The Impact of Organizational Culture on Performance
The impact of organizational culture on performance
ANGELA SINICKAS: Developing surveys to measure the impact of corporate culture
Corporate culture can help drive business results, but it takes a cultural audit to differentiate which elements of the culture can lead to superior performance. Angela Sinickas conducts employee engagement surveys that are specifically designed to measure the correlation between employee behaviors and attitudes that define an organization’s culture and its financial results. “The key is to ask the right questions,” she says. The questions are developed in two categories: behaviors defining outcomes with financial value and behaviors and attitudes describing inputs that could affect those outcomes.
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Two categories of survey questions
1. The first category of questions measures positive behavioral outcomes that the organization needs in order to succeed. Some of these have immediate financial value, such as employees’ ratings of their own productivity or intention to stay with the organization. Other outcome questions are harder to quantify financially, such as self-ratings of employees’ commitment to help the company succeed or the likelihood of recommending their organization as a great employer to their friends. However, all these are specific employee behaviors that define an engaged workforce and will lead to better financial results. 2. The second category of survey questions measures the current extent of cultural factors likely to contribute to those positive outcomes. Obviously these have to be tailored to the type of work the organization does. Some examples are, “To what extent do you feel you have the opportunity to provide upward information or feedback?” or “To what extent are people treated with respect?”
Identifying key variables
The entire process depends on identifying the key outcome questions and the potential cultural variables at a specific organization that might lead to those outcomes. Sinickas’
ANGELA SINICKAS: Developing surveys to measure the impact of corporate culture
Corporate culture can help drive business results, but it takes a cultural audit to differentiate which elements of the culture can lead to superior performance. Angela Sinickas conducts employee engagement surveys that are specifically designed to measure the correlation between employee behaviors and attitudes that define an organization’s culture and its financial results. “The key is to ask the right questions,” she says. The questions are developed in two categories: behaviors defining outcomes with financial value and behaviors and attitudes describing inputs that could affect those outcomes.
112
Two categories of survey questions
1. The first category of questions measures positive behavioral outcomes that the organization needs in order to succeed. Some of these have immediate financial value, such as employees’ ratings of their own productivity or intention to stay with the organization. Other outcome questions are harder to quantify financially, such as self-ratings of employees’ commitment to help the company succeed or the likelihood of recommending their organization as a great employer to their friends. However, all these are specific employee behaviors that define an engaged workforce and will lead to better financial results. 2. The second category of survey questions measures the current extent of cultural factors likely to contribute to those positive outcomes. Obviously these have to be tailored to the type of work the organization does. Some examples are, “To what extent do you feel you have the opportunity to provide upward information or feedback?” or “To what extent are people treated with respect?”
Identifying key variables
The entire process depends on identifying the key outcome questions and the potential cultural variables at a specific organization that might lead to those outcomes. Sinickas’