Assessing My Organizations Values Paper

Assessing My Organization’s Values

                                Shelby Hoff

                                January 8, 2018

                                BSCOM/336

                                Professor McCarty

                Assessing My Organizations Values

Hoff Orthodontics’ motto is, “we believe our role in the lives of others is an important one, to enhance their health and appearance for a lifetime!” In order to create an awesome team in a workplace, it is important to identify people who will fit best with its culture and values. Essential team members care passionately about doing work that helps others. They value teamwork, and they’re always willing to pitch in or stay late if someone is behind on an important deadline or project. This has led to a culture of trust, friendliness, and most importantly mutual respect within the team and that is exactly what my organization has. I currently work for an orthodontic office as a Registered Dental Assistant. Our employees are to feel like they are a part of a family and that is exactly how I feel due to the kind-hearted people that work there. The office I work for is dedicated to ensuring patients leave with a genuine smile on their face and to always leave them with a positive experience. The office I work for values their employees where doctor and office manager take personal interest to make sure all employees succeed.

         Recently my work hosted their annual meeting where we talk about our yearly goals and things we can improve on for the new year. The point of the meeting is to get us feeling motivated, refreshed and ready to take on the new year. Dr. Hoff started out the meeting by talking to us about the importance of leadership in the work place and how we as a team need to step up as leaders. Many people nowadays complain about the decline of work ethic when in reality, it is not the work ethic that has declined, it is the leaders that have failed. Whether it’s large organizations, government agencies, or small businesses such as the one I work for, the central factor needed to enhance an organization is simple, its leadership. Throughout history the world has seen many good leaders who possessed a variety of attributes that made them great. One only has to think of such good people as Gandhi or Mother Theresa. It would be pleasant to think we all have something of the right stuff to make a difference in the workplace or in the world. In order to have a successful workplace, employees shouldn’t always look to their manager or boss to be the sole leaders, all employees should take initiative to become a leader. Another important component of decision making which comes with being a leader is self-confidence. When someone is confident in their mental capabilities and is able to envision the world around them, then they will have no problem in analyzing a situation and making a decision that they can stand by for better or for worse. In this paper, I will analyze the values of the superb company that I am fortunate to work for.

        One thing I have learned since working for Hoff Orthodontics is that my coworkers have proven through their work ethic that they are able to influence some of the decisions made. We have monthly meetings where we are able to sit down with the front and back office and discuss ways to make the business operate more efficiently. This way, each employee has a voice that is being heard. Since employees have this opportunity to influence decision making, they are more honest about things going on within the workplace. These meetings have assisted me in recognizing many aspects of an organization that can greatly affect the success and moral. It is very important to have adequate and accurate information when making decisions otherwise the quality of the decision will suffer. Creating an organization that has structure creates efficiencies of process and production that are customized to their particular departments. It creates a way for managers to send feedback and performance information up the line to assist in future executive decisions. I haven’t been with my dental office for very long, but when I first started, I was given a personality test. I was undeniably not excited to take this test and I thought it was a waste of time. This test was given so that my office manager would be able to better understand how I take constructive criticism, how I handle stressful situations, and how I work with others therefore, my future conversations with her will affect our expectations for the structure that will guide our communications. According to the author of our text, “It is important to remember that every time we communicate with someone we are establishing a new beginning by creating a new rule or expectation altering an existing rule or reaffirming rules that have been used in the past. In establishing these new beginnings, we still rely on past rules and expectations to guide our behaviors.” (West & Turner, 2014, p. 274) I enjoyed that my manager Laura gave me this test to set up our communication with one another for success. This scenario reminded me of the Structuration Theory. This theory sees individuals and teams as being both constrained and encouraged by the structure of an organization. (West & Turner, 2014, p.250)

One of the challenges in successful communication comes from the way people use symbols as part of the organization of their thoughts. In every work place, there are symbols, décor, and behaviors that affect the environment and alter a person’s perception. We know a lot about a place through associations and inferences from objects. We match our expectations of behavior to the surroundings in which that behavior occurs. Symbols take on important meanings in organizations; meanings that are defined by cultural and social conventions and interactions. Not only are they are noticed through sight, sound, touch and smell, but also through rewards, traditions, jokes, nicknames and stories. The author of our text gave a great example using Disneyland’s slogan “The Happiest Place On Earth.” Those who have been to Disneyland know the immediate feeling of excitement and magic when you step into the theme park. They do a very good job in ensuring that all guests feel this way. “The extent to which these symbols are effective relies not only on the media, but also on how company’s employees enact them” (West & Turner,2014, p.293) In my office we also participate in a tactic similar to Disneyland’s and it is our goal to leave patients with a positive lasting impression so that they feel excited to come back to our office. There are several competing offices in our area so we are always striving our best to have something different than other offices. In our office, we bake fresh chocolate chip cookies so that the second a patient walks in they smell the sweet aroma and are instantly soothed and happy.