PA 854

Public Personnel Administration

The Importance of Organization Culture in determining

the Motivation of Employees

Introduction

Organizational culture has a strong impact on organization and management, which

emerges from its nature and its content. It is defined as a system of assumptions, values,

norms, and attitudes, manifested through symbols which the members of an organization

have developed and adopted through mutual experience and which help them determine

the meaning of the world around them and how to behave in it (Janicijevic, 2011). Thus, a

closer look at the Philippine public administration shows that the Filipino culture is a

special kind of environment wherein the values and desired behavioral norms of the

political leadership have strongly influenced the direction and thrust of the changes made

(Ashipaoloye, 2014). On the other hand, motivation is the existence of autonomy support,

which means that organizational managers pay attention to every decision that is meant to

lead to the welfare of employees. Accordingly, motivated employees are more oriented

towards autonomy and freedom and are more self-motivated compared to less motivated

employees, which causes development opportunities to benefit them (Demircioglu & Chen,

2019; Arshadia, 2010). Consequently, motivation is the power that allows someone to act

in the direction of a particular goal (Indahingwati et al., 2019).

In Human Resource Management, there are numerous challenges that a human

resource face. These challenges are often inherently related on some issues in creating

balance between the needs of employees, demands and capabilities of the company’s

organization. For instance, there are a lot of employees who know little about main duties

and function to do, lack of skills and experience in accomplishing their work, and have low

1
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

work control attitude in handling certain job which count as their main duties and function.

Apparently, the company must be able to equate the perceptions or perspectives of

employees and leaders to achieve company goals such as through the determination of a

right working mentality with high dedication and loyalty to their work, providing guidance,

direction, motivation and proper working coordination from a leader to his subordinates.

However, creating employee job satisfaction is not easy because job satisfaction can only be

created if there is continuity between work motivation and the organizational culture of

the company that can be accommodated well and accepted by all employees. Hence,

Organizational performance highly relies on individual performance or, in other words, its

production will contribute to organizational performance (Akob et al., 2020; Haerani et al.,

2020; Nguyen et al., 2019). Furthermore, motivation and great performance from the

employees are always desirable.

Considering the problems stated above, the proponent was driven to determine the

positive outcomes or results of related studies regarding Organization Culture and

Employee’s Motivation. It is a way to make human resources, employees and the

organization as a whole to see its value and importance to improve the current

administrative system, as well as to contribute mainly to the company’s success. Generally,

the paper aimed to define the organizational culture, importance of organizational culture

to shape employee motivation, employee’s motivation, motivational theories, scope of the

research and research framework in a clear and very brief discussion. In addition, this

paper indicates that the creative works on a systematic basis will give every people

concerned the sufficient knowledge and information about the importance of organization

culture towards employee’s motivation.

2
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

Organizational Culture

The concept of culture was developed from sociology, anthropology, and social

psychology that aimed at gaining insight into the ethic and characteristics of groups. In

particular, culture represents the overall differences that distinguish one group from the

other in a particular community or working set up. In addition, organizational culture is the

pattern that consist of the shared fundamental assumptions that are learned by the group

in the process of solving its problems of the internal integration and external adaptation

which has operated well and become valid, and perhaps can be taught to any new

employees as one of the best way to perceive, think and feel being in relation with those

problems. In other words, culture is the belief, ideologies, principles or values that are

formed by the organization. Organizational culture is classified into four types and these

are the following:

Role or” Eiffel tower” culture – is bureaucratic. It indicates a rational and strong hierarchy

where roles and responsibilities are highly valued. In this type of culture, the personal

relationship are avoided purely and employees are treated equally. In relation herewith,

formal rules, procedures, systems, and structures are highly respected, and therefore are

highly developed and have a critical role in the functioning of the organization. This is why

an organization with role or “Eiffel Tower” culture functions through dependence on work

structure and division of labor and tasks, while relations between people are of secondary

importance.

