How can you evaluate your company's culture?

Open-ended, exploratory evaluation is powerful. For example, instead of telling people what your values are, ask: "What do you experience us valuing?" Focus groups are a good medium for this. What an organization says it values means nothing. What people experience other people *valuing* through behavior is how culture is both generated and experienced.

A great culture is the hallmark of an organization. A legacy culture is symbolic of sustainable success. Culture is the way people act or behave. ACTION or BEHAVIOUR is the core contingent which needs to be nurtured. There are 3 aspects that synthesize culture: 1. People (Behaviors) 2. Process (Policies) 3. Systems (Framework and Practices) When the above three are aligned and synched to the company's espoused values that guide them, it results in a thriving milieu. Culture takes time to define and grit to execute. Yet, if time is spent on understanding the desired behaviors; identifying systems and processes - those behaviors become visible.

The approach we take at livingHR for evaluating company culture is a comprehensive and data-driven one. We believe that culture is not just a set of stated values but is deeply embedded in how work is conducted on a day-to-day basis. We believe in the importance of immersing into the culture, experiencing how work happens, capturing the voice of the people, and gathering aspirational culture from leaders, and doing culture walks so we can uncover what is authentic and in practice.

The healthier the culture, the more people can show up as their true selves at work. The healthier the culture, the shorter the distance between what is said and what actually happens. The healthier the culture, the more longer the tenure.

In my experience the bedrock for a good company culture is the composition of the team itself. A diverse and an inclusive team I feel helps create an environment that is safe and conducive for collaboration. While the overall direction of a culture rests with the leadership, it is important to empower everyone to make their mark on how companies operate. While surveys are an effective tool to understanding sentiment I have found that having a flat hierarchic structure and the leadership being accountable and empathetic has the biggest impact.

To truly evaluate your company's culture, engage deeply with your team members. Have honest conversations about their experiences, perceptions, and suggestions. Use surveys, focus groups, or interviews to gather candid feedback. Reflect on how values align with employees' lived experience. Consider how subcultures within departments impact the overall culture. Understand that culture is multifaceted and shaped by every individual's contribution. This approach fosters involvement and ownership, leading to an authentic and positive environment.

To evaluate our company's culture by observing behaviours, we must pay close attention to daily interactions and practices. Some ideas: 1. Observe Interactions: Look at how colleagues interact with each other. Are they collaborative, supportive, and respectful, or something else? 2. Leadership Behavior: Watch how leaders behave. Do they lead by example? Are they accessible and approachable? Leadership behaviour often sets the tone for the organisation. What else? Response to mistakes, decision-making, recognition and feedback, work-life integration, adaptability, and physical environment are all important. By carefully observing these behaviours, we can understand the underlying values and norms that define our company's culture.

We've invested in our company culture for nearly two decades, and it feels like we've tried everything: surveys, perks, amenities. We've found that when we empower people to bring their whole selves to work and have rich lives outside of work, everything about our culture is better. To truly evaluate our culture, we look beyond the traditional metrics. It's about understanding if our employees feel valued as workers and individuals with unique lives and experiences. We assess how well we're supporting their overall well-being, their sense of belonging, and their ability to contribute meaningfully. This holistic approach has been key in not only assessing but continuously nurturing a culture that aligns with our core values and vision.

Evaluate company culture by observing daily rituals, communication styles, and the physical environment. Note how people greet each other, make decisions, handle conflicts, and express ideas. These behaviors offer insights into the underlying values and beliefs shaping the organization's culture.

Here are 10 ways you might be sabotaging your organization’s performance. Does this sound familiar? 1. Folks get paid for showing up rather than for producing results. 2. Who you know becomes more important than what you do. 3. Appearance becomes more important than substance. 4. Tenure becomes more valued than outcomes. 5. Looking busy becomes more important than getting stuff done. 6. Performance evaluations are subjective rather than based on objective criteria. 7. Everyone is compensated equally, regardless of effort or performance. 8. Following the rules becomes more emphasized than doing the right thing. 9. People have responsibility, but no one is accountable. 10. Poor performance and dead weight are overlooked rather than addressed.

