In some jobs it is imperative that members of the work force be able to work together and adhere to strict norms. In organizations such as this there are often people who crave the structure that this type of workplace culture provides them. One such organization is the police force.
While I myself have not worked for a police force my boyfriend has and is also in the interview process for another one currently. This type of organization adheres to strict procedures often for safety ,but also to prevent things like law suits, bad publicity, or community backlash. The police go through extensive background checks, psychological, physical, and interview process to determine if they meet requirements deemed necessary to fit the police work culture. One of the requirements is no felony convictions. This is so that police can use the necessary cultural artifacts to do their job. The gun in police culture is symbolic of a mechanism of defense. Other things police officers must understand to fit the culture is the hierarchy within the police force. There must be a respect for those with more knowledge who are better equipped to make judgement calls.
This work culture is exemplified not only in the hiring process but also after. There is a police academy that instills in officers the values of their particulat organization. This is then followed by a probationary period where officers can be moire easily terminated if they do not fit the expected actions.
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I had not thought about this kind of strict organizational culture before, but it was interesting to see what kinds of artifacts you could identify in police culture. My brother is currently going through the training and interviews to be a fire fighter and they have similar processes to make sure that the culture of the organization is inherent in all of their employees. Organizational communication is vital in these types of organizations because in some cases a mis-communication could be fatal.
ReplyDeleteHello! Thank you for the good examples regarding police and fire department cultures. I also have not experienced such work cultures, but I think I prefer it. In fact, the result of a self assessment I took a number of years back says that my personality would fit into military, police and government-like workplaces. Rather, I have experienced a more "loose-fitting" organizational culture of jazz music. I had been singing jazz for a few years as a member of a vocal jazz ensemble, in which the six singers (three men and three women) harmonized/blended the six different singing tones. Becoming a member was very competitive. We had to take an annual audition, and the lessons were strict. I had some goals for the activity, and one of them was becoming a national winner in one of the major jazz competitions in the US. I practiced a lot, and I always prepared the stuff before the lessons, such as microphones, an amplifier, speakers, and so forth. However, some of the members always did not show up on time (a.k.a. "musician time" which means routinely 15-20 minutes late) and did not prepare anything. They were very talented, mo so than I, but they had no goals, and just enjoyed singing in front of people. Even though we were talented, our singing quality was not better because of the "loose-fitting" culture (or norm), so we could not win the competition. I wish we could have had more "tightness" in our group culture.
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