How Do I See My Values? The Many Facets of Organizational Culture

Take a moment and list the top three companies that you’d want to work for (if you weren’t so invested in educating future generations, of course). Did you make your picks? What do they have in common?
You can find lists produced annually by companies like Fortune and Glassdoor of the best places to work. There are many well-known companies who populate the lists, and many more that have not entered the public consciousness. When we think about these companies, our minds are often drawn to the perks they are known for. We think of the snacks and game rooms of a Google or the fun-loving antics of a Southwest Airlines.
The truth, though, is that it’s not really about any specific benefit. To explain what really draws us to a company, it comes down to company culture. Each culture is unique and expresses itself in myriad ways. The study of organizational culture has been developing for decades. Culture in an organizational setting, which has roots in psychology, sociology, and anthropology, is “the shared values and basic assumptions that explain why organizations do what they do and focus on what they focus on” (Schneider, Gonzalez-Roma, Ostroff, & West, 2017). These values and assumptions might be explicit, but they also might be hidden beneath the surface. Leaders and employees might not even be consciously aware of assumptions.
Researchers have elucidated a number of specific manifestations of organizational culture. This is a partial list of ways that organizations communicate their underlying values. These cultural cues can be used to evaluate existing cultures and, used strategically, can help leaders mold the culture they hope to create.

1. Artifacts and Symbols
   Artifacts and symbols are direct expressions of cultural meaning, often found in organizations’ physical environments (Schein, 1983). These can include logos, slogans, and a mission statement. Leaders should consider the message that physical spaces impart. When Continental Airlines revamped their approach to service, they also invested money into important symbols. They revamped their logo and changed the planes themselves. Before the relaunch, when new seats were added they grabbed whatever was available, whether it matched the rest of the plane or not. As part of their cultural shift, they created welcoming planes by replacing any mismatched seats, demonstrating pride in the experience and not on the cost-efficiency of rebuilding a plane piecemeal (Higgins & McAllaster, 2004).
   School leaders can easily consider these questions when observing their own school. What symbols represent the school? How is space organized? If the school prizes collaboration, then physical spaces should be arranged to demonstrate that. Even if a school is not making fundamental changes to the building itself, the equipment should play to those values. This includes desks that are movable and technology for connecting to those in the school or out. Is a school’s history an important element of its identity? If so, then how does the school promote this blend of connecting to its past while bringing students forward? Leaders may look at their logos or even include elements of their past, like exposed bricks from their original location, into the building itself. One question that might be food for thought: When someone walks into your school, what is the first thing they see?
2. Rites and Rituals
   Rites and rituals include activities that express cultural values “through social interactions, usually for the benefit of an audience” (Trice and Beyer, 1984). There are a series of formal and informal rituals which occur in organizations that are based on underlying assumptions about what is important. In places where collegiality is prized, there will often be established practices to encourage interaction. These might include holiday parties and other after-hour get-togethers. If collegiality and interaction are valued for their role in creativity and collaboration, then the organization might incorporate brainstorming practices. A restaurant’s system of documenting orders can be rooted in the values of efficiency and conformity (Erhardt, Martin-Rios, & Heckscher, 2016). At Google X, the innovation hub for Google, employees are celebrated for pulling the plug when they have enough evidence that their projects won’t pan out. To demonstrate the importance of risk and trying things which may not succeed, teams that fail are “applauded by peers and supervisors at all-team meetings” (Leber, 2016). This celebration became a ritual that clearly expresses team values.
   Schools, too, have rites and rituals which they build into student and staff experiences. Jewish day schools may incorporate literal rites of passage, such as the celebration of bar and bat mitzvahs, but there are many more to consider. How do day school leaders recognize employee milestones? What other celebrations might reflect the values of the school? If real-life applications of learning are a school value, then build a celebration of that into team meetings, recognizing accomplishments in that area. Let the teacher with the “application of the month” receive the crown and bestow it upon the winning teacher of the next month. Rewards and recognitions should support the values that leaders wish to encourage. School leaders should also ask this question in the reverse: What rituals do we take part in that might undermine the values that we truly cherish?
3. Stories and Legends
   Stories and legends pass on important cultural values from member to member in an organization, including socializing new incumbents (Trice and Beyer, 1984). Members of all groups use stories to transmit ideals and beliefs to new members, and also to recruit people from the outside. New doctors to the Amundsen-Scott Station in Antarctica are told the story of Leonid Rogozov, a 27-year-old Russian doctor who was stationed at the South Pole (Glass, 2017). Rogozov, in 1961, felt the pains of appendicitis but, as the only doctor on the team, had no hope of making it to another surgeon in time to save his life. With the help of his comrades at the station, Rogozov performed an appendectomy on himself. The story paints the picture of an ideal station member, a self-reliant professional who is able to survive the harshest conditions. Organizational leaders, in this case the station manager, tell stories as part of an informal socialization process.
   Jewish day school leaders also help create the stories and legends which will inform the socialization of its members. Stories are told at meetings and during informal settings in order to set up the principles which are valued by the school. As we might tell children and students the stories of gedolim, our great sages of the past, leaders should also consider the stories which they tell their employees. Do leaders use stories in their interactions with teachers? Do they mythologize the teachers who live up to values that they espouse? School leaders can draw from other institutions and from businesses. Stories of exceptional service in other industries can capture the attention of employees even when examples from the world of education aren’t readily accessible.
4. Language
   Methods of communication and the language used should not be overlooked as tools for expressing cultural meaning. Van Maanen (1991) elaborated on the use of language at Disneyland in conveying cultural values and perspectives. What is the difference between referring to those you serve as “customers” versus calling them “guests”? What about “clients”? Different terms carry different connotations and put values on display. The use of jargon and industry buzzwords, too, are a choice that leaders make when communicating with those inside and outside the organization. The methods of communication also stem from underlying values (Jex and Britt, 2014). Members of organizations who prize group creativity may favor in-person communication as opposed to groups seeking efficiency which may grow reliant on online communication which won’t lead to distracting small talk or off-topic conversations.
   Schools are careful about the language used and the terms given to shared experiences. Many school-based programs, especially those with social-emotional elements, carry with them a toolbox of strategies along with a set of shared terms. For example, Responsive Classroom uses “morning meetings” (“What Is Morning Meeting?”, 2016), a set of “logical consequences” (Three Types of Logical Consequences, 2011), and the use of “brain breaks” (Time for a Brain Break!, 2016). Each of these terms creates a list of shared language between students and teachers and includes underlying values. The use of a “brain break” communicates that “We take breaks during class for the benefit of your learning” and helps students become self-aware of their need for cognitive rest. In order to create shared cultural meaning, school leadership needs to get on board with these terms as well, when communicating with teachers and while modeling it for teachers when speaking with students. Consider also the questions involved in methods of communication. Are interactions between teachers and supervisors relegated to emails? Are administrator emails sent overnight, creating an implied expectation that teachers be “on call” 24 hours a day? As leaders, school administrators become models for their employees, a living example of cultural values in action.
   An organization’s culture is based in its underlying values and assumptions. These values may not be articulated overtly but are expressed through a number of specific facets of organizational life. As we have seen, cultural artifacts, rituals, stories, and communication all play a role in transmitting culture. Leaders play an integral role in shaping these elements and school leaders can use these modes of communicating values to take an active role in influencing a school’s culture. 
   Rabbi Yoni Gold is an educator in Skokie IL. With degrees in Jewish Education and Industrial/Organizational Psychology, he brings the insights of psychology into the classroom and to working with school administrations. You can reach Yoni at [email protected].