Task or “Guided Missile” culture- is a culture in which organization is a tool for problem

solving and accomplishing tasks. Results, competency, creativity, achievement, and change

3
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

are highly valued. In addition, tasks are often very complex that the entire team must to

solve, therefore teamwork is highly valued. In this type of culture, it is presumed that the

power in an organization must always be distributed relatively evenly among its members

to reach its common goals. In this case, since an organization with task or “guided missile”

culture is focused on tasks, relationships and social structure are of secondary importance.

Power or Family culture- is authoritarian. In this type of culture, the metaphor for

organization is the patriarchal family with a powerful father figure at the head. Just as all

the power in the family is concentrated in the hand of the father, likewise in an

organization with this type of culture, a have high degree of centralization is expected and

valued. Hence, as interpersonal relations are the most important aspect of the family, it will

be considered as more important than work structure and tasks. Furthermore, power or

family culture implies high dependence of organization members on their leader, who

makes all the decisions and coordinates and controls all the processes in the organization.

Thus, this type of culture signifies a high degree of flexibility, because the members of the

organization readily accept all the changes coming from the leader.

People or “Incubator” culture- is a culture that values individualism. In this type of

culture, the organization is understood as an incubator of ideas and people. Individual

goals are more important than organizational goals, hence organization is regarded merely

as a suitable ambience for personal development. Furthermore, due to the high level of

individualization in the organization, the key component on which its functioning depends

on social structure or relationships.

4
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

Importance of organizational culture to shape employee motivation

According to Ahmed & Shafiq (2014), organizational culture is defined as the

pattern of values, norms, and beliefs' and the assumption that may not be articulated but

shaped how a given group of people behave and carry daily activities. In particular, culture

determines how workers interact with the organization, healthy and strong culture

enhance motivation and employee’s loyalty to the organization. It helps in promoting a

healthy competition in the workplace. Moreover, culture is a representation of the

predefined policies which act as guidance to the employees and give them direction,

therefore every employee is aware of his or her duties and completes the task before the

deadline. Lastly, culture is able to create a brand image of the company. This means that

culture gives the company an identity more so to bring the employees to a common

platform. Thus, culture is known as the common benchmark which should be followed by

all members.

Each of the importance of organizational culture over employees will be defined

further and these are the following:

Culture decides the way employees interact at workplace- A healthy culture encourages

employees to stay motivated and loyal to management.

Promoting healthy competition at the work place- Employees try their level best to

perform better than their fellow workers and earn recognition and appreciation of the

superiors. It is the culture of the workplace which actually motivates the employees to

perform.

5
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

Culture goes a long way in creating brand image for the organization- The work culture

gives an identity to the organization. In other words, an organization is known for its

culture.

Culture brings all employees on a common platform- The employees must be treated

equally and no one should feel neglected or left out at the workplace. It is essential for the

employees to adjust well in the organization culture for them to deliver their level best.

Culture promotes healthy relationship among the employees- No one treats work as a

burden and molds himself according to the culture.

The work culture unites the employees who are from different background- Certain

organizations follow a culture where all the employees irrespective of their designations

have to step into the office on time. Such a culture encourages the employees to be punctual

which eventually benefits them in the long run. It is the culture of the organization which

makes the individuals a successful professional. Every employee is clear with his roles and

responsibilities and strives hard to accomplish the tasks within the desired time frame as

per the set guidelines. Implementation of policies is never a problem in organizations

where people follow a set culture. The new employees also try their level best to

understand the work culture and make the organization a better place to work.

Employee Motivation

According to Chaudhary & Sharma (2012), motivation is derived from the word

“Motive” which means needs, wants, or the desire of the person. So therefore, employee’s

motivation simply define as the process in which organization inspire the employee with

the shape of rewards, bonus, security and etc. in achieving the organizational goals.

