How to measure organizational culture: a practical guide

I prefer to make company culture concrete. How are decisions made? What happens when someone makes a mistake? Do colleagues experience that in the same way? Those are useful starting points for a culture assessment.

Measuring organizational culture starts with how people experience everyday work. A questionnaire makes patterns easier to discuss; conversations and workplace examples help explain the answers. One person's result does not measure an entire organization.

Define the question first

Decide what you need to understand: decision making, cooperation between departments or room to experiment. Specify the teams involved and the decision the research should inform. A culture assessment explores shared working practices. An employee satisfaction survey mainly asks how satisfied people are; the two can complement each other.

Five steps for a useful culture assessment

• Set the scope. Include different roles, shifts and levels of experience within the team or business unit you are studying.
• Choose the questionnaire. Check what it measures, what research supports its questions and whether comparisons are meaningful. A recognized framework does not validate every test based on it.
• Explain participation and access. Say who can see answers and reports. Responses from small groups may be identifiable, so do not automatically promise anonymity.
• Discuss patterns and differences. Ask for situations that explain the scores. An average can hide important differences between teams.
• Choose one practical change. Name the desired behavior, an owner and a review date. Keep the method and participant group as comparable as possible when repeating the assessment.

What are the four CVF culture types?

The Competing Values Framework contrasts internal with external focus, and flexibility with stability. Explore clan culture, adhocracy culture, market culture and hierarchy culture. Organizations combine these characteristics; no type is best in every situation.

Is Werkvolk a free OCAI assessment?

No. OCAI means Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument. The Cameron Institute explains the original instrument. Werkvolk uses its own workplace scenarios based on the CVF. Research supporting the original OCAI does not automatically validate this questionnaire.

Use the free personal culture test to explore your own experience. For multiple team perspectives, see Culture Suite and its current options and terms. To turn findings into action, follow the culture change guide.

My advice is to start small. Use your first result to ask better questions, rather than to label your whole organization.

To prepare your assessment, use these six practical culture survey questions. Then explore how to compare current and preferred company culture and choose a realistic next step.