ORGANIZATIONAL CLIMATE

A few weeks ago in this space we discussed Organizational Culture. This time, we'll take a look at Organizational Climate. The academic literature on the topics of organizational culture and climate makes a distinction between the two as follows:

Culture is comprised of components such as values, myths, beliefs and norms - very soft, amorphous stuff; while climate is made up of workplace dimensions that can be fairly easily measured. Over our 30 plus years of working with small and mid-size organizations, we have assessed, or surveyed the peoples' views of the climates of many of our client organizations.

Seven dimensions of climate have been shown to have the most direct impact on the behaviors and performance of the people surveyed.

1. CONFORMITY:  The organization has clear rules, procedures, policies, practices, and guidelines which people follow.
2. RESPONSIBILITY:  People are given personal responsibility to achieve their part of the organization's goals; people can make decisions and solve problems without checking with managers each step of the way.
3. RECOGNITION/REWARD:  The organization recognizes and rewards people for doing a good job rather than ignoring, criticizing or punishing people when something goes wrong.
4. STANDARDS:  The organization emphasizes quality performance/production; the organization sets challenging organization goals.
5. ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY:  The organization is well organized and has clearly defined goals rather than being disorganized, confused or chaotic.
6. WARMTH & SUPPORT:  The organization values friendliness; people trust and support each other.  Good work relationships exist in the workplace.
7. LEADERSHIP: The organization encourages leadership based on expertise; people accept and follow direction from other qualified people, not just those with formal leadership titles, rather than being dominated by one or two people in the organization.

For an idea of the state of climate of your organization, take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire below. Then, create a line graph showing the disparity between actual and optimum. We call this the development gap. We'd be glad to create the graph for you. Just fax or email your completed questionnaire to us with organization name, your name, email or fax number.

QUESTIONNAIRE
For each of the seven organization climate dimensions described below, circle the number in the ACTUAL row that describes your organization, now.  Next, circle the number in the OPTIMUM row that describes your view of the where your organization should be to be at its best.

CONFORMITY
Actual/Now
Few rules/policies/procedures                                 Many rules/policies/procedures
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Few rules/policies/procedures                                 Many rules/policies/procedures
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

RESPONSIBILITY
Actual/Now
Little/No responsibility is given                                 A lot of responsibility is given
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Little/No responsibility is given                                 A lot of responsibility is given
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

RECOGNITION/REWARD
Actual/Now
People are criticized/ignored/punished                  People are recognized/rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
People are criticized/ignored/punished                  People are recognized/rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

STANDARDS
Actual/Now
Low/No performance standards                              High, challenging performance
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Low/No performance standards                              High, challenging performance
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

ORGANIZATIONAL CLARITY
Actual/Now
Disorganized/confused/chaotic                         Well organized/clearly defined goals
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Disorganized/confused/chaotic                         Well organized/clearly defined goals
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

WARMTH & SUPPORT
Actual/Now
Little/No warmth, support, trust                           Lots of warmth, support, trust
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Little/No warmth, support, trust                           Lots of warmth, support, trust
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

LEADERSHIP
Actual/Now
Few leaders/leadership not rewarded                  Many leaders/leadership rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

Optimum/Best
Few leaders/leadership not rewarded                  Many leaders/leadership rewarded
        1         2           3           4           5           6           7           8           9

If you are completely honest in your responses, you will see a marked gap between actual and optimum. If you are a senior executive and you ask others in your organization to complete this questionnaire, you will probably find that their gap between the way things are and the way they would like them to be is greater than yours. For information on how to reduce these gaps, give us a call or drop us an email. We'd be happy to chat with you.