Introduction
The concept of organizational culture comprises the behaviors and values that lead to the distinct psychosocial surrounding of any particular organization. It entails mutual beliefs, assumptions and values that dictate the behavior of members of the organization (Jex and Britt, 2008). The shared values strongly influence how people within the organization perform their jobs, dress, and act (Jay and Steven, 2011). Organizational culture has been defined to have a myriad of benefits on the progress of the organization. One of the benefits is the provision of a competitive advantage that results from innovation, and proper customer service (Thompson, Smith and Bybee, 2005). Besides, robust organizational culture is also a source of efficient, and consistent performance by the employees, as well as facilitation of the team spirit. Similarly, high employee morale stems from a healthy organizational culture. It is noteworthy that organizational culture is one of the primary determining factors of the failure or survival of an organization. The plethora of practices enveloped in the concept has a direct contribution to the overall performance of the organization and individual employee performances (Van De Voorde, Paauwe, J, and Van Veldhoven, 2012). Conversely, unhealthy organizational culture is not only detrimental to the employees within the organization, but also to the overall performance of the organization. The negative impacts of weak organizational culture include poor employee retention, product innovation, and the ultimate failure of the organization. Over time, studies have focused on ways to minimize the possibility of the existence of negative organizational culture practices while improving robust organizational culture. One of the major findings of such an endeavor is the concept of positive organizational culture, which is synonymous with most of the contemporary corporate bodies. Essentially, positive organizational culture roots for the organizational well-being as a way of maximizing the potentialities of the employees and ameliorating organizational performance. Employee well-being is a product of positive organizational culture, which denotes the sense of overall mental and physical health, and happiness within the organization’s workforce. It is noted that organizational well-being has a direct impact on each outcome of organizational aspects like performance and achievement of the set objectives. On the other hand, a critical review of the concept and its tenets reveal that the focus of positive organizational culture on well-being over other aspects is detrimental to the organizational performance. Thus, the following discussion seeks to examine the claim by analyzing both the positive and negative impacts of the focus on organizational wellbeing on the performance of the organization.
The Relationship between Organizational Culture and Performance
A holistic comprehension of the detriment posed by the focus on well-being to the organizational performance is best gained by a prior examination of the relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance. Contextually, organizational performance predicates the exact output from the various productivity-enhancing strategies maintained by the organization. The performance is gauged via the initial objectives and goals of the organization. Such performance cuts across three major areas of the corporation, namely financial performance, product market performance, and shareholder return (Van De Voorde, Paauwe, J, and Van Veldhoven, 2012). Organizational culture affects each of the three spheres of organizational performance differently, thus, exhibits a direct relationship between the two aspects of an organization. In essence, the positive organizational culture is an instrument for motivating, controlling, and enhancing performance (Hartnell, Ou and Kinicki, 2011). The concept of well-being, which is a product of positive organizational culture, also entails activities such as the motivation of the employees with a sole aim of facilitating organizational performance. This exhibits the simple interlink between positive organizational culture and organizational performance.
On a dissimilar note, the individual practices that underpin organizational culture, including well-being, are the social adhesives that bring about the togetherness of employees and the consequent feeling of belonging to the organization (Van De Voorde, Paauwe, J, and Van Veldhoven, 2012). As a result, this brings out the best in the employees as they feel satisfied and comfortable in an organization of which they feel a part. Employee well-being, as part of the positive organizational culture, thus, builds confidence into the employees in relation to achieving both their personal and organizational goals. Precisely, positive organizational culture assists in alignment of the individual goals of the employees with those of the management in a manner that fosters productivity and facilitates organizational performance. Finally, positive organizational culture is projected to encourage the spirit of teamwork, which is a pertinent aspect of organizational performance (Luthans and Doh, 2015). The goals of an organization are better delivered in a team if significant progress is to be realized. The positive impacts of teamwork on organizational performance are unrivaled (Thompson, Smith and Bybee, 2005). The fact that organizational culture enjoys a direct relationship with organizational performance leads to the requirement that other aspects of organizational culture besides well-being must be considered for overall productivity of the company.