What exactly is an organizational climate? At its most basic level, organizational climate refers to employee’s shared perceptions of their work environment. Climate is an enduring state that impacts behavior and how the work gets done. Aspects of the environment that will give you climate indicators include, morale, trust, communication, leadership, teamwork, rewards, recognition, and conflict resolution. Basically, climate is the internal atmosphere of the organization.
You can feel it when you walk in the door of any business. Is it sunny and warm or overcast? Is it raining or at worst, constantly storming? What’s the customer service like? Are people friendly and approachable? Or are they withdrawn and don’t make eye contact. If you are a regular customer, do you notice a lot of turnover or disengagement?
Many owners and managers may have a strong sense of their organization’s strategic direction, but lack a fundamental understanding of the perceptions, feelings and attitudes of their employees. This lack of understanding often leads organizations to waste their most valuable resource, their people.
Here are a few examples of healthy and unhealthy elements of climate.
Healthy – People express satisfaction, are engaged in their work and are actively making a contribution.
Unhealthy – People are frustrated and they complain a lot.
Healthy – Disagreements are discussed openly, resolved and everyone moves on.
Unhealthy – Disagreement is avoided, issues fester, there is surface harmony and covert conflict.
Go to my resource page on my website and you’ll find more examples of Un-healthy and Healthy Elements of Organizational Climate. Take a look and identify what’s happening in your organization.
Until next time, go Make it Happen and Oh Yes, Happy Forecasting.
Read more articles by Kris Thaller at Kris Thaller, Certified Life Coach contributor archive page.