Art and artefacts that reflect a company culture can be diverse and encompass tangible and intangible elements. Some examples: 1. Mission, Vision, and Value Statements: These declarations often convey the organisation's purpose and aspirations. 2. Physical Space and Layout: 3. Rituals and Ceremonies: Regularly scheduled events, celebrations, and traditions that an organisation holds. What else? Dress code, stories and myths, language and jargon, leadership behaviour, policies, communication materials, and logos. These are important because they can either reinforce the desired culture or signal a disconnect. we need to be mindful of the artefacts present in their organisation and ensure they align with the desired culture.

Appreciate the employees who are interested in any kind of art and encourage them by doing some workshops and healthy competition among them. Give them rewards. Take feedback from others about how they perceive the art.

Artifacts indeed play a crucial role in communicating a company's culture. However, it's important to remember that they are just one piece of the puzzle. In my experience, a significant challenge lies in ensuring that these artifacts genuinely reflect the lived experience of employees and stakeholders. If there's a disconnect, it can lead to confusion and mistrust. To overcome this, we engaged in deep, transformational work, creating a space for open dialogue and feedback. This allowed us to align our artifacts with our true culture, enhancing their authenticity and impact.

Again it's easier to get a fresh pair of eyes, they will pick up on a zillion things and notice so many things you don't notice as you just either take them for granted or are unaware they even exist.

A identidade visual de uma empresa é um dos artefatos que refletem sua cultura. Analise e observe atentamente à forma como a empresa se comunica oficialmente, os principais ideais e valores disseminados pela Alta Administração, o logotipo e os demais meios de materialização da cultura numa empresa. Há muita informação disponível nesse material.

In my experience as a transformational practitioner, the process of comparing expectations with reality is a crucial step in organizational development. It's akin to holding a mirror to the organization, reflecting its true state versus the desired one. The discrepancies that emerge are not just gaps to be filled, but opportunities for deep transformational work. They provide the impetus for leaders to create a container for change, fostering a culture of psychological safety and clarity of thought. This process is a journey, requiring cognitive, embodied, and relational energy, and it's the key to unleashing human potential within the organization.

Evaluating a company's culture involves observation, inquiry, and analysis. Some ideas: 1. Observe the Behaviors: Look at how people interact with each other, how decisions are made, and how conflicts are resolved. 2. Review Artifacts: Artefacts such as mission statements, office layout, dress code, and communication materials can provide cultural insights. 3. Ask Questions: Engage with current employees at various levels. What else? Assess leadership; look at recognition and rewards; understand the stories; analyse policies; consider the onboarding process; evaluate crisis response; use of surveys. Remember, culture is complex and multi-layered. Consider combining these elements to understand a company's culture comprehensively.

Delving into the heart of your company's culture requires a reflective and strategic approach. Comparing the envisioned culture with the existing reality offers profound insights. Imagine aligning what you aspire to be with what you indeed are. It's about mapping out the values, behaviors, and practices you wish to see and measuring them against the current state. This method isn't just an evaluation; it's a strategic recalibration, ensuring every aspect of the company culture aligns with the broader vision. It's about identifying the discrepancies and opportunities to foster a culture that resonates with every team member's aspirations and the organization's overarching goals.

It's important to discover just what kind of culture produces the mind-set necessary to exceed customer expectations. Ask yourself, do we: • Solicit customer feedback or think that we know it all? • Strive for excellence or settle for mediocrity? • Treat customers differently now than when we were courting them? • Build long-term relationships or promote short-term sales? • Provide exceptional value or compensate for inadequacies by trying to be friendly? • Make policy changes to benefit customers or for employee convenience? • Anticipate customer needs or scramble when relationships are in jeopardy? • Spend time in front of customers or in staff meetings? • Address customer issues promptly or respond when time permits?

In my experience, one of the leader's more crucial task is to continuously review and retrospect how the goals and vision of the organisation are connected and matched with reality. Where the organisation stands and what the organisation is aiming in short and in long term. Often, monthly meetings with the several department managers, a weekly review of all the activities and how they are aligned with the goals and vision, any reviewed discrepancies are corrected and recovered before the organisation are put in danger. In this way, the teams are aligned with the organisation's strategy to accomplish the long term vision and they are engaged with something which is bigger than them.