References
Erhardt, N., Martin-Rios, C., & Heckscher, C. (2016). Am I doing the right thing? Unpacking workplace rituals as mechanisms for strong organizational culture. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 59, 31-41.
Glass, I. (2017, March 31). This American Life [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.thisamericanlife.org/613/ok-ill-do-it
Higgins, J. M., & McAllaster, C. M. (2004). If you want strategic change, don’t forget to change your cultural artifacts. Journal of Change Management, 4(1), 63-73.
Jex, S. M., & Britt, T. W. (2014). Organizational psychology: A scientist-practitioner approach (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Leber, J. (2016, April 14). How Google’s moonshot X division helps its employees embrace failure. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/3058866/how-googles-moonshot-x-division-helps-its-employees-embrace-failure
Schein, E. H. (1983). The role of the founder in creating organizational culture. Organizational Dynamics, Summer, 13-28.
Schneider, B., Gonzalez-Roma, V., Ostroff, C., & West, M. A. (2017). Organizational climate and culture: Reflections on the history of the constructs in the Journal of Applied Psychology. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 468-482.
Three types of logical consequences. (2011, October 24). Retrieved from https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/three-types-of-logical-consequences/
Time for a break break!. (2016, September 06). Retrieved from https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/time-for-a-brain-break/
Trice, H. M., & Beyer, J. M. (1984). Studying organizational cultures through rites and ceremonials. The Academy of Management Review, 9(4), 653-669.
Van Maanen, J. (1991). The smile factory: Work at Disneyland. In P. J. Frost, L. F. Moore, M. R.
Louis, C. C. Lundberg, & J. Martin (Eds.), Reframing organizational culture (pg. 58-76). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
What is morning meeting? (2016, June 07). Retrieved from https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/what-is-morning-meeting/

• Print
• Email