Understanding organisational culture is essential for HR professionals pursuing the CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management. Edgar Schein's model of organisational culture provides a robust framework for exploring how culture shapes workplace behaviours, employee engagement, and organisational success. This article explores Schein's three-level model, practical applications, and relevance to HR professionals aiming to enhance effective people management.
The Three Levels of Organisational Culture
Schein's model conceptualises organisational culture as a layered construct, with each level representing a deeper aspect of cultural influence:
Artifacts:
These are the visible and tangible elements of an organisation's culture. Examples include office design, dress codes, rituals, language, and the company logo. While these provide initial clues about an organisation's culture, they only scratch the surface and require deeper exploration to understand their significance fully.
Espoused Values:
This level includes the organisation's stated values, beliefs, and norms—often articulated in mission statements, policies, and leadership communications. However, there can be a gap between these espoused values and organisational behaviours. Identifying such discrepancies is essential for HR professionals to assess cultural authenticity.
Basic Assumptions:
At the core of Schein's model are the unconscious beliefs and assumptions that drive behaviour within an organisation. These deeply ingrained ideas—such as beliefs about human nature or authority—are often unspoken but significantly impact workplace dynamics. Uncovering these assumptions is essential for achieving meaningful cultural change.
Applying Schein's Model in HR Practice
HR professionals can utilise Schein's model in several ways to enhance organisational effectiveness:
1. Diagnosing Organisational Culture
Understanding all three levels of culture enables HR practitioners to gain a comprehensive view of an organisation's identity. For example, this model can help identify potential cultural clashes and align strategies during mergers or restructuring.
2. Driving Cultural Change
Schein emphasised that cultural change requires addressing deep-seated assumptions rather than merely altering surface-level behaviours. HR professionals can facilitate this transformation by encouraging open dialogue with employees to uncover hidden beliefs and align them with organisational goals.
3. Aligning Culture with Strategy
HR teams play a pivotal role in bridging this gap when there is a misalignment between espoused values and actual practices. Organisations can enhance trust, integrity, and strategic alignment by promoting behaviours that reflect stated values.
4. Enhancing Employee Engagement
A culture that supports fairness, trust, and autonomy encourages higher employee engagement and retention. HR professionals can create a more motivated workforce by designing policies that resonate with employees' needs—rather than just leadership rhetoric.
5. Promoting Inclusion and Belonging
Schein's model helps uncover unconscious biases embedded in fundamental assumptions that may marginalise certain groups. Organisations can move beyond superficial diversity initiatives to build genuinely inclusive environments by addressing these biases.
Relevance to CIPD Level 5 Students
Understanding organisational culture is integral to modules like "Organisational Performance and Culture in Practice" and "Professional Behaviours and Valuing People" for those studying the CIPD Level 5 Associate Diploma in People Management. Schein's model equips learners with the analytical tools needed to assess cultural dynamics and implement strategies for improvement critically.
Conclusion
Edgar Schein's organisational culture model offers HR professionals a structured approach to understanding the complexities of workplace culture. HR practitioners can diagnose issues, drive meaningful change, and align culture with business objectives by analysing artefacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions. For CIPD Level 5 students aspiring to senior HR roles, mastering this framework is not just an academic exercise—it's a practical tool for shaping resilient and inclusive organisations that succeed in today's dynamic business environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the three levels of Edgar Schein's organisational culture model?
Quick Answer: Schein's model has three levels: Artefacts (visible structures and processes), Espoused Values (stated values and beliefs), and Basic Assumptions (unconscious beliefs and values that guide behaviour and decision-making).
Edgar Schein's three-level model provides a comprehensive framework for understanding organisational culture from surface to core. Artefacts represent the most visible layer, including physical spaces, dress codes, company logos, rituals, and observable behaviours. These elements are easy to see but difficult to interpret without deeper cultural understanding. Espoused Values form the middle layer, encompassing the organisation's stated mission, vision, values, and policies—what leaders say the organisation stands for. However, gaps often exist between these stated values and actual practice. Basic Assumptions represent the deepest level—unconscious, taken-for-granted beliefs about human nature, relationships, and reality that fundamentally drive organisational behaviour and decision-making.
How is Schein's model relevant to CIPD Level 5 studies?
Quick Answer: Schein's model is integral to CIPD Level 5 modules like "Organisational Performance and Culture in Practice" and "Professional Behaviours and Valuing People", providing analytical tools for cultural assessment and strategic improvement.
For CIPD Level 5 students, understanding Schein's model is essential for developing advanced people management capabilities. The model directly supports learning outcomes in modules such as 5CO01 "Organisational Performance and Culture in Practice" and 5CO02 "Professional Behaviours and Valuing People". Students learn to analyse how culture impacts performance, employee engagement, and organisational effectiveness. The framework enables critical evaluation of cultural dynamics, supporting evidence-based recommendations for cultural transformation. This knowledge is particularly valuable for aspiring senior HR professionals who must diagnose cultural issues, design interventions, and align culture with business strategy to drive organisational success.
How can HR professionals use Schein's model in practice?
Quick Answer: HR professionals can use Schein's model to conduct cultural assessments, identify misalignments between values and behaviours, design change initiatives, improve employee engagement, and build more inclusive workplace environments.
Practical applications of Schein's model span multiple HR functions and strategic initiatives. In cultural assessment, HR professionals examine artefacts to understand surface-level culture, analyse espoused values for consistency with actual practices, and investigate basic assumptions through interviews and observation. During organisational change, the model helps identify resistance sources at the assumption level and design interventions addressing root causes rather than symptoms. For employee engagement, HR can align policies and practices with cultural values, ensuring authentic employee experiences. In diversity and inclusion efforts, the model reveals unconscious biases embedded in basic assumptions, enabling targeted interventions to create genuinely inclusive environments beyond surface-level diversity initiatives.
What's the difference between artefacts and basic assumptions in Schein's model?
Quick Answer: Artefacts are visible elements like office layout and dress codes, while basic assumptions are unconscious beliefs that drive behaviour. Artefacts are easy to observe but hard to interpret; assumptions are invisible but fundamental to understanding culture.
The distinction between artefacts and basic assumptions represents the difference between cultural symptoms and cultural causes. Artefacts include physical manifestations such as office design, technology, dress codes, meeting structures, and communication patterns—elements immediately visible to new employees or visitors. However, these visible elements can be misleading without understanding their underlying meaning. Basic assumptions operate at the unconscious level, representing fundamental beliefs about human nature, relationships, time, space, and reality that organisation members take for granted. These assumptions drive behaviour automatically and are rarely questioned or discussed. Understanding this relationship helps HR professionals recognise that changing artefacts without addressing underlying assumptions typically results in superficial, temporary cultural shifts rather than lasting transformation.
Why is understanding organisational culture important for HR professionals?
Quick Answer: Understanding culture helps HR professionals diagnose workplace issues, drive meaningful change, improve employee engagement, align culture with business objectives, and create more inclusive environments for organisational success.
Cultural understanding is fundamental to effective HR practice because culture influences every aspect of organisational life. HR professionals who grasp cultural dynamics can better diagnose root causes of workplace problems rather than treating symptoms. They can design more effective change management strategies by addressing cultural barriers and enablers. Employee engagement initiatives become more targeted and authentic when aligned with cultural values and assumptions. Strategic HR planning improves when cultural factors are considered in workforce planning, talent management, and organisational development. Additionally, understanding culture enables HR to build more inclusive environments by identifying and addressing unconscious biases embedded in organisational assumptions, leading to better employee experiences, reduced turnover, and enhanced organisational performance in competitive markets.