Professional blog

Organizational Culture: Between the Customer and the Employee 

The concept of organizational culture was discussed in a previous module; however, we will extend the concept with an emphasis on the client-employee relationship. Sordo (n/d) defines organizational culture as a “dynamic operating system […] as a set of shared beliefs, values, and practices that focuses all its activities as an aid to the fulfillment of the objectives of the corresponding entities”. Chiavenato (2000) defines organizational culture as “a way of life, a system of beliefs, expectations, and values, a form of interaction and relationships typical of a given organization. […] This whole set of values must be continuously observed, analyzed, and interpreted” (p. 589).  

Mena (2019) adds to these definitions the integral aspect of organizational culture and states that such organizational culture:  

Presupposes all the practices, values, assumptions, customs and habits, philosophy, work climate, shared meanings, languages, rituals, codes, regulations, manifestations, beliefs, ways of thinking, producing or doing and acting or behaving, of generating information and symbolic content, of integrating or associating; the forms of perception and feelings that are generated within organizations, in which the different types of publics are involved (p. 13). 

These authors agree that organizational culture is a set of beliefs and values that guide the organization’s work. Chiavanato (2000) proposes that these values should be subjected to continuous analysis and interpretation.  

Organizational culture includes elements such as philosophy, vision, mission, identity, organizational environment, rules, regulations, procedures, and protocols, among others. Elements must be analyzed and reviewed on an ongoing basis to develop a healthy and effective organization. Therefore, the organizational culture must be flexible enough to allow these revisions, adaptations, reforms, and changes, if necessary, to occur. This allows for developing a healthy and effective organization and strengthens the organization-employee/client bonds, raising the quality of the services or goods offered. 

The advantages of developing an organizational culture are several. One advantage is that it defines identity. It identifies the image that the organization wishes to project to employees, clients, and other local, national, and international institutions or organizations. Another advantage is that organizational culture allows for strategic planning of objectives and goals, achieving greater effectiveness and efficiency by increasing the motivation of both employees and clients through results in the delivery of services or benefits. This healthy culture attracts talent to the organization and produces recognition from customers, raising the level of satisfaction of both customers and employees (Mena, 2019). Satisfaction has an impact on employee/customer interactions (Figure 1). 

This impact renders into respect and dignified treatment towards and from the different publics (employees, supervisors, and clients, among others). It translates into a relationship of trust, support, and participation in which power relations are horizontal. To this, Mena (2019) adds that there are aspects of citizenship in which all actors exercise their duties and rights. All these values and aspects discussed above are consistent with the profession of social work. 

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Social Work Ethics states as one of its ethical standards, standard 3.07, “social work administrators should advocate within and outside their agencies, for adequate resources to meet client’s needs, and social workers should advocate for resource allocation procedures that are open and fair” (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2021). When these standards are followed, employee-client interactions occur in an atmosphere of respect and participation. Both identify changes that need to be made to improve quality, if necessary (Lohmann & Lohmann, 2002).  

Figure 1: Employee/Customer Interactions 

Quality of Services: Satisfaction from the Inside and Outside and the Social Worker as a Labor Specialist 

Satisfaction from inside and outside has an impact on the quality of the services offered in the organization. How satisfied the employee feels can determine the quality of the services offered. At the same time, the client’s satisfaction with the service received determines his/her receptivity and commitment in the process of accompaniment towards achieving the satisfaction of his/her need/situation/problem. Royse et al. (2010) argue that there is a correlation between client satisfaction and the permanence and responsiveness of the client in and with the treatment and/or service. Furthermore, client satisfaction is associated with symptom relief and improvement in the client’s condition/situation. 

On the other hand, when human beings feel validated and satisfied in the work area, their aptitudes to produce and work towards personal, client, and organizational fulfillment are activated, giving way to the promotion of the organization’s objectives. Therefore, satisfaction manifests itself in actions and skills inward and outward. 

 Complexity of Service Delivery Models, the Social Worker as a Linking Agent, and Empowerment as Theory and Practice 

The Complexity of Service Delivery Models (Public, Private, Non-Profit, and Community-Based Organizational Networks) and the Social Worker as a Linking Agent

The social work profession has origins with the emergence of the welfare state tied to socioeconomic changes. “Welfarism, beneficence, and social services are words that are intrinsically linked to its development and are part of the social work imaginary” (Raya Díez & Caparrós Civera, 2013, p. 338). Raya Díez and Caparrós Civera (2013) argue that the social work profession has undergone different approaches since its beginning. With the new economic-social situation, globalization, and neoliberal aspects, the social work profession has proliferated in new fields, allowing the profession to expand and insert new complexities, service, and delivery models.  

