Organizational Culture As A Condition For Forming Personnel Identity

Abstract

Organizational culture plays an important role as a link between the production behavior of individual employees and the formation of personnel identity. It contributes to the unconscious formation of labour behavior. Considering the transformations that have taken place in Russia over the past 30 years, which have affected the social, economic and other spheres of public life, the authors became interested in how these transformations affected the organizational culture of large industrial enterprises. The paper attempts to determine the dominant type of organizational culture at Russian enterprises as a predictor of the formation of the professional identity of personnel. To achieve this goal, the researchers recorded data from a long-term study that was conducted at 20 industrial enterprises in St. Petersburg in 1990, 2007 and 2020. On the basis of generalized theoretical material and broad empirical data, the article presents the problems of the organizational culture of Russian enterprises, which form the contours of personnel behavior. Researchers have registered that the indicators of a conductive social situation at enterprises for personnel have not improved over the past 30 years and are below the average level. The article will be useful for researchers with a similar research subject, heads of industrial enterprises, representatives of government authorities.

Keywords: Identity, identity formation, organizational culture, personnel management, social well-being of personnel

Introduction

Each production organization, which has certain traditions, has its "own" organizational culture of production behavior. Organizational culture is a prerequisite for creating a unified information and communication space, in which the process of forming the employees professional identity of various status and professional qualification groups takes place. It is no coincidence that researchers draw attention to the influence of internal communication (i.e., symmetric communication at the corporate level and responsive communication at the management level) on the formation of a positive emotional culture characterized by love, joy, pride and gratitude (Men & Yue, 2019). The stability of the organization structure, the continuity of its traditions, customs is achieved through the ceremonial and subordinate component of behavior. The rules of etiquette, the manner of addressing employees, managers, subordinates, as it were, reproduce the culture of the organization and its structural features. Tomilov (1994) draws attention to the fact that "the development of culture, change, appearance and disappearance, promotion to the supremacy and relegation to the background of various codes of conduct occurs according to the principle of one's own selection" (p. 17). That is, those elements of the culture are mainly assimilated that best meet the requirements of ensuring the life goals of society, the development of production. Vikhansky and Naumov (1996) define organizational culture as a set of the most important assumptions that are accepted by members of the organization and are expressed in the values declared by the organization, which give people guidelines for their behavior and actions. These value orientations are transmitted by the individual through the "symbolic" means of the spiritual and material intra-organizational environment. Shejn (2002) offers the following interpretation: "... organizational culture is a pattern (scheme, model, framework) of collective basic representations acquired by a group when solving problems of adaptation to changes in the external environment and internal integration, the effectiveness of which is sufficient to calculate it is valuable and pass on to new members of the group as a correct system of perception and consideration of the named problems" (pp. 31-32). Akhiezer notes that culture is a foundation that programs every person who assimilates this culture for some joint activity, in particular, within the framework of civilization, within the framework of society (as cited in Potemkin et al., 2013). In this culture there is a certain focus, some values, norms that program it to ensure unity with other people on different scales. Latest researches pay attention that organizational culture correlates with employee productivity (Altındağ & Kösedağı, 2015), has motivational potential (Copuš et al., 2019), is a factor in the formation of a competitive advantage through the cooperation of employees (Porcu et al., 2020) is a condition for the involvement of business and social actors in a relationship of mutual sympathy and empowerment (Martinez et al., 2021), is a "softer" aspect of governance to improve the stability of the organization (Barth & Mansouri, 2021). It’s important, that corporate culture depends on managerial staff characteristics (Doukas & Zhang, 2021), who realize the role model of social behavior. The researchers of the financial and credit sphere have proved that a weak corporate culture can cause an increase in violations in the work with securities, forming a certain type of identity and behavior of employees (Pacelli, 2019). At the same time, it is noted that a strong identification with the company is a deterrent, due to which employees are less likely to start looking for a new job with a higher income, therefore, employees who identify significantly with the company often have lower incomes (Kampkötter et al., 2021).

