Just as cultures exist concerning where we live and what we believe, and even the hobbies we have, they can be found in workplaces too. Behavioural scientist Dr. Pragya Agarawl describes workplace culture as ‘the shared values, belief systems, attitudes and the set of assumptions that people in a workplace share’. These organisational cultures evolve organically, but that doesn’t mean we can’t observe what’s at play and make efforts to shape it in the long term. We can do this by undertaking a cultural assessment.
Cultural assessments provide valuable insights into the existing culture in our organisation and the alignment that exists between company values and employee behaviour.
The significance of cultural assessments in the Workplace
We must have a deep understanding of our company culture as it influences employee engagement which affects how they perform and the results we achieve as a collective. A proper cultural assessment gives us insight beyond our own lived experiences and the anecdotal evidence that may be shared between employees. Company culture is also a key tool when it comes to hiring the best people - 87% of workers in the US want to work for a company that shares their values, so we must have a clear idea of our culture and shout about it.
A cultural assessment can be used to identify gaps between the existing organisational culture and the ideal state envisioned by the leadership. The leadership should have outlined company goals and objectives and communicated this to the organisation, and within this, there should be pillars related to culture. When a cultural assessment identifies discrepancies between vision versus reality, we need to outline a plan to bridge those gaps.
Key components of a cultural assessment
We need to take a structured approach to cultural assessments. We must go into them with some clear objectives outlined. The end goals for our cultural assessment may be:
- Enhancing employee satisfaction
- Improving team dynamics
- Aligning culture with strategic goals
- Improving employee engagement
- Adjusting values to align with leadership’s vision
When we know why we’re assessing our culture, we’re in a better position to ask the right questions. There are a few core areas that we will consider examining every time we conduct a cultural assessment, including communication styles, leadership behaviour, decision-making processes, and values alignment.
There are a few tools we can make use of to perform a cultural assessment. The tool we choose to go with will be influenced by our objectives.
Surveys, whether in person or filled in digitally, are a good way of gathering information on our existing culture. These surveys can include a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Pulse surveys are a quick and effective way for HR teams to measure the existing state of employee engagement and follow up on new hires once they’ve bedded in.
We could also interview employees in focus groups. Focus groups are ideal if the information we need relates to feelings and perceptions, and we want real-time, unfiltered responses. They can be randomised or selective depending on what we’re hoping to gain. We may also want to refine our group combinations so we get a mix of departments or demographics and see how that affects the way people behave. After all, focus groups aren’t just about the things that are said aloud: our observations of how people behave within these groups can be more insightful than what was discussed. Observational study in these settings can be naturalistic or covert if the observer isn’t getting involved, but some participation can also be valuable for steering the conversation. We should decide which approach we’re taking and why before starting our observations.
Steps to conducting an effective cultural assessment
Having made these decisions, we can start planning our cultural assessment. We know our objectives and have defined our approach and tool, so we should be clear on our key metrics. If we’re examining employee engagement, for example, we’ll include some metrics around retention, absenteeism, and employee Net Promoter Score.
We must include employees at all levels. Everyone should be informed about how they can participate and why we’re doing it, and team leaders should ensure participation from their teams. We want to foster a sense of ownership here - participants should feel that they will see change as a result of giving their time to this process.
Once our cultural assessment is complete, we need to analyse the feedback, looking for any common themes. How we interpret the results impacts our next steps, so we need to get the right team and expertise in place to review the data.
Our cultural assessment should show us the state of our existing company culture, and give us a measure of how near or far it is from our cultural vision. Knowing this, we can turn data into action and put strategies in place to transform our culture into what we want it to be - this is why we set out to do the cultural assessment!
Leveraging Thomas’ expertise
Thomas are expert on all things company culture. Our tools and people science, like our employee engagement survey, can be used as part of an effective cultural assessment, offering objective and actionable insight for your organisation.
We can tailor our approach to suit your workplace too, with customized support based upon your assessment results. We’ve helped many companies, small and large, implement effective cultural change using our tools and training.
Fostering a culture of continuous improvement
Company culture doesn’t change overnight. Cultural assessments should be used as part of an ongoing scheme of work, adapting each time to meet the company in its current state of being. Leaders and employees need to embrace the findings each time and collaborate toward sustained growth and improvement.
Thomas is your ideal partner in this. Speak to us today and benefit from our expertise in conducting comprehensive cultural assessments. We can work together to foster an environment of engagement, satisfaction, and success in your organisation.
After all, company culture shouldn’t be overlooked. It is a key factor in hiring and retaining happy, productive employees. Cultural assessments are one of the most powerful tools you can use to drive your organization toward success - and Thomas can help you do it.