Organizational objectives and priorities change as the paradigm and worldview change or as one paradigm prevail over another. So do changes in public and social policies and the emphasis or attention given to a social problem/need/situation. The new neoliberal policies have created tendencies toward a smaller government, less state intervention, and allocation of less budget to programs of social interest, services, or goods. The state is beginning to delegate many functions or services to private, non-profit, or community organizations. 

Paolini and Odriozola (n/d) state that these transformations are due to the “boom of capitalist economies, which have produced imbalances at the social level that the State has not been able to solve” (p. 96). These authors refer that this is where non-governmental organizations acquire relevance due to their role in society to alleviate the effects of the shrinking government and the proliferation of social situations. It should be noted that these organizations operate mostly with a budget allocated by the state, although some receive funding from private entities.  

Due to austerity policies (less allocation of funds and government downsizing), services considered “universal” (education, protection, social security) and other essential services (health, housing, food) suffer major transformations and crises at all levels, affecting the most vulnerable. This is the juncture of social work as a binding agent between the clients, the services they deserve, and the organizations called to offer and guarantee these services or goods, ensuring the welfare of all. 

In terms of state/government, Frahm, K. A. & Martin, L. L. (2009) say that we are currently in the midst of a transition between two paradigms (government and governance). They argue that aspects of the shift to the governance paradigm have been observed in “community-based care; collaborations, partnerships, and networks between government and private sector organizations; accountability for results; faith-based initiatives; place-based policies; and others” (p. 9). In some aspects, one paradigm predominates over another or is unequal across federal, state, local government, or communities (Table 1). The governance paradigm is based on a basic principle that “no one actor, public or private, has the global knowledge, information or resources to solve complex and varied problems” (Sehested, 2003, p. 89).  

Table 1: Comparison of the “Government” Paradigm and the “Governance” Paradigm 

Dimension 

Government 

Governance 

The role of government 

Main actor 

One of the many actors 

Authority and decision making  

Central control and monitoring 

Decentralized trading and Persuasion 

System structure      

Closed and vertical 

Open and horizontal 

Approach    

Programs

Tools 

Democratic process  

Representative 

Participatory 

Accountability  

Process

Results Quality 

Accountability

Results process 

Results at the community level 

Policies 

Centralized/Uniform 

Decentralized/Location-sensitive 

 Source: Frahm, K. A. & Martin, L. L. (2009). From Government to Governance: Implications for Social Work Administration.  

Returning to the binding aspect of social work as an agent between clients, services, organizations, and paradigms that predominates in the here and now, Calvillo (2013) calls for: 

Our competence must respond to the new demands that the labor market imposes on social workers, and we must also advance in the conquest of an effective labor market. Still, we must also be concerned about improving the level of professional training. There is a correlation between the fragility of the current professional practice, the low salaries, and the competition with other professionals who dispute the same social areas of action because if we are not competent, we will not be able to occupy the space of Social Work, which is none other than that of Social Action (para. 5). 

The social worker, as a binding agent between the clients and the provision of services from the different spaces (public, private, non-profit, NGO, and community organizational networks), must be a promoter of social justice, defender of human rights, and promoter of the expansion of these. Action that provokes to put into action the standards of the profession and to insert in battles where a proactive role is claimed to the state as guarantor of human rights, to transform the necessary conditions to achieve that social justice, that equality, that equity of the human being, values that are the foundation of social work profession. 

Empowerment as Theory and Practice

Empowerment in social work generally refers to “bringing” power to those who do not have it. The exercise of social work from the theory of empowerment allows the creation of the necessary conditions for each client to be the agent of their change. This theory gives space where actions are promoted from an axiological perspective where dignity, freedom, social justice, equity, diversity, democracy, citizen construction, active participation, and human rights are promoted. 

The challenge of empowerment is bringing vulnerable and disadvantaged populations to the “edge” or “crossroads” so that they have decision-making power over their next action. Robbins, Chatterjee, and Canda (1998) argue that “empowerment theories are based on the idea that society consists of stratified groups that possess different and unequal levels of power and control over their resources” (p. 91). Simon (1984) identifies five basic components of the empowerment approach; building collaborative bonds between workers and clients, emphasis on strengths rather than weaknesses, focus on individuals and their social environment, recognition of rights, responsibilities, and needs of clients and client groups, and directing professional efforts to help groups that have historically been excluded from power.  

Empowerment theory is based on the following principles: 

· Emphasis on the positive aspects of human behavior, such as identifying and fostering capabilities and promoting well-being rather than curing problems or identifying risk factors (Zimmerman, 2000). 

· It is an approach that analyses the influences of the context rather than blaming the victims. A critical reflection is made. 

