Tea
Plantations in the highlands of Malaysia. Photo by Dr. Md. Munir Hayet Khan
Culture
Framework:
How Needed
is it at Work?
By Prof. Jonathan
Acuña-Solano, M. Ed.
School of English
Faculty of Social
Sciences
Universidad Latina de Costa Rica
Saturday, April 28,
2018
Post 315
Some time ago, a friend of mine from
Malaysia, Munir, shared a beautiful picture of the arrays of tea bushes in a
plantation with me. And by paying attention to its planting patterns, despite
the differences in the terrain, I often wonder how Mother Nature provides us
with such a beautiful landscape captured by Munir’s eye. And when I relate this
to my current working situation and why things get to happen, these arrays can
help us visualize what needs to be comprehended in detail to better function
within an institution such as the private university I work for, or any other
place where I may get to work in the near or far future.
I’ve been working for this private
university at my home country for almost 20 years, and being there has given me
the chance to experience the understanding of the search and need for a culture
framework at work. And having been asked to participate in an online
asynchronous training on what a culture framework is has also made me
reconsider what I believe as an educator in a higher education institution and
as an instructional designer at the binational center where I hold a position,
too. A culture framework at any institution where one works helps us all to be
aligned with what the institution envisions for its future and helps us all
understand what our role in the organization is, like the purpose and meaning
of the planting patterns in Munir’s photograph. Things in connection to a
company’s culture framework are not random decisions or movements; a tea
plantation is not done in a haphazard way.
So, what does a culture framework at
work do for us employees within an organization? The Laureate Culture Framework
training I participated in emphasizes that “the framework answers fundamental
questions and ensures that everyone at Laureate is aligned with our movement
and working together to achieve our long-term objectives” (Laureate Ethics Center, 2018) . If all employees at
an institution endorse the company’s culture framework, we are bound to
comprehend and embody the goals that the institution attempts to attain.
Employees have a clearer set of accomplishments to be achieved as an
organization and not just as isolated departments rivaling one another when
there is lack of understanding of corporate policies, if any. The organization’s
“planting patterns” become a way towards the achievement of goals because they
can be traced and tracked by all personnel. The array of planting patterns
become clear in the workers’ mindset making them (or all of us) fully
operational within an institution.
Based on the Laureate Ethics Center
(2018), their Culture Framework pillars find their foundation in the Founder’s
Mission, Purpose, Long-Range Plans, and Operating Principles. And having to come
to think about these pillars in connection to the places where I have worked in
my professional life as an educator, I wonder how clear these core ideas
(planting patterns) are for all employees at those organizations I have been
part of. A company is born because its founder(s) had (and continue(s) to have)
a mission. Companies are not created just because; there is a reason for them
to exist. This reasoning for its creation is then linked to the organization’s
purpose that needs to be adapted to continue being current in the market and
satisfy the need the founder(s) spotted in the market. And for this purpose,
long-range plans are set to be achieved within a 12-month period or so. And in
other to make these plans come true, the institution must have a set of operating
principles that help employees understand how things must be done for the
accomplishment of goals. And if we continue to admire Munir’s photograph, we
then get to see why the tea plantation, despite the irregularities in the
terrain, still looks well-organized.
For the sake of an education
institution’s well-being, the existence of a Culture Framework must be present.
Based on this, the answer to the question, “is it necessary to have a culture
framework?” is a resounding YES! As highlighted by the Laureate Ethics Center
(2018), they help workers answer “fundamental questions” regarding their role
in the organization and what goals are in the company’s future that depend on
the joint effort of all departments to be attained. Moreover, the interaction
of the four pillars proposed by Laureate help everyone in an institution to get
aligned with the its “movement” (their way of being, doing things, and
planning). No random planting patterns will be around confusing workers who
will probably see only an amorphous set of goals they hardly understand.
References
Laureate Ethics Center. (2018). Our Culture: The
Laureate Movement. Retrieved May 17, 2018, from Laureate Ethics Center:
https://laureate-console.lrn.com
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Post a Comment