6
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

In the organization, employee’s motivation is very important as its very concern

requires physical, financial and human resources to accomplish the goals. It is through

motivation that the human resources can be utilized by making full use of it. This can be

done by building willingness in employees to work. In addition, employee’s motivation is

one of the best policies to improve effective work management between the organization

and employees. It is very significant for the organization or management to treasure a

method to motivate their employees. Apparently, when employees realize that their view

are consider to be valued, it provides them an intellect of belongingness which can

motivate the employees. Hence, in particular, incentive always accomplishes the demand

and requirements of the employees and in return the individuals repay it through hard

work and honesty.

Thus, the needs of an individual and factors considered to be motivational for them

are the object of intensive research and analysis which resulted in establishing many

motivation theories. (Karic, 2014). In particular, it is important to identify and understand

the motivational cues as motivational factors such as salaries and wages, bonus,

encouragement, job security and promotion to increase the presentation of employees that

will set factors to the culture of organization for the better performance.

Salaries and wages- Salaries and wages is the main and very important motivational

aspect that affect the employee’s performance in the organization (Agwu, 2012). If the

organizations’ administration paid the reason able remunerations in time and fixing the

salaries then enactment of the employees habitually increase. Otherwise not well.

7
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

Bonus- Association administration can easily increase the work performance of the

workforces with the help of additional benefit. We can say that additional benefit is above

the salary that gives the employee’s according to their performance. Hence, bonus is an

important tool for increasing the productivity (Agwu, 2013).

Encouragement- Encouragements mean additional allowances like medical allowance,

travel allowance, house allowances and etc. Through this, organization can increase the

employee’s performance by providing this encouragement. In addition, it is an important

indicator as employee’s thing that organization cares for employees, so it is the

responsibility for employees to take care the organization in return (Bhattacharyya, 2009).

Job security- Organization increases the employee’s performance or productivity by

providing job security. Thus, job security is one of the prime concerns of employees since it

becomes very difficult to cope up with the changing environment. That’s why some

organization provides job security to employees that are willing to stay as it is herculean to

find out any job easily.

Promotion- Organization increases the employee productivity by promoting them.

Motivation Theories

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need theory introduced a hierarchy of employee needs that

need to be satisfied at the work place. Maslow’s argue that fulfilling all the needs for an

employee, beginning from the psychological needs to Self-Actualization needs increases

employee motivation that is reflected on their performance (Lester 2013). Employers must

ensure that first, the psychological needs such as food, and shelter are provided to the

employees. Secondly, security needs must then be ensured. These needs would include,

8
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

salaries and wages, bonus, encouragement and job security. Moreover, the belonging needs

for employees that include teamwork, and employee participation are also other needs

vital for employee motivation.

Moreover, in the Maslow’s pyramid, self-esteem needs follow the belonging needs.

Employee self-esteem would be achieved through assigning them challenging tasks,

training employee to boost their skills and rewarding them (Lester 2013). The last need in

the work place is the Self-actualization need for employees. Employers help employees self-

actualize themselves by enabling them become more creative and posing challenges for the

employees to solve at their own. Organizations that satisfy the employee needs as

described in the hierarchy have their workers highly motivated and can perform higher.

Scope of Research

In this paper, several research were assessed and several variables were defined to

understand the scope of the research paper. Prior to this research is expected to impart

understanding and awareness to all concerned people about what are the importance of

organizational culture in determining the motivation of employees.

Conceptual Framework

The diagram depicted in Figure 1 indicates a set of broad ideas and theories which

help a researcher to identify the problem easily as well as to understand and develop

solutions for a way forward. With the help of conceptual framework, the researcher aim to

clarify the research question to easily reach towards the conclusion. Moreover in this

particular research paper, the organizational culture is independent variable and

9
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

motivation of employees is considered as dependent variable on the culture of the

organization where the effect of motivation is noticed.

