Culture is the lifeblood of an organization. It's the sum total of the history, people, and procedures that define the organization and its work. PJ Bouchard and Lizz Pellet, in their book, "Getting Your Shift Together - Making Sense of Organizational Culture and Change", show how incongruent cultures breed low morale and low productivity, which can result in a devastating impact on the bottom line. Operating under the belief that a congruent culture is a healthy culture and that a healthy culture breeds success, Bouchard and Pellet describe the tools and techniques they use to measure cultural congruence. Wondering if your organization is ready for an organizational assessment? Here are 12 critical questions you should ask yourself, to determine if this is a good time to be measuring your organization's culture: - Is your organization going through or considering a merger or acquisition?
- Has trust in leadership eroded?
- Are you losing precious intellectual capital?
- Have you experienced EEOC violations or legal action against the company?
- Has the turnover rate increased?
- Are energy levels of the workforce low?
- Are employees frustrated and stressed?
- Have employee opinion surveys proven disappointing and cumbersome?
- Is there a concern about perceived shareholder value?
- Could your organization make changes that would increase productivity? What guarantee would there be that the changes would work?
- Is your company considering consolidation of departments or integrating divisions?
- Could your company go through an internal reorganization or major change initiative and become a better performing top producing operation?
These and other vital concerns process through the minds of decision makers at every level of an organization every day, anywhere in the world. If you answered "yes" to any of these questions then you should give serious consideration to examining your organization's culture. When looking for a cultural assessment tool for your company make sure that it: - Is a validated instrument
- Provides flexibility and customization
- Offers delivery methods suitable to your organization
- Generates results that can be operationalized and linked to your strategic plan
- Tells you where you are required to focus your energy and resources
- Identifies the barriers and drivers which affect productivity levels and employee retention/attraction/engagement levels
- Is user friendly and generates high quality and easy to understand reports
- Predicts your organizational capacity for success and competitive advantage
- Provides inclusive and cost-effective price points
If you are using a third party provider make sure they are interested in partnering with you in achieving your strategic goals to ensure long term success. Also ensure that they can provide you with: - An established and proven methodology
- A historical view of their past successes
- Strong client referrals
- Support both pre, during and post assessment process
- The bench strength and expertise to assist you with any post assessment work you may require
- Various options for managing the process; i.e. do they offer the option of internal staff being certified
Remember, when you are examining and assessing your organizational culture - you are making an investment in your future success. Take time to thoroughly investigate your options to find the right partner. It is important to realize that it is not enough to know if your employees are satisfied or dissatisfied. To know why they are satisfied or dissatisfied is the real' story. Knowing this provides you with rich data to generate meaningful, purposeful and targeted solutions. Also, to measure morale is foolhardy because morale is not a thing. It cannot be measured. It is a symptom and outcome of how your business is structured and how leaders behave [your culture]. For more information on Organizational Culture and how it impacts business please visit us online at http://www.emergeinternational.com/ . Founded in 1996, EMERGE International is a WBENC certified organizational development firm that specializes in supporting organizations in the creation and maintenance of healthy and productive work environments. EMERGE International offers a full range of consulting, assessment and certification services. Our core organizational assessment the Cultural Health IndicatorTM is a validated instrument that helps companies measure and assesses their current organization, quickly and cost-effectively. |
