Leaders have an outstanding impact on organizational culture. Employees tend to follow leaders in professional and cultural ways leading to a broad impact on the organization as a whole, Leadership is commonly defined as establishing a clear vision, communication it and resolving the immediate conflicts among the employees or facing the organization as a whole. Leaders are tasked with efficiently guiding organizational goal achievement while considering team member skills essential to produce the desired productivity. Since leadership is an aspect of management, it is necessary to establish that the management is well-equipped with leadership skills. Effective leadership can influence the organizational values such as honesty, respect, ethics and tolerance etc by demonstrating an ideal attitude in the workplace, establishing a vision among the employees, reinforcing accountability, motivating the employees, making a vision plan for the culture and values and by coaching the co-workers.
1. Ideal behavior and attitude
The management can present professional yet friendly attitude in the workplace. Change can only be expected by employees when management implements it first. According to the trait theory of leadership, one must be well-equipped with a certain set of personal qualities and characteristics such as intelligence, good judgment, decisiveness etc for the people to follow him. In order to reinforce this behavior, it must be awarded and appreciated when acted upon. The law of effect and reinforcement theory can be utilized, which says that a favorable after-effect strengthens the action that produced it. This means that actions followed by satisfaction will become firmly attached to the situation and therefore are more likely to occur.
2. Establishing purpose, vision, and goals among the employees
People always need a purpose to believe in and need to know what is most expected of them. Communication with employees on the organization’s purpose, the image that needs to be maintained and the amount of productivity that is required of them can bring a huge impact on the perspective of organization values among the employees. This may not only increase productivity but also give a chance to emotionally connect with all the co-workers.
3. Establishing a culture of accountability
Accountability is one of the key ways for leaders to influence the culture of the organization. This begins with having detailed job descriptions and clearly establishing measures and goals. Further communicating the HR manual and policies of the organization to employees and making them compulsory to read will be another major step. The employees need to see that all the internal processes, controls and systems, and cultural elements are in place for a reason. Further taking necessary actions in case of discrepancies and other fall-outs will be necessary to bring order and eliminate conflicts within the organizational culture.
4. Motivation and interest
This involves having a personal connection with your co-workers in order to understand what drives them. Using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, by assessing the interest of the employees critically and analytically, positive change can be inscribed within the organization. Further according to Herzberg theory, the hygiene (factors causing dissatisfaction) and motivator factors (factors causing satisfaction) for the employees can be studied through survey or communication. After studying these with proper leadership skills applied, values of the organization can be instilled among these co-workers. This can be done by friendly interpersonal communication, seminars, formal dinners and training.
5. Devising the vision plan of organizational values
Vision is the foundation for goal achievement within the organization. Awareness of the organizational vision provides a directional compass for each contributor within the organization to follow in terms of efficiency and work environment. Effective leadership is responsible for articulating the vision. Speaking more about the value of the work and the company and not compromising on quality and ethics can bring the right impact within the organization. Moreover, aligning the employees to work as a team to operational strategies by making them realize their importance. This can be done by involving them in brainstorming sessions, inquiring them for feedback and suggestions. This can help employees feel confident and important within the organization. Therefore, reassuring them that their actions will have an impact on the organization itself. These steps taken by effective leadership, are necessary to achieve company priorities by maintaining organizational values in connection with the vision of the organization.
6. Coaching the culture club
Leader coaching and development provides the framework for the employees to contribute to the company strategy and achievement of goals while maintaining the company values. Organizational values can be instructed by effective leadership. These values may be accountability, focusing on details, making a difference, delivering quality, healthy workplace environment, honesty, reliability and positivity, helping others, meeting deadlines, respecting company policy and rules and showing tolerance and respect among each other.
Leadership can therefore immensely influence the values of an organization provided the leaders are well-equipped with professional and leadership qualities.
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