Problem Statement

In the context of the study of organizational and professional identity, attention is drawn to the fact that the structure of the identity groups to which a person belongs affects the identity that he creates in a work organization (Wrzesniewski et al., 2003). On the basis of values, norms of behavior, symbols, signals, mythology, a semantic field is created, which is the background for the formation of the personnel identity. A system of caring human resources management practices (work planning, learning and development, flexible working hours, work-life balance, participation in decision-making, health and safety, career development, and health and wellness programs) can lead to the creation of organizational a culture in which employees will show concern for each other, for the organization, and therefore demonstrate a higher level of involvement and identification with the organization (Saks, 2021). As a result of human actions, thoughts, desires, organizational culture is a connecting element between the production behavior of individual workers, it contributes, on the one hand, to the unconscious formation of production behavior, and on the other hand, it presupposes its stereotyping. The organizational culture of production behavior is thus both a result and a process and determines the continuous development of various aspects of production behavior. At the same time there are some bars in forming and effectiveness of business culture: certainly unacceptable conditions of business cooperation in connection with absence of clear agreement; negative past cooperation experience of enterprises for developing business; absence of legal base for economic activity; negative reputation in business area assumed business partner; personal characteristics of business partner which objectively defined caution in business cooperation; сriminalization of social relations.

Research Questions

In connection with economic, political and social reforms realized in Russia happens gradual forming of national business, culture which determines principles and results of enterprises and organizations activity. Experts marks such qualificative parameters of national business culture: decency - 57.0%; professional competence - 39.0%; skill to evaluate economical situation - 8.0%; insistence in achieving the goals - 4.0%; intuition in choosing administrative decision 7.0%; skill to negotiate – 5.0%; politeness and good manners - 3.0% (Potemkin, 2020). Considering to earlier studies results the researchers tried to determine what characteristics of the identity of various professional-qualification and status groups of personnel has formed in the organizational culture of Russian enterprises.

Purpose of the Study

The authors set the goal to determine the characteristic features of the business culture of Russian enterprises, which is the basis for the personnel identity formation. One of the objectives of the study was to analyze the features of the existing conditions for the formation of business culture at enterprises, their impact on the level of social well-being of personnel. Social well-being was considered as a socio-psychological factor that largely influences the employee's behavior strategy, identification with certain values and meanings and, as a consequence, professional and organizational identity.

Research Methods

Study was carried out at 20 large enterprises in St. Petersburg in 1990, 2007 and 2020 years. In order to determine the dominant type of culture in enterprises, we interviewed 100 managers using expert assessments and self-assessment sheets. The sample population of employees of enterprises is represented by 1000 respondents in each period. Employees were asked to assess 26 parameters that determine their personal level of social well-being.

Findings

Let's mention the importance of management-team in forming business culture. Managers of enterprises forms axiological orientations of business culture: preservation of business reputation among partners in business activity - 32.0%; conservation authority in the collective - 16.0%; growth of families welfare – 30.0%; acquisition of business links with administrative officials - 4.0%; securing from criminal structures- 1.0%; consolidation of country's economic potential by developing enterprise- 10.0%. In many ways the above axiological orientations are achievable in dependence from managers business characteristics, such as: professionalism, self- organization, skill to treat people well, skill to pass business decisions, health status and presence of pernicious habits, manifestation of personal characteristics in everyday work. By chiefs self-rating, their professionalism defined by aptness of education level - 83.0%, professional experience and skills - 75.0%, acquirement of perfect manufacturing and information technologies - 55.0%, knowledge of foreign languages 22.0%, and how the above characteristics goes with conditions and requirements to business manufacturing activity.

Chief's majority considerably does estimate high themselves by skill feature to pass administrative decisions in their fullness, consistency, promptitude, self- education, self-discipline, speech culture, intelligence, manner, horizon and then it goes as 84.0%, 78.0%, 60.0%, 58.0%, 58.0%, 55.0%. Chief's majority leads healthy life style without pernicious habits - 73.0%.