We can leverage our stakeholders to review and enhance the company's culture—some ideas. 1. Identify Key Stakeholders: Start by identifying a diverse group of stakeholders within the organisation. 2. Ask for Feedback: Engage with these stakeholders to gather their perceptions of the company's culture. Ask open questions that encourage them to share their thoughts. For example, we might ask, "What aspects of our culture do you think could be improved?" What else? Listen actively, thank stakeholders, analyse feedback, implement and follow up, measure progress, and maintain continuous Improvement. By actively involving stakeholders in shaping the company's culture, we create a sense of commitment to the organisation's values and success.

Effective cultures are receptive to feedback and continuous improvement. I've found that a company that values its culture actively seeks feedback from employees. This can be observed in the existence of feedback mechanisms, regular surveys, and a demonstrated commitment to acting on the feedback received.

Yes, involve them all!! I believe an organization's purpose is not just to make a profit but also to reduce the suffering in this world and try to generate a positive impact on all the people and places it interacts with!

Evaluating a company’s organizational culture should address two major dimensions. The first is internal and the second is external. The internal dimension should be supported by a rigorous and well publicized Accountability system that covers the senior leaders and managers workplace actions and language, espoused and practiced values, business performance indicators and results, prevailing communications, innovation, metaphors, and artifacts. The external dimension should cover stakeholders, the big global environment including climate change, the different big cultures both main and indigenous in which the company conducts its operations, and the best practices in the company’s industry.

Revisa en estas sesiones como se comportan las partes. La falta de conflictos constructivos puede ser la señal de un equipo disfuncional como menciona Lencioni en su libro "Las 5 disfunciones de un equipo". Examina las reuniones y debates en tu empresa ¿hay diversidad de opiniones? ¿Se enfrentan constructivamente a los problemas? Un equipo sin conflictos es una equipo que vive una paz artificial que minimiza la creatividad y la innovación.

Evaluating your company's culture is an important step towards understanding its strengths, weaknesses, and overall health we have follow next several methods you can use to evaluate your company's culture: • Surveys and questionnaires • Interviews and focus groups • Observations • Performance metrics • Company policies and practices • Feedback from customers and partners • Employee engagement surveys • Social media and online presence Remember that evaluating company culture is an ongoing process, and it's essential to act on the insights gained from the evaluation to drive positive change and continuously improve the culture within your organization.

Assessing ethical conduct and transparency are important in understanding an organization's culture. Evaluate the transparency of an organization's financial reporting, accessibility of financial statements and disclosures. Analyze an organization's communication practices. Consider how decisions are made within the organization: centralized or participatory? Are decisions clearly communicated and explained? Assess it's engagement with stakeholders. An organization's commitment to ethical behavior and transparency plays a critical role in shaping a positive work culture.

I love all the typical ways of assessing culture: surveys, interviews, NPS numbers, etc. I believe they all have their pros and cons. However, considering how much culture is impacted from the top down, I find that the most impactful approach is to attend team meetings at each level. I find that these meetings are where most of the information is shared, where you can observe team and power dynamics, and where you're most likely to hear things in their rawest, most truthful form. For what it's worth, I use this method in combination with the others, but attending team meetings has single-handedly given me the best insight into an organization's culture. I hope this helps #ileadwithlove

Otro aspecto muy importante a tener en cuenta cuando hablamos de cultura está relacionado al liderazgo y prácticas de gestión: Los líderes y sus prácticas de gestión influyen enormemente en la cultura. Evaluar cómo se comportan los líderes, cómo se comunican y cómo fomentan la cultura en sus equipos puede dar cuenta de la cultura general de la empresa. Es importante tener en cuenta que la cultura es dinámica y evoluciona constantemente.

If you want excellence, you have to recognize and reward it. Period. You can’t grant the mediocre employee the same reward as the superstar; you can’t give the average student the same grade as the terrific one; and you can’t award the team that finishes last the same prize as the team that finishes first. Why? you ask. It reduces any incentive to strive for the best, to do your best, or to be the best. People stop trying when there’s no benefit for being exceptional and no consequence for being mediocre.