Culture transformation: Master’s degrees for better organisational health

Workplace culture can be described as the nature of a company and the experience it provides to its employees. There are many factors that shape the workplace culture in an organisation, including the work environment, company values, ethics, and goals.

As a manager or a leader in your organisation, it is important to build your own awareness of the workplace culture in your organisation. It is your responsibility as a leader to assess how receptive and engaged your team is, as that will determine the overall effectiveness of your department or team.

A survey by Fidelity Investments found that workplace culture is a top priority for millennials in the workforce. The survey reveals that millennials are prepared to take an average pay cut of $7,600in exchange for an improved quality of work-life, including a strong company culture as well as career development opportunities, purposeful work, and a work-life balance.

Additionally, the survey revealed that when millennials were asked to choose between financial benefits or improved quality of work-life when evaluating an offer, 58% chose the latter indicating a clear assertion on the importance of healthy workplace culture.

There are several Master’s degree programmes that can help leaders and managers improve workplace culture.

Master’s programmes in organisational leadership

Master’s in organisational leadership programmes are offered by many universities around the globe. These programmes are designed to produce managers who are ready to take on the challenges and complexities of an increasingly globalised world.

This programme will equip organisational leaders with the skills surrounding leadership, business ethics, human resources, organisational optimisation, and change management. These programmes are a great alternative to the traditional MBA.

A sound programme in this field should ideally deep dive into the human elements of business, such as communication techniques, leadership theory, multicultural workplace dynamics, and team development.

This qualification should develop your leadership and managerial skills which will ultimately allow you to apply a  more personal and creative approach to management. A manager with this qualification will also be able to harness and apply emotional intelligence techniques to build better and more effective teams.

Master’s programmes in organisational psychology or industrial organisational psychology

Master’s programmes in organisational psychology are programmes that help develop managers and leaders with the skills which allow you to apply psychology principles to improve your leadership effectiveness.

This master’s level programme, just like any other psychology degree focuses on human health and behaviour within a team and organisation. These master’s level qualifications tackle the factors that affect employees and businesses such as differing work and managerial styles and effective conflict resolution.

Not unlike master’s in organisational leadership programmes, this qualification prepares you to work in areas within the organisation that directly impact the practices that influence hiring, training, performance, productivity, safety, and health.

Many universities around the globe offer similar programmes, and programme delivery ranges from fully-online to hybrid models that accommodate part-time students.

Master’s in learning and organisational change to improve workplace culture

This programme is a great alternative to MBAs and is designed to equip leaders and managers with the right skills to devise and carry out cultural transformation initiatives in your organisation. While an MBA programme focuses on the business at the centre of an enterprise, the master’s in learning and organisational change programme puts people as the centre of its focus.

It is an ideal programme for experienced managers and leaders who are looking for innovative methods to solve complex organisational challenges. This master’s programme focuses on organisational development, organisational and social psychology, learning sciences and organisational learning.

You will also develop knowledge and skills in fields related to strategy, change management, knowledge management, social networking, coaching, and design. All these skills will make you a better leader and equip you with the right tools to carry out culture transformation initiatives in your organisation.