HRD CULTURE

&
CLIMATE
BY
SHAHBAZ MALBARI
MANISH
MULCHANDANI

Denison (1996) suggested that

Culture refers to the deep
structure of organizations, which is
rooted in the values, beliefs and
assumptions held by organizational
members.
In contrast,
Climate refers to those aspects of
the environment that are
consciously perceived by
organizational members.

HRD in the organizational context is

a process by which the employees
of an organization are helped in a
continuous, planned way to:
(a) acquire or sharpen capabilities
required to perform various
functions associated with their
present or expected future roles;

(b) develop their general capabilities

as individuals and discover and
exploit their own inner potentials
for their own and/or organizational
development processes; and
(c) develop an organizational culture
in which supervisor-subordinate
relationships, team work and
collaboration among sub units are
strong and contribute to the
professional well-being, motivation
and pride of employees

HRD mechanisms measure the extent

to which HRD mechanisms are
implemented seriously. These
mechanisms include
Performance appraisal
Potential appraisal
Career planning
Performance rewards
Feedback and counselling
Training
Employee welfare for quality work-life
and
Job rotation.

Organizational or corporate
culture
is the pattern of values, norms,
beliefs, attitudes and assumptions
that may not have been articulated
but shape the ways in which people
in organizations behave and things
get done.
Values refer to what is believed to
be important about how people and
organizations behave.
Norms are the unwritten rules of

Characteristics of culture,

Furnham and

Gunter (1993)

It is difficult to define.
It is multi-dimensional, with many
different components at different
levels.
It is not particularly dynamic and
ever-changing.
It takes time to establish and
therefore time to change a
corporate culture.

Significance of culture,

Furnham and Gunter

(1993)

Culture represents the social glue and

generates a we-feeling, thus
counteracting processes of differentiations
that are an unavoidable part of
organizational life.
Organizational culture offers a shared
system of meanings which is the basis for
communications and mutual
understanding. If these functions are not
fulfilled in a satisfactory way, culture may
significantly reduce the efficiency of an

The values and norms that are the

basis of culture are formed in following
ways;
over a period of time,
by the leaders in the organization,
is formed around critical incidents,
develops from the need to maintain
effective working relationships among
organization members,
is influenced by the organizations
environment.

Culture is learnt over a period of time,

there are two ways in which this learning
takes place.
THE TRAUMA MODEL, in which members
of the organization learn to cope with some
threat by the erection of defence
mechanisms.
THE POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
MODEL, where things that seem to work
become embedded and entrenched.

The components of culture

Values
Norms
Artefacts
Management style

Areas in which values may be

expressed
explicitly or implicitly
Care and consideration for people.
Competence.
Competitiveness.
Customer service.
Innovation.
Performance.
Quality.
Teamwork.

Typical norms
How managers treat the members of
their teams (management style) and how
the later relate to their managers.
The prevailing work ethic.
Status how much importance is
attached to it; the existence or lack of
obvious status symbols.
Ambition naked ambition is expected
and approved of, or a more subtle
approach is the norm.

 Performance exacting performance

standards are general; the highest praise
that can be given in the organization is to
be referred to as very professional.
Power recognized as a way of life;
dependent on expertise and ability rather
than position; concentrated at the top;
shared at different levels in different parts
of the organization.
Politics life throughout the
organization and treated as normal
behaviour; not accepted as overt
behaviour.

 Loyalty expected, a cradle to grave

approach to careers; discounted, the
emphasis is on results and contribution in
the short term.
Anger openly expressed; hidden, but
expressed through other, possibly political
means.
Approachability managers are
expected to be approachable and visible;
everything happens behind closed doors.
Formality a cool, formal approach is
the norm; forenames are/are not used at all
levels; there are unwritten but clearly
understood rules about dress.

Artefacts
are the visible and tangible aspects of an
organization that people hear, see or feel
and which contribute to their
understanding of the organizations culture.
can include such things as the working
environment, the tone and language used
in official environment.
can be very revealing.

Management style
is the approach managers use to deal
with people. It is also called leadership
Style, it consists of the following
extremes:
Charismatic/non-charismatic.
Autocratic/democratic.
Enabler/controller.
Transactional/transformational.

Classifications of organizational
culture
Power-oriented competitive,
responsive to personality rather than
expertise.
People-oriented consensual,
management control rejected.
Task-oriented focus on competency,
dynamic.
Role-oriented focus on legality,
legitimacy and bureaucracy.

Supporting and changing cultures

It may not be possible to define an
ideal culture or to prescribe how it can be
developed.
But embedded cultures exert
considerable influence on OB and
therefore performance.
If there is an appropriate and effective
culture, it would be desirable to take steps
to support or reinforce it.
If the culture is inappropriate, attempts
should be made to determine what needs
to be changed and to develop and

HRD climate is the perception

that the employees have about
the policies, procedures,
practices, and conditions which
exist in the working environment.

HRD Climate has three dimensions

of (T.V. Rao and E. Abraham)
General climate,
OCTAPAC culture and
Implementation of HRD
mechanisms
The general climate deals with the
importance given to human
resources development in general by
the top management and line

The OCTAPAC items deal with the extent

to which are
Openness
Confrontation
Trust
Autonomy
Pro-activity
Authenticity and
Collaboration
valued and promoted in the organization.

Openness is there when employees

feel free to discuss their ideas, activities
and feelings with each other.
Confrontation is bringing out
problems and issues in open with a view
to solving them rather than hiding them
for fear of
hurting or getting hurt.
Trust is taking people at their face
value and believing what they say.

Autonomy is giving freedom to let

people work independently with
responsibility.
Pro-activity is encouraging employees
to take an initiative and risks.
Authenticity is the tendency on the part
of people to do what they say.
Collaboration is to accept
interdependencies to be helpful to each
other and work as teams

HRD climate is characterised by the

tendencies such as
Treating employees as the most
important resources
Perceiving that developing employees is
the job of every manager
Believing in the capability of employees
Communicating openly
Encouraging risk taking and
experimentation

Making efforts to help employees

recognize their strengths and
weaknesses
Creating a general climate of
trust
Collaboration and autonomy
supportive personnel policies, and
Supportive HRD practices
An optimal level of development
climate is essential for facilitating
HRD activities

Organizations with
obetter learning
otraining and development
systems
oreward and recognition and
oinformation systems
promotes a favourable HRD
climate.

THANK YOU