Chief's enterprises business culture it is an essential supposition of forming modern Russian enterprises form. The forming of management link in enterprises in majority materialized families' principals or from position based on personal commitment to chief. The goal of enterprise supposed long profitable existence by all accessible methods. The main motivation of administrative activity it is a receipt of existence and development but not the achievement of quality increasing guidelines and lives level. Among values which peculiar to humans, in enterprises chiefs' area prevails only orientation on material values. For example, if on Japanèse enterprises prevails a way with humans like to persons with all their mental, moral and ethic beginnings but in majority Russian enterprises the way to humans is effected from work power position.

In spite of stable collectivism positions among enterprises staff between chiefs prevails emotional attitudes in accepting management decisions in choice of business partners and in business carrier. There is a professional cooperation only in "friendly" teams and it has not public sign and it's not conduce to inside of manufacturing harmonization relations in organizations team.

Spectrum of social, economic and legal guarantees is very low or absence at all for enterprises staff in presence of Labour corpus of RF.

Majority of management decisions based on economic calculation, scientifically motivated valuation of economic and social researches but not managers intuition which doesn't supported by professional knowledge, morals and ethic rates of behavior.

Unfortunately the great number of ranks in regulatory body replaces on families principals, acquaintances, and personal committal to enterprises chief. It's necessary to draw attention on questions of staff enterprises paying which consists 5-7% from shop cost on manufacturability products and doesn't satisfy the modern requirements of increasing level and lives quality.

Among external factors which restrain the possible paying increasing, not reasonable tariffs growth on energy vector, lease of land, workplaces, transportation services, customs duty which capacity will be increasing future.

In the number of internal factors we can note the low level of staffs claims for carrying out of work which abides more difficult and requires increasing qualification, economic and innovative thinking.

The existing conditions of business culture forming on enterprises affects on staffs' social well-being.

Social well-being it is an integral index characterizing social-psychological staffs’ status, in base of that is perception of contents list and character of decision making in human resources management in organization. It's very popular when chiefs' majority does ignore the staffs’ opinion doesn't correlate make decision and subsequent requirements to employees and possibility for staff. Asthenic and sthenic employees emotions in process of decision making and realization of management decisions may decrease and increase human system capability, may form stable social-psychological employees status aimed at survival and developmental growth.

The social indicator of social well-being may become satisfaction of existent changing on enterprises in process of making decision as in process of managing employees, their targeting on realization of these decisions in administrative practice. Why the similar way on realization these decisions in administrative practice is attached to? First of all management decisions typical for human resources management functions and they encompass: planning, organization, accounting, control, motivation, coordination, stimulation and etc. or concern almost all sides of vital functions of staff. Second in process of decision making is created not one- dimensional but multidimensional connections and employees dependence by management hierarchy (from up to down) as by horizontal, vertical, organizational, economic and technical manufacturing and administrative links. Social persons' well-being, worker and enterprises employees is situated in this link with direct dependence and may be measured in the aggregate of appraisals of different sides enterprises staffs employees.

The valuation of social organizations employees' well-being may cooperate to minimization of chiefs' mistakes, receptible decisions; quality work increasing of staff; optimal reference of autocratic and cooperative management decisions with employees.

Undertaking approaches to stick social staff well-being with management system touched upon the chiefs' relations and members of team; the quality of aimed position and their understanding of workers; structuring of powers of office, nailing down the formal enterprise organization. But there is a contradiction which consists from stationary styles and ways of human resources management and they don't have the long period of time but not formal enterprise organization exposed to changes from aroused political, economic, legal, social situations on enterprise as outside.

The evolution of human resources management theory and practice confirms the conclusion that managers possessive the high rating wants their relations with colleagues built on personal base and mutual help but that who has a low rating- concentrate on decision and minds about productivity.