Independent Variables Dependent Variables

Organizational Employee
Culture Motivation

Fig. 1. A Conceptual figure showing the relation of the Organizational Culture and
Employee’s Motivation

Conclusion

Motivation and organization can be difficult especially when dealing with other

cultures. It is important for management to understand the cultural backgrounds of their

employees and work to create an environment where everyone can succeed. Culture of any

organization indicates the uniqueness of norms, beliefs, the way of behavior that shows or

identifies the manner in which groups and individuals combine things which have to

accomplish. Thus, in this research paper, the way how culture shapes employees

motivation and brings positive outcomes for the organization is giving the best results and

encourage growth in the public service.

10
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

References

Agwu, M. (2012). Impact of Employees Safety Culture on Organisational Performance in

Shell
Bonny Terminal Integrated Project (BTIP): European Journal of Business and
Social Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 5, pp 70-82.
Agwu, M. (2013). Impact of Fair Reward System on Employees Job Performance in Nigerian
Agip Oil Company Limited Port-Harcourt: British Journal of Education, Society &
Behavioural Science 3(1): 47-6.

Ahmed, M., & Shafiq, S. (2014). The Impact of Organizational Culture on Organizational
Performance: A Case Study of Telecom Sector. Global Journal of Management and
Business Research: A Administration and Management, 14(3), 22–30. Global
Journals Inc. https://globaljournals.org/GJMBR_Volume14/4-The-Impact-of-
OrganizationalCulture.

Akob, M., Arianty, R., & Putra, A. H. P. K. (2020). The mediating role of distribution Kahns
engagement: An empirical evidence of salesforce in Indonesia. Journal of Asian
Finance, Economics and Business, 7(2), 249–260. https://doi.org/10.13106/
jafeb.2020.vol7.no2.249.

Arshadia, N. (2010). Necessary need satisfaction, work motivation, and job performance in
an industrial company in Iran. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences,
5(January), 1267-1272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.07.273.

Ashipaoloye, FK. (2014). A Comparative Analysis of the Organizational Culture and

Employee’s Motivation of Selected Cities in CALABARZON: Basis for Employee’s
Motivation, Leadership and Innovative Management. Asia Pacific Journal of
Multidisciplinary Research, Volume 2, No. 5.

Bhattacharyya, D. (2009). Organizational behaviour. 1st ed. Oxford University Press.

Chaudhary, N & Sharma, B. (2012). Impact of Employee Motivation on Performance

(Productivity) In Private Organization: International Journal of Business Trends
and Technology, volume2, Issue 4.

Demircioglu, M. A., & Chen, C. A. (2019). Public employees’ use of social media: Its impact
on need satisfaction and intrinsic work motivation. Government Information
Quarterly, 36(1), 51-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2018.11.008.

11
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College
PA 854
Public Personnel Administration

Haerani, S., Sumardi, Hakim, W., Hartini, & Putra, A. H. P. K. (2020). Structural Model of
Developing Human Resources Performance: Empirical Study of Indonesia States
Owned Enterprises. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(3), 211-
221. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2020. vol7.no3.211.

Indahingwati, A., Launtu, A., Tamsah, H., Firman, A., Putra, A. H. P. K., & Aswari, A. (2019).
How Digital Technology Driven Millennial Consumer Behaviour in Indonesia.
Journal of Distribution Science, 17(8), 25-34. http://dx.doi.org/10.15722/
jds.17.08.201908.25.

Janicijevic, N. (2011). Methodological Approaches in the Research of Organizational

Culture.
Economic Annals, 46 (189), pp. 69–100.

Karic, M. (2014). Motivation of Public Sector Employees: The Case of the Noni Grad
Sarajevo Municipality. Master’s Thesis, pp.10–53.

Lester, D. (2013). Measuring Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Psychological reports, 113(1),

15-17.

Nguyen, H. M., Mai, L. T., & Huynh, T. L. (2019). The Role of Transformational Leadership
toward Work Performance through Intrinsic Motivation: A Study in the
Pharmaceutical Field in Vietnam. Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and
Business, 6(4), 201-212. https://doi.org/10.13106/jafeb.2019. vol6.no4.201.

12
Joe Mark B. Candones
Cor Jesu College