If you’ve worked with someone whose positive attitude inspired you to do your best, or if you have worked with a lackluster team that drained your motivation, you’ve experienced the effects of climate. Organizational climate refers to the shared perceptions members have about their work environment. When everyone has the same general feelings about what’s important or how well things are working, the effect of these attitudes will be more than the sum of the individual parts.

A positive workplace climate has been linked to higher customer satisfaction and organizational financial performance. In making sense of their environments, employees draw a distinction between what they “hear” or “see” being supported by organizational leaders in meetings, memos, rulebooks, and so on, and what they “actually” see being enacted. Climate is a function of what employees perceive is being rewarded.