It's possible to conceive, that conclusion in full measure can refer to stable conditions the enterprise functioning. The enterprises functioning in intermediary period, more incidentals to bilateral way to solution of a problem of human recourses management. Observing this position we were trying to establish the staff social well- being on enterprises group in process of taking and realizing the management decisions, using 14 indicators (Table 1).

Analyzing the above empiric valuations we can assert that marks of positive social situation on enterprises for employees is lower than the average level. And such moments components as legal safety, economic and social safety, spiritual order we can’t even comment.

The perceived marks in majority associated with satisfaction marks of rationalization conditions of reinforcements work activity. Data from 2020 and 2007 are shown in Table (Table 1), data from studies from 1990 partly an set out in the text.

Satisfaction with the organization of work in 2007 was expressed only by 20.5% of the respondents. In 1990, only 22.4% of workers were satisfied with the organization of work, in 2020 - 23.0%.

The satisfaction in technique equipment work showed only 35.5% respondents and that was in conditions when the main mass of technique equipment exploits more than 20 years but the rate of depreciation is 0.15. In 2020 in the context of digitalization only 40.0% employees showed the satisfaction of technique equipment. That became real by reason of maintaining by workers their work place, the satisfaction of contents list were showed by respondents 42.0%.

Probably just below of desired satisfaction marks by work and rest regimes (54.5% и 37.0%). all the more so the regulation of that process may arise without any capital investments and only for expenses of organizing actions. In 2020. satisfaction with this indicator slightly increased - up to 55.0 and 40.0%.

According to 2007 data. such an aspect of management as participation of employees in making managerial decisions was not used (0.5%). However. in 2020 already 5.0 and 7.0% of employees are satisfied with the opportunities provided to them to participate in management. This is higher than in 2007. but below the expected level.

Probably in administrative questions doesn't used such aspect of management as participation in managing. Characteristic revelation and the valuation by those characteristics the staff social well-being in process of making management decision and it seems that it will be not full without fixation of dominating type of workers separate status. Among the types of social well-being status we can mark the following:

• categorical. aimed at transformation human resources management system;
• usual. activities makeup a transformation by human resources management system in different situations;
• undecided. conditional that the worker doesn't governed with enterprises situation by human resources management;
• restless and severe. conditional by state of play on enterprise and in society in general;
• apathetic. by method "be. what can be. you can’t change it".

Self-evaluation distribution of staff social well-being is presented in Figure (Figure 1. (a) & (b)). 

See Full Size >

Conclusion

Research data suggest that organizational culture is a multifaceted and multi-layered phenomenon. Organizational culture is a part of the information and communication field. in which the professional identity and the type of social well-being of employees of enterprises and organizations are formed. Socio-cultural factors play one of the most important roles in the formation of the social well-being of personnel. which determines the vector of human behavior and determines his organizational and professional identity.

nalyzing the above details we can conclude that categorical and usual well- being type can be concerned to creativeness type (42.3% respondents) but the restless and severe type to brakeage type of human resources management transformation system. Unlikely that the worker who is always under situation fear before future. will be tuned to creativeness but not to survival. subjected to all for the last or majority of possibilities. Undecided social well-being type (17.9% respondents) correspond to base for constructive job. for staff orientation on human resources management transformation system.

What's the conclusion we can make after analyzing empirical and theoretical material?

First of all. The adoption of managerial decisions and subsequent support in the human resource management system in the organization involves an assessment of the organizational culture and social well-being of the personnel.

Secondly. Organizational culture allows you to create an environment for the formation of a certain type of social well-being of personnel. depending on participation in management. which determines the involvement of employees in the activities of the organization. transformation of the structure. transformation of technologies. as well as in the formulation and implementation of actions by increasing productivity efficiency.

Thirdly. The process of forming an organizational culture should take into account. first of all. the human factor. because without this. economic. social and scientific and technical development is possible only with the temporary enthusiasm of the staff.

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