targets and exceed them to show your real capability and commitment to the organization, or do you succumb to “Peer Pressure” and walk the fine line?
These are tough questions that are best answered by experience. What you should know is that there are two facets to organizational culture and both are real. And it takes more than ordinary efforts and average levels of commitments to excel in the work place, fulfill one’s job responsibilities and progress in one’s career. Only the best employees manage the pressure from peers while still progressing in the organizational hierarchy.
