How do we measure culture when it’s something we feel?

There are times when we might try to gather ‘proof’ of an organisation’s culture. This might be for something as pleasant as an employment award, or for something as crucial as board assurance. How do we demonstrate culture to someone who is not working in that organisation? How do we describe on paper what it feels like to be there every day?

I have tried to do this in the past and probably not done it very well.

Amy, Director of Happiness

The obvious places:

You can show evidence of policies, values and behaviour frameworks.
You can present the results of a staff survey.
You can map sickness and turnover, benchmark in your industry, identify trends. Make a graph.
You can pull themes from exit interviews, grievances and complaints.

These are all useful measures that are usually relatively easy to get your hands on. A little harder is measuring engagement and psychological safety.

In this case you might ask for (or even better, attempt to observe):

An example of a time when people challenged one another’s thinking (particularly if this was between junior and senior colleagues).
An example of what happens when a mistake is made.
An example of what happens when someone speaks up about a concern they have.

Look for what isn’t there.

Assurance comes from how well four things align:

What the organisation says: Policies, leadership messages and stated values tell us about the intended culture.
What the data signals: Whether people are staying or leaving, thriving or struggling – the patterns beneath individual experiences.
What employees say: Surveys, conversations and anecdotes gathered from people at different levels of power.
What we observe: What people do – particularly under pressure, during challenge or disagreement, or when there is an incident or mistake. Who gets rewarded? What gets tolerated?

Which of these don’t agree?

Maybe the survey results look impressive, but staff turnover is high. Perhaps the organisation promotes wellbeing, but people are routinely working through their breaks, or staying longer than their paid hours.

Any incongruence is a warning sign that tells you where to look deeper. It’s a bit of triangulation (or rectangulation?) and a bit of spidey senses.

Look for what IS there.

I’ve just realised that I’ve only described how to look for evidence that a culture isn’t working well. Another approach is to look for evidence that it is.

At Boo we sometimes ask participants to describe the kind of culture they want to see where they work.

Words that come up include:

Supportive. Inclusive. Kind. Respectful. Open. Honest. Safe. Fair. Positive. Fun.

What do these things look like in an organisation that genuinely has them? Look. Listen. Notice.

Where do we see kindness?

Where do we see fairness in recognition and progression? And so on.

Maybe culture can’t be proven in an absolute sense, but we can certainly collect evidence. The strongest proof is when all the evidence tells the same story.

Amy X

Read Cath’s blog: Why Workplace Culture Really Matters

Read the CIPD factsheet on organisational climate vs culture: Organisational climate and culture | Factsheets | CIPD

How do we measure culture when it’s something we feel?