Organizational Culture

Organizational culture refers to the attitudes, values, and practices within an organization. Research by Duxbury and Higgins finds that organizational culture can have a significant impact on an employee’s ability to balance work and family demands. This in turn can have an impact on job satisfaction, workplace stress, and organizational commitment. Employees were asked the extent to which they agreed that their organization exhibited the following types of culture: culture of hours; culture of work or family, and culture of policy versus practice. So, how does workplace culture vary across Canada? We present some of these findings below.

Almost half of professional employees in Canada would describe the culture in their organization as one that emphasizes hours. Forty-seven percent of professional employees agree that if they do not work long hours it will limit their career advancement – although there are no regional differences on this issue. At the same time, forty-three percent of professional employees in Canada say it is unacceptable in their organization to say no to more work. As shown in the chart below, there are some regional differences with respect to this. Professional employees in Quebec are least likely to say that it was not acceptable for them to refuse more work (31 percent). In contrast, almost half of professional employees in B.C. (46 percent) say that it is unacceptable for them to say no to more work.

Culture of Hours

Many organizations talk about work-life balance, but often their policies and practices can make balancing work and non-work very difficult. Many employees in Canada feel that their workplace culture is one that promotes work over family. Twenty-eight percent of professional employees in Canada say that family responsibilities make career advancement difficult – with little variation among the regions. At the same time, just over one-third (34 percent) of professional employees in Canada feel that if they take family leave in their organization it will limit their career advancement. As shown in the table below, there are some regional differences on this issue. Professional employees in B.C. are more likely to agree that family leave will limit their career advancement (37 percent). Meanwhile, professional employees in Quebec are less likely to agree (27 percent) with this statement.

Professional Employees in B.C. More
Likely to Agree that Family Leave
Limits Career Advancement

Culture of Policy vs. Practice

It is one thing to have policies in place in an organization that promote work/life balance, but these can be ineffective if the culture in the organization does not embrace use of these policies. Although 37 percent of professional employees agree there are policies in their organization that support work-life balance, only 32 percent think their organization actually promotes an environment that supports balance (there were no regional differences with respect to these two questions). Furthermore, only 23 percent of professional employees agree that they feel comfortable using these policies and only 25 percent say that there are open and respectful discussions of work-life balance issues in their organization. There are some regional differences with respect to these two questions.

Professional employees in Quebec are more likely than those in other regions in Canada to believe that the culture in their organization is supportive. As can be seen in the charts below, professional employees in Quebec are more likely to agree that they feel comfortable using work-life balance policies in place in their organization (38 percent) and that there are open and respectful discussions on work-life issues in their organization (33 percent). The strong social policies in Quebec and an emphasis on family may help explain these more favourable results.

Professional Employees in Quebec
More Likely to Agree They Feel Comfortable
Using Supports That Are Available

Professional Employees in Quebec More Likely to Agree
That There Are Open and Respectful Discussions on
Work-Life Issues in Their Organization

Additional Charts and Information