· Facilitators (social workers) act as collaborators who, among other things, learn from the experiences of communities, create environments for people to meet, support the empowerment of people to find their solutions, and disseminate these experiences (Rappaport, 1981). 

· It is an intentional, ongoing, local community-centered process involving mutual respect, critical reflection, care, and group participation, through which people who lack an equitable sharing of valued resources gain greater access to, and control over, those resources and their lives (Cornell Empowerment Group, 1989). 

· Empowerment can be experienced by a) individuals alone or in groups, b) organizations, and c) entire geographic communities (Zimmerman, 2000). 

Zimmerman (2000) and Rappaport (1988) agree that empowerment is a construct that relates individual strengths and capacities (competencies), natural support systems, and proactive behaviors to issues of social change and social policy.  

The practice of this theory in social work interventions increases clients’ self-efficacy, political power, and sense of control over their personal and community environment (Hardina & Montana, 2011; Peterson & Zimmerman, 2004). This has implications for the living conditions of clients (service participants) and the practice of the social work practitioner, orienting practice towards advocacy and social change in social services, towards social justice. Hardina & Montana (2011) state that one must promote “the political empowerment of the people served by social service organizations to ensure that both staff members and clients gain power and the ability to influence organizational decision-making and public policy” (p. 256). Therefore, the social work professional must take advantage of their workspace, be a proponent of social policies and empowerment practices, and not only the one who executes services. They should encourage proactive participation and promote intervention practices that contribute to developing a dignified, inclusive, equitable, and participatory human being, recognizing their citizenship and political power. 

References

Calvillo, J. M. (2013).  Trabajadoras y trabajadores sociales del siglo XXI. https://www.trabajo-social.es/2013/04/las-trabajadoras-y-trabajadores.html 

Calvo de Mora, J. (1991). ¿Conocimiento del clima o la cultura en las organizaciones: qué hacer?   Actas de las Jornadas de Estudio sobre el Centro Educativo: nuevas perspectivas organizativas, 135-146. https://idus.us.es/bitstream/handle/11441/50866/Jornadas%20de%20CENPO_13.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y  

Chiavenato I. (2003).  Administración de recursos humanos. Editorial Mc Graw Hill. Cornell Empowerment Group. (1989). Empowerment and family support.  Networking Bulletin, 1, 1-23. 

Frahm, K. A. & Martin, L. L. (2009). From Government to Governance: Implications for Social  Work Administration. Administration in Social Work, 33, 407–422.  

DOI: 10.1080/03643100903173016 

Hardina, D. & Montana, S. (2011). Empowering Staff and Clients: Comparing Preferences for Management Models by the Professional Degrees Held by Organization Administrators.  Social Work, 56(3), 247-257. Oxford University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23719204 

Lohmann, R.A., Lohmann, N. (2002).  Social Administration. Columbia University Press. National Association of Social Workers. (2021). NASW code of ethics. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English 

Mena Méndez, D. (2019). La cultura organizacional, elementos generales, mediaciones e impacto en el desarrollo integral de las instituciones.  Pensamiento & Gestión, 46, pp. 11-47. http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/pege/n46/2145-941X-pege-46-11.pdf 

Paolini, N. A. y Odriozola, J. (s/f).  Diferentes tipos de organizaciones: ¿Por qué no todas son iguales? Editorial Universidad de la Plata. 

Peterson, N. A., & Zimmerman, M. (2004). Beyond the individual: Toward a nonbiological network of organizational empowerment.  Journal of Community Psychology, 34, 129-145. 

Rappaport, J. (1981). In praise of paradox: A social policy of empowerment over prevention.  American Journal of Community Psychology, 9, 1-21. 

Raya Díez, E. & Caparrós Civera, N. (2013). Trabajo social en las relaciones laborales y la empresa vías para el emprendimiento.  Documentos de trabajo social: Revista de trabajo y acción social, 52, 338-356. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4703443 

Robbins, S.P., Chatterjee, P., y Canda, E.R. (1998).  Contemporary human behavior theory: A critical perspective for social work. Allyn y Bacon. 

Sehested, K. (2003). Cross-sector partnerships as a new form of governance.  Local partnerships in Europe: An action research report. 89–95. The Copenhagen Center. 

Sordo, A. I. (s/f).  Cultura organizacional: tipos, elementos y ejemplos extraordinarios. https://blog.hubspot.es/marketing/cultura-organizacional 

Zimmerman, M. (2000). Empowerment theory.  Handbook of community psychology, 43–63. Kluwer. 

Zimmerman, M. A., & Rappaport, J. (1988). Citizen participation, perceived control and psychological empowerment.  American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 725-750. 

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