<<Back to "Ask Tammy" home page
Q&A: Tools for Cultural Assessment
Do you have any favorite culture assessment tools? I am interested in three applications: For intelligently changing our own “old” culture; for leading integrated project teams of persons who are on loan from other companies; for leading an acquired company post-acquisition.
Tim
Hi Tim—
Understandably, I’m a big proponent of the tool that came out of our research on employee engagement. We found that different people care deeply about different values in the workplace—that work plays different roles in individuals’ lives—and that understanding those values is essential. Learning “what it means to work here” for your current employees provides great guidance for thinking about how you might want to change the existing culture—do you want to change the fundamental values (possible, but difficult) or do you want to develop a contemporary reinterpretation of the values that exist within your current employee population? When you’re integrating either individuals or entire companies, it’s essential to understand what work means to them—and therefore how they will respond to the characteristics of the employee experience you offer.
We licensed the tool that was developed out of this research (which can assess your employee population against six value archetypes) to Profiles International. I also do a lot of this work today using online focus groups—a guided discussion, which I find produces an excellent understanding of the core values in the culture.
My HBR article “What It Means to Work Here” discusses these concepts in more detail.
I hope this helps.
Warmly,
Tammy
Filed under: Talent Management Approaches | Published: 01/15/11
Ask a question
Facing a career decision? Puzzled by a co-worker’s point of view? Struggling with a specific workplace dilemma? Looking for ways to improving engagement, collaboration, or innovation within your organization? Wanting to learn more about something I said in one of my books? I’ll do my best to offer some suggestions, if you “Ask Tammy.”
All fields required.