Cultural Transformations

Chapter 17Final Thoughts and Call to Action

Prescription Before Diagnosis Is Malpractice

In medicine, prescription before diagnosis is malpractice. In the world of leadership and corporate cultural transformation, it is likewise malpractice. There are too many organizations all over the world that are engaged in cultural malpractice. This must change. Start by measuring your culture. Engagement levels are determined by your culture. What must be measured? The health and vibrancy of your culture. You should survey all employees across all levels to get your finger on the pulse of how your organization is perceived by various employee and demographic groups, minimally by tenure and position level.

In our research, fewer than 15 percent of global organizations have assessed their cultures using an instrument that accurately measures those factors that determine culture. Many organizations confuse engagement or satisfaction surveys with culture surveys.

The two are not the same.

A culture survey is at best described as a leading indicator measure of engagement levels, customer satisfaction, and operating success. It is a good indicator of how people perceive the relative strength of the five predictor cultures in your organization: the “can do” culture; the “will do” culture; the “must do” culture; the “individual performance” culture; and the “team performance” culture—all of which combine to determine the health and vibrancy of your overall culture.

An engagement survey does ...