How to Measure Your Company Culture to See If It Achieves Your Initial Vision

When you start a company, there’s a specific workplace culture you want to create. Usually, you want something that leads to productivity, increased engagement, consistent results, and happy employees.

 

But how do you know if you’re on track if you never examine where you’re at and if there’s a need for improvement? After all, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. There’s no way to achieve your desired culture without tracking it, so learning how to measure your company culture is imperative to experience overall success in your workplace.

 

What company culture metrics should you observe?

 

With every goal, there are specific metrics to track, and that truth applies to creating a great workplace. Certain data will tell you if you’re getting closer to building the environment you want for employees. So if you’re wondering how to measure your company culture, there are a handful of metrics you should observe.

 

1. Productivity 

You’ve set objectives for your business, but how close are you to achieving those results? Are your employees hitting their goals? One sign of a great company culture is productive employees. If yours are consistently meeting business objectives, your company is in good shape.

 

2. Employee referrals

If your employees enjoy working for you, they’ll refer people who can fulfill open positions. The number of employee referrals you receive is a significant indicator of how your employees feel about your workplace culture. If you’re not receiving enough, it may signify a deeper issue.

 

3. Staff turnover rates

While turnover is normal, a high rate of it is usually a sign of a toxic company culture. This insight is especially true if your new hires are consistently leaving voluntarily. No one quits a new job if it’s a good fit and comes with a healthy work environment.

 

4. Communication data

It’s normal to track how often your target audience engages with your communication. But do you also track how often your employees engage with your communication? Analyze read receipts, email open rates, and how many intranet page visits your company gets. If these numbers are low, it may be a clue that employee engagement is low.

 

What methods help measure your company culture? 

 

Knowing which metrics speak to your company culture is important, but you can also measure your culture by implementing certain methods. Several specific strategies can help you gain deeper insight into how your workforce is operating and whether you’ve achieved the environment you desire. For example, here are seven methods you can use to measure your company culture successfully.

 

1. Employee surveys

Getting feedback directly from your employees is one of the best ways to analyze your workplace environment. You can send surveys out once a quarter or twice a year and include various questions to gain understanding. For example, you can ask employees how they feel about your organization’s transparency, collaboration efforts, innovation, formality, benefits, and more. Topics like these will let you know what your employees think about some of the most critical aspects of your business.

 

2. Anecdotal Feedback 

It’s common for employees to provide feedback about projects, issues, or general things they’re noticing at the company. Usually, employees will provide this information during their weekly, monthly, or quarterly one-on-one with their supervisor, and it’s a good idea to keep track of what they say during these meetings. Also, check the feedback you receive on Glassdoor and Indeed. What employees are too afraid to say to their managers in person, they’ll say anonymously on job sites, and that’s insight you can’t afford to dismiss.

 

3. Examine behaviors 

What values have you created for your organization? Remember the answer and look at the behaviors your employees’ exhibit to see if they align with your company values.

 

For example, is one of your values work-life balance? If so, do you see employees work hard but take vacations and implement healthy habits like walking outside, taking a lunch break, meditating, and exercising? Or is one of your core values collaboration? If so, do you see employees brainstorming and strategizing together, or do they work in silos?

 

If you’re wondering how to measure your company culture, get the answers to these questions. Then, you’ll know whether your workplace environment achieves your initial vision.

 

4. Focus Groups 

While focus groups may seem academic, they’re still great in business settings. Having a focus group is a fantastic way to get your employees’ feedback and thoughts about your company culture. You just have to make sure you go about them correctly. If you want to have a successful focus group, invite employees from different departments, practice active listening, ask for behaviors and stories, tell the group you’re recording the conversation, and thank everyone for sharing and coming.

 

5. Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)

The whole point of measuring your company culture is to see how close you are to your target, and the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) is the perfect tool to help you do that. Kim Cameron and Robert Quinn developed this assessment, and they believe every organization has a mix of four types of cultures:

 

• Market Culture: A Compete Culture that centers on results
• Adhocracy Culture: A Create Culture that’s dynamic and entrepreneurial
• Hierarchy Culture: A Control Culture that’s process-oriented
• Clan Culture: A Collaborate Culture that’s focused on people

These organizational cultures compete against specific values such as the Internal-External Dimension and the Stability-Flexibility Dimension. These two values mean the following things:

 

• Internal-External: An internal structure means your organization focuses on internal aspects like collaboration, development, and coordination. An external structure means your organization focuses on external factors like the latest technologies, market changes, customer needs, and new and emerging competitors.
• Stability-Flexibility: If your business centers on stability, it values control, reliability, effective planning, structure, and budgets. If your business prioritizes flexibility, it values people, activities, and the ability to adapt quickly.

When you take the OCAI, it’ll reveal the dominant culture in your workplace and the space between where you are and where you want to be. Additionally, it’ll tell you the strength of your current culture, the strength of your desired culture, and how to change.

 

6. Exit Interview

When employees decide to leave, don’t miss the opportunity to get their feedback. Hearing their experience is one of the best ways to measure your company culture, so do an exit interview with every employee who’s leaving your workplace. Then, use that information to make changes. A great way to honor the employees who separate from your company is with a willingness to listen and make shifts.

 

7. Culture measurement tools 

If you need help measuring the quality of your company culture, there are many tools you can use. Some tools include Culture IQ, Culture Amp, and Kudos. With these types of tools, you can get better feedback, provide anonymity to employees to increase comfort during feedback inquiries, and segment your workforce based on locations and departments to gain a better understanding of where you’re succeeding.

 

Enhance your company culture

 

The only way to create a better workplace is to understand the current state of your company culture. What do employees think about the atmosphere at your business? Knowing the answer to this question and using that insight to build a better culture will keep your employees around for the long haul and help you attract top talent. So don’t wait to dive deeper into the quality of your workplace. Now that you know how to measure your company culture, take steps to do so to make it even better.