Formulating Human Centered Organizational Culture
As Lepeley makes clear when she spells the foundations of HCM (2017), it is necessary to replace obsolete human-as-resource approaches inherited from the industrial past with new agile ones that position the wellbeing of people at the center of organizational culture and the sustainability purpose. This implies redefining management imperatives focused on resources and adopting innovative approaches that create value for the organization highly aligned with the wellbeing of employees, customers and society at large. Culture is embedded in intrinsic social relationships where people interact with other people, so the static perspective of organizational culture is no longer effective in the new social workplace. The social complexity perspective offers a conceptual perspective of organizational culture aligned with new insights for HCM practice.
Narrative 8
Francesca has heard that her program is ridiculed and overshadowed by a topic of autonomy mentioned a lot. People complain that a lack of autonomy is affecting their wellbeing. Frustrated Francesca seeks expert advice from Dolores, an experienced transformational manager with a clear human centered approach to organizational culture. Dolores encourages Francesca to get out of her office and start asking people what really helps them achieve wellbeing. Dolores, aware that people always define their own reality recommends Francesca that she should be present to better understand the local discourse on wellbeing and health, organizational values and specific needs. She also introduces values such as participation, respect, openness, employee voice and dialogue that are critical to understand the organizational culture. According to Dolores, it is impossible to design, engineer or implement a culture based purely on the complex result of countless interactions. She stresses that Francesca really has to observe thoroughly to understand and co-create dialogues with others. Don’t assume you know what is going on but learn what is going on. Interact to co-create shared values! Francesca learns that efforts to transform a culture start by changing her behavior and the
A Social Complexity Perspective 71 way she talks about the culture and to get involved in an open discussion with other people in the organizations to become familiar with their needs and expectations, showing and sharing human centered values and the explicit model she is promoting to meet their values and needs to enhance wellbeing in the workplace.
