Day 79 – Q 5.How does work culture in a political democracy differ from that of an authoritarian regime. Examine.

5. How does work culture in a political democracy differ from that of an authoritarian regime. Examine. 

राजनीतिक लोकतंत्र में कार्य संस्कृति एक सत्तावादी शासन से किस प्रकार भिन्न होती है। करें।

Introduction:

Work culture (aka corporate culture or company culture) consists of the values, norms, and behavior of the people working within an organization and the meaning they attach to their actions and beliefs. Desirable work culture includes shared institutional values, priorities, rewards and other practices fostering inclusion, which are also influenced by the political system of the country.

Body

• Work culture plays an important role in extracting the best out of employees and making them stick to the organization for a longer duration. The organization must offer a positive ambience to the employees for them to concentrate on their work rather than interfering in each other’s work.
• It is the work culture which decides the way employees interact with each other and how an organization functions. In layman’s language work culture refers to the mentality of the employees which further decides the ambience of the organization.
• Each employee should be treated as one – Partiality leads to demotivated employees and eventually an unhealthy work culture. Employees should be judged only by their work and nothing else. This is possible in a democracy but highly unlikely in an authoritarian regime.
• Organization must have employee friendly policies and practical guidelines – Rules and regulations should be made to benefit the employees. Employees must maintain the decorum of the organization. Discipline is important at the workplace. Such a phenomenon is forcefully accomplished in an authoritarian regime while democratic system would focus on employee welfare.
• For example, China has had a work culture of long hours, often referred to as 996 — slogging from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week.
• Encourage discussions at the workplace – Employees discuss issues among themselves to reach better conclusions. Each one should have the liberty to express his views. Transparency is essential at all levels for better relationships among employees and a healthy work culture. Here again, a democratic system would enable such an environment but authoritarian regime would curb individual freedom.
• Mechanisms of control, the number and potency of supervisory elements that regulate an administrative action are way more in an authoritarian regime while democratic polity enables a minimal regulatory oversight.
• Recognition of merit, the extent to which merit would be rewarded or nonperformance would be tolerated. This factor is more probable to be encouraged in democratic  systems where merit and open competition are fostered while an authoritarian regime would ensure progress of elements which are favourable to its survival.
• At the same time, an authoritarian regime would ensure its service motive and social ethos which helps in creating a socially just society, which also depends upon the ideology of the regime. Social justice, at times, tends to take a backseat in case of democratic systems, in terms of their work culture.
• Also, in an increasingly competitive world economy, work cultures even in democratic systems are seen to be exploitative of workers in guise of efficiency. For example, Gaming industry in United States of America. While an authoritarian regime with communist leanings may at least ensure non exploitation of workers.

Conclusion

A happy worker is a vital asset to an organization. He/she not only works efficiently he/she also motivates and therefore get the best of his/her colleagues. Further, both political system and the organization’s work culture have a direct correlation. Both influence the ethical framework of people and are relevant to the social fabric of any society.