Impact of HRM on Corporate Culture

Corporate Culture
Culture defines the proper way to think, act and behave within an organization. Those who do things in the "proper" way will fit-in and can become quite successful. Those who chose not to do things in the proper way do not last long with an organization. They are told, "we don´t do things like that here."

Senior management defines what is considered proper within the organization. Leaders create cultures which they believe will provide them with a competitive advantage. If the company competes in an industry that relies on innovation, management will create cultures where creativity is consider the proper way to think, act and behave. This is because culture helps an organization adapt to its external environment as well as drives internal integration.

Human resources do have a challenging role to play in organizational culture, as it is the employees who work for the organization, who embrace and improve a particular culture within the organization. Any desired change to the culture of the organization has to be done through the employees and by the employees.

Organizational Culture and HR Practices
Basic HRM exercises like recruitment, selection, and training affect the performance and stability of an organization. These exercises have the ability to influence employee behavior and build values that develop the organizational culture.

Organizational Culture
Change in behavior defines how one acts or conducts oneself in any situation. Therefore, if HR exercises could positively affect the behavior, improving positive thinking about organizational initiatives towards the employees, it would lead to positive results for the business. Cultural values are part of the external factors that influence HR exercises. Cultural values command employee behavior.

In organizational cultures where employee engagement is common, it is more likely to have higher employee satisfaction and encouragement than the ones that do not favor employee involvement.

Anyhow, there might be various reasons why employees do not want to or speak out. Some employees might see this as an unnecessary risk, while others might simply have personal reasons like being shy or not being comfortable with the management.

Management Styles
An organization experiences different management styles that may change or remain steady with time.
There are different management styles that we come across while observing the management patterns of different private and public sector companies.

Let us take a look at the following management styles −

• Collegial Style

In the collegial style, resources and rewards are uniformly distributed. The management control over the employees is restricted, resulting into employee empowerment. Individual duty is the basis of organizational performance.

Organizational success depends on the commitment that an employee has towards the work and the business. This key element and distributed values help create a unity of direction and focus on the part of the employees.

• Meritocratic Style

In the meritocratic style, employees are bothered about productivity and cohesion. The management puts stress on performance. In short, this management style believes in the fact that power should be distributed on the merit basis.
Appointments are made and duties are assigned to individuals on the basis of their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, which are determined through evaluations or examinations, for example, Civil Service Exams.

• Elite Style

In the elite management style, the organizational hierarchy is highly improvised. Power, resources, and rewards are focused at the top levels of the hierarchy. Employees have no say in the decisions made by the senior management.

• Leadership Style

The leadership style of management has a lot in common with the elite style of management, but rather than a faction of leaders at the top level, it has leaders at different levels of the hierarchy. For example: the army.

It is impossible to manufacture or change culture overnight,As culture continues to be a key determining factor in a company’s ability to attract new talent and retain its current employees, HR departments are under increasing pressure to manage and foster their company’s cultures. While HR might not always have the power to change the culture outright, it does have the ability to influence leadership to steer the culture in the right direction and nurture an environment where employees enjoy coming to work and performing their jobs.