Organizational Climate - A Performance Enhancing Aspect
- By Smitha Das
Work performance, like all other phases of individual behavior, is a function of both the individual and the
circumstances in which he or she exists, specifically, the firm. It is also rational to anticipate, on the basis
of day-to-day practice and research evidence, that the organizational climate will have an impact on the
human resource's performance. As work performance is contextual in nature, it is estimated that behavior
is reliant on the climate prevailing in the company.
As per Moran and Volkwein (1992), Organizational Climate is defined as "a relatively enduring
characteristic of an organization which distinguishes it from other organization, hence,
(a) embodies members' collective perceptions about their organization with respect to such dimensions
as autonomy, trust, cohesiveness, support, recognition, innovation and fairness;
(b) produced by member interaction;
(c) serves as a basis for interpreting the situation;
(d) reflects the prevalent norms and attitudes of the organization's culture; and
(e) acts as a source of influence for shaping behavior."
The organizational climate facilitates the firm to identify the deficiencies in connection with different
organizational factors, such as organizational structure, employee compensation system, communication
level, physical atmosphere, organizational culture, etc. It is the apparent trait of a firm and its sub-systems
as replicated in the mode in which an organization deals with its associates, team members and
organizational problems. It is comparatively enduring excellence of the in-house atmosphere that is
experienced by its employees which influences their performance and can be described in terms of the
values of a specific set of behaviors in the firm.
Motivational Analysis of Organizational-Climate (MAO-C) is an instrument that assess motivational
climate of an organization based on the six motives mentioned above. The profile includes six scores on
six motives. The two highest scores are generally used to interpret the climate: the highest score shows
the dominant climate and the next highest the secondary climate. The combination of these two motives,
thus, characterizes the organizational climate. Generally, there are six different kinds of dominant climate
characterized by different motives.
The six motives characterizing dominant organizational climates are listed in the table given below: -
Factors Influencing Organization Climate
Various aspects of organizational climate influencing learning in firms are: -
Organizational Context: The climate is said to be highly favourable when the existing
organizational techniques are such that workers' objectives are absolutely harmonized to the
principles of the company.
Structure: It is the framework that establishes formal relationships and defines power as well as
functional responsibility.
Process: Communication, decision making and control are some of the significant procedures
through which the organization carries out its goals.
Physical Environment: The external conditions of environment, the size and location of the
building in which the staff works, the size of the town, climate conditions, noise in the work
place, etc., affect the organizational climate.
System Values & Norms: Every firm has apparent and fairly evident formal value system where
certain types of behavior are rewarded as well as motivated, and certain kinds of behaviour
compels a person to formal sanctions.
Organizational climate is the summary perception which people have about their organization. It
is, thus, a global expression of what the organization is. The 90s era has seen the shift in trend to
people desiring to work more in the private sector. Lured by higher remuneration, better working
conditions and more incentives, the organizational climate of the public sector was viewed as a
less favourable. The conduciveness of the organizational climate depends on various factors such
as organizational context, organizational structure, company customs and values, physical
environment, communication, reward system, employee encouragement, performance evaluation
system, training and development programmes, supervision, etc.
Today, latest technology is also being implemented to survey organizational climate of the
company to establish a set of baseline measures to analyze the organization's current
effectiveness and level of operation. Organizational climate has a note-worthy impact on
workforce performance and organizational outcomes. Workplace climate helps in boosting
employees to perform their level best which in turn results in perking up of returns, increasing
revenues, reducing production costs, and improving consumer satisfaction. All these outcomes
have been confirmed time and time again!
