Measuring Cultural Values in an Organization

Arman Ghosh and Prakarsh Singh

Institutions and organizations across the globe have a certain set of values they look for in the ideal employee to uphold. #Google values ‘Googleyness,’ which is associated with positivity, a sense of humour, respect, inclusivity, humility, conscientiousness, and ethics. #Amazon has its Leadership Principles, such as customer obsession, earning trust, and bias for action. #Netflix values selflessness, courage, inclusion, integrity, and curiosity. At Plaksha University , the founding faculty and leadership have developed a culture framework called 'CREATE' – a set of six core values expected to be cultivated and upheld by all. The framework comprises the following six cultural qualities: Curious, Rigorous, Enterprising, Authentic, Thankful, and Exemplary. Plaksha seeks bold, imaginative, and passionate thinkers with a thirst for venturing into the unknown. However, we also want to foster fearless and compassionate global leaders.?

To ensure the establishment of such an ecosystem at Plaksha, one can design a streamlined hiring and recruitment process that can objectively assess the desired cultural fit in individuals. The first step in this process was to create a comprehensive set of questions aimed at gaining insights into individuals and whether they meet the institution's requirements. To achieve this, we conducted preliminary research on the hiring procedures of global leaders in the fields of science and technology. We have begun to present these questions to students to evaluate their cultural fit and to identify which values they excel in and where they need growth. We recently conducted a session on CREATE for the Freshman BTech class of 2027, where we emphasized the importance of staying true to one's values and how authenticity encompasses academic integrity. We also created a pop quiz for students to assess their curiosity across different disciplines. Furthermore, a student survey was conducted, asking questions that would provide objective insights into the values. In terms of self-assessment, most students felt that Curiosity was their superpower but acknowledged that they had the most room for growth in becoming more Enterprising.

Another aspect explored was the Gamification of the Hiring Process. Economic and behavioural games have become well-established tools in recent years for assessing social behaviour. Companies such as Marriott and Deloitte have implemented 'gamification' in their recruitment processes for various reasons. Gamification is the process of incentivizing people's engagement in non-game contexts and activities by using game-style mechanics. Economic games, such as Risk-Aversion and Trust Games, allow for implementation with 'real' outcomes, making choices truly consequential. In comparison to questionnaires or conversational interviews, reporting behaviour that is not aligned with one's true characteristics can be detrimental and lead to an unfavourable fit. Most importantly, responses may be less influenced by biases.

The newly established lab at Plaksha University , LEO (Lab for Economic Behavior in Organizations), will facilitate research into the science of hiring in organizations and use economics combined with data science to make insightful hiring decisions for organizations (even other than Plaksha). This workstream promises to be helpful in boosting organizational productivity.?Add your email in the comments if you wish to receive a copy of LEO's first newsletter that describes the evaluation process and other workplace research initiatives being undertaken at LEO.

?

?