I listened to a podcast recently in which a brain scientist spoke about the importance of thorough diagnostics and testing for brain health before moving to the stage of treatment and medication (which is where we often move to), and it struck a chord with me. If for example, I presented to A&E feeling unwell in my chest, and the doctor immediately started plaster-casting my leg without running any form of test or diagnostic, I’d probably wonder what was going on. Solutions will always work best when we know what the issue is, and this is also true for workplace culture.

It is well known that workplace culture has a monumental impact on people, organisations, and ultimately our economy.  NHS Employers estimate toxic culture costs the NHS alone more than £2 billion a year and disengagement from employees in the UK is now estimated to cost the economy £340 billion each year.  It touches and shapes all parts of organisations – productivity, employee engagement and wellbeing, efficiency, internal and external adaptability, innovation, and profitability to name a few.  

Yet on many occasions, it remains the colossal elephant in the room. Some may ignore it completely, choosing to focus entirely on the strategic and business planning element of change, hoping the culture will somehow catch up and get in line, whereas others may attempt to plaster cast the problem, which can sometimes take the shape of an ill-suited development programme or other similar intervention, failing to get to the root cause of the issues.  

Knowing the culture in which people are actually operating is a powerful, if not vital process. We are in an era of constant change, with unprecedented challenges facing public sector organisations.  Mapping current culture provides us with rich opportunities - not only to understand it better but harness and amplify the things which help it flourish and reduce or remove the things hindering its growth. Are organisations expecting their workforce to come up with new, innovative, agile ways of working for example, in a culture which rewards convention, sticking to the status quo, and pushing all decisions up the chain of command?

If multiple teams or organisations are integrating, as discussed in our first blog, then to what extent are those cultures compatible, and therefore able to harmonise and deliver the outcomes needed?  If one organisation’s culture encourages hierarchy and positional power, how may that play out when integrating with an organisation which encourages matrix working and devolved decision-making? Understanding contrasting cultural styles and behaviours before embarking on a change management process will enable you to anticipate and plan in a much more deliberate and targeted way, greatly increasing its chances of success.

‘Culture is easy to sense but hard to measure’ – Havard Business Review

Indeed, culture is seen as something difficult to ‘measure’.  This is especially true because there is no one model of ‘good’ culture. What bodes results for a high-tech AI company will not necessarily work for a cancer charity. Diagnosing should not be about discovering if something is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but about determining the extent to which the current culture supports and aligns with strategy, objectives, and outcomes. In Paul’s blog, he spoke about the power of visioning your ideal culture. Understanding where you are, today, will show you very quickly where the gaps are between the current and desired, future state.

Often, it can be hard to get buy-in for implementing cultural change.  It can feel too big, too overwhelming and a bit too scary to touch. Price Waterhouse Cooper’s (PWC) Global Culture Survey also suggested leaders perceive culture to be more positive than it is, and the gap is widening.

PWC’s 2023 Integration Survey showed that only half of executives surveyed felt culture was a key element of their change management programmes, and yet McKinsey’s research highlights that approximately 70% of transformation initiatives fail.   

Making the case for culture change with senior decision-makers can therefore be a great place to start. If you’re about to embark on a large-scale transformation programme, then carrying out your due diligence by understanding your operational culture should form an important part of that. When our people are our organisation, is it our moral obligation to cultivate a culture in which our people are enabled to be at their best?  

Culture change doesn’t have to start with everything, all at once. Mapping current culture enables you to home in and apply a laser focus on 2-3 critical areas which will make the most difference.  Evolving and changing culture is an ongoing journey – while measuring it is somewhat episodic, efforts to shape and develop it should be continuous.

How can I understand the culture we have now?

There are countless ways to help you map your current culture. The deeper you can go, the richer the picture you will build. Most of us operate as part of teams, and we generally experience workplace culture through the lens of our team.  These are often called sub-cultures, and they exist within all organisations. No organisation will have one, easily defined collective culture.   

Being able to segment data to a sub-group level will enable you to look at key contrasts and differences across the organisation, as well as commonalities which are present across all groups (giving you a sense of the organisation’s lived, rather than espoused values).   

We’re supporting a growing number of clients with their culture change efforts as often it can be difficult for internal teams to implement due to capacity, the scale of a culture programme, capability, or impartiality risk. We deploy a wide range of methods and tools to support effective cultural measurement and have shared five of these below to help with your own planning.  

1. Explore Desktop data
   Consider the data you have available already, such as people data, HR cases, staff surveys, and patient experience data. What patterns are emerging? What data is missing? What do your patients or customers say about you?
2. Carry out targeted discussions and Inquiry workshops
   Involving colleagues by inviting them to share their insights and experiences will provide important context to any quantitative data you may collect. On-boarders, leavers, managers, Staff representatives, and service users can all be included.  What stories do people tell? What beliefs do people hold? What assumptions do people make?
3. Review Policies and Strategies
   I worked in a local authority where senior leaders were given more annual leave each year. What message did this send to frontline staff? 
4. Deploy evidence-based diagnostic tools
   Dedicated culture surveys, when used alongside other activities provide a comprehensive and consistent baseline measure of how individuals are experiencing their daily work life.  

Our preferred tool is the Organisational Culture Inventory – a cultural diagnostic with over 35 years of global research and testing, it enables us to dive deeply into culture at sub-group levels and create meaningful, practical cultural roadmaps for implementing culture change.

If you’re curious about your current culture and would like a conversation about how we can support you then This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – we are always happy to talk about culture!

Join us in our next blog where we’ll discuss taking action by prioritising where to start.