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Compare Culture Assessment Tools

Benchmarking your company culture in 2023 takes a lot more than a 20-minute survey. We have unprecedented access to employee feedback and data like never before. 

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If you're ready to start to quantify your journey to a better workplace, surveys are one source of data we can turn to. 

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In this guide you'll learn why, how, and what to pay attention to when you embark on a cultural assessment. Get to know the top choices and how to get access. 

Why Assess?

Assessing your organization's current culture is one way to get a quantifiable, objective set of data that shows a snapshot of the current state of your company's culture. What are the shared values, beliefs, behaviors, and practices that define the character of your organization? It's not always what you might think. 

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Knowing the baselines is a critical step toward empowering your leaders to make data-driven decisions. By fostering a healthy organizational culture, you can improve employee satisfaction and productivity, and also impact the organization's bottom line. 

 

Only pursue an assessment if you plan to take action from its findings.

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Benchmark

Create a baseline so you can get a full picture of what your culture is really like. Identify specific areas to improve, and create KPIs around how to measure those improvements. The result is tangible and quantifiable steps toward a happier workforce over time. 

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Improve engagement and retention

We all know by now that happiness correlates with higher engagement and lower turnover rates. Don't ignore simple things like communication, clarity of roles, leadership styles, and work-life balance. 

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Foster innovation

A culture that promotes risk-taking, productivity, and collaboration, leads to better outcomes. Surveys and assessments can help identify sticking points (like meeting structures and cadence) so you can remove roadblocks, increase trust, and maintain psychological safety.

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Attract top talent

Become a magnet for candidates whose values align with your mission. Knowing where your culture stands can help you attract and retain engaged employees. 

Popular Cultural Assessment Tools

Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI)

The Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) is a simple and effective tool that measures an organization's culture based on the Competing Values Framework.

The assessment provides leaders with a visual representation of the organization's culture, as well as insights into the organization's strengths and weaknesses.

Culture Amp

CultureAmp is a modern culture assessment tool used by some huge companies. The platform offers a range of surveys, including the employee engagement survey, the onboarding survey, and the diversity and inclusion survey. The tool's AI-powered analytics provide detailed reports that help leaders identify areas that require improvement.

Denison Organizational Culture Survey (DOCS)

The Denison Organizational Culture Survey (DOCS) is a comprehensive assessment tool that measures an organization's culture in four key areas: mission, adaptability, involvement, and consistency. The tool's report provides leaders with insights into the organization's strengths and weaknesses, and recommendations for improving culture.

Culture Pulse

Culture Pulse is a quick employee assessment that measures values, norms, beliefs, and behavior, and demonstrates how culture controls the way employees behave amongst themselves as well as with people outside the organization.

Barrett Values Centre

The Barrett Values Centre's cultural transformation tools help organizations assess their culture, values, and vision. The platform offers various assessments, including the Cultural Transformation Tools (CTT), which assesses the organization's current culture and identifies areas for improvement. The CTT assessment provides detailed reports and recommendations that help leaders implement positive changes.

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Comparing surveys depends largely on what your company needs: something simple to get started, or a full-blown employee engagement system?

 

Now and in the Future

Depending on your size and growth, you'll want to consider what you might need now and 6 months from now. Why not 12 or 18 months? Because no one knows what's going to happen between now and then, and you don't want to spend time overengineering something you don't need yet. 
 

Goals

Do you want to improve employee engagement, enhance organizational performance, or promote diversity and inclusion? Choose an assessment tool that aligns with your objectives.
 

Features

Compare features including survey types, data analysis, and report generation. Is there live chat support to get help when you need it? 
 

Cost

Assessment tools come at different price points, and it is essential to consider your organization's budget when selecting a tool. Consider the long-term value of the tool and how it aligns with your organization's goals.
 

User-Friendliness

Ease of use can impact the survey response rate and the quality of data collected. Consider how intuitive it is to use and the friction that might lower your response rate.

How to choose the right tool for your organization

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