How to measure your culture (in a meaningful way)

The statistics around measuring culture aren’t great. One in five organisations do not assess culture at all, 37% do not formally assess culture in any way. Of those that do measure culture, only 17% produce reports outlining what needs to be done.

Think about the traditional employee engagement surveys. They've been our go-to tool for understanding workplace culture, but they've had a narrow focus and suffer from low completion rates as a result.

These surveys typically focus on how connected employees feel to the company's vision and values. They ask about personal growth, goal alignment, and motivation levels. They probe into perceptions of the company's image and how well senior leadership communicates.

But here's the catch: this approach only scratches the surface of what truly drives a vibrant organisational culture. It's like trying to understand a complex ecosystem by only studying one species. We need to broaden our lens.

So whilst this information is important, we also need to focus on how people feel.

We need to ask questions that explore how employees interact with each other, how they navigate challenges, or how they innovate. What about their sense of psychological safety, their ability to voice dissenting opinions, how included they feel or their willingness to take calculated risks?

To provide the greatest insights into culture, surveys need to assess these two important factors:

1. How do people feel about their employer and team? (Engagement)
2. How do people feel about themselves? (Emotional Intelligence)

Consider these two factors as the DNA of our daily work lives. They're not just important - they're essential to understanding the true pulse of our organisations. By broadening our lens to include both, we're not just getting a snapshot; we're capturing the full panorama of workplace culture. We see the intricate web of interactions, the unspoken norms, and the subtle dynamics that make each workplace uniquely its own.

I've devoted years to researching these two factors, and here's what I've discovered: they're inseparable, like two sides of the same coin. One without the other gives you an incomplete picture. It's only when you grasp both that you can truly map out the journey from where your culture is to where it needs to be.

In general, the following is true:

• When emotional intelligence and engagement are low, the prevailing culture is Stagnant
• When emotional intelligence is high and engagement is low, the prevailing culture is Pleasant
• When emotional intelligence is low and engagement is high, the prevailing culture is Combatant
• When emotional intelligence and engagement are high, the prevailing culture is Vibrant
• Occasionally, both emotional intelligence and engagement aren’t just low, they are non-existent. In these instances, the prevailing culture is Toxic.

It's time for us to rethink our approach to surveys and dive deeper into the multifaceted nature of organisational life. Not only to understand the prevailing culture, but also the actions required to influence where it needs to get to for organisational, team and personal success.

To support organisations to do this, I’ve been working with a team from the University of Georgia in the US for the last nine months. We have created a simple quiz that will allow any employee to find out what kind of team culture they have right now and also, importantly, the actions they can take to get it to where it needs to be.

? The Five Cultures Quiz is completely free and you can take it right now by heading to www.fiveculturesquiz.com