Do You Know HOW to Measure the Success of Workplace Culture?
Have you experienced a workplace where management holds the belief of “You have to reach your numbers to get a bonus, otherwise you’re gone”?
With this attitude, there is no middle ground. As a result, the human beings working within this organization aren’t healthy or happy because they are treated as cogs in a machine.
Numbers will always be important for running a business. Numbers can and do tell a story. But, numbers don’t tell the whole story. When it comes to measuring the performance within a workplace, including the success of its culture, there is much more to the process than numbers. We need to value people more than numbers.
The following is an excerpt from The Human Centered Team by Glenn Akramoff, and it shares some very valuable insight on this topic:
“I’ve been looking for ‘a number’ my entire career that can accurately predict an organization’s success. I haven’t found it yet. And that is why people, people centric, people moving people, people inspiring people, is still the best way forward.”
Through years of experience, Glenn has determined that organizations whose sole focus is to count everything, allow that to ultimately be their greatest downfall.
Using numbers to tell the whole story isn’t possible because numbers are not the characters in the story. Numbers are not the players in the game. There are many different external factors that influence the outcome of a situation. Every sports fan out there recognizes that. You cannot pin all of your hopes for the success of the team on one game, one play, one call. It’s all collective.
When it comes to measuring the culture of a workplace, you can use the numerical value of the number of sick days taken, the involvement in committees or volunteering, and so on, but that only tells part of the story.
What tells the rest?
People. Their behaviors, attitudes, and level of engagement.
For example, when a meeting is held, do team members freely participate? Are people sharing their opinions, observations, and problem-solving ideas, or is management doing all the talking? Workplace engagement is an easily-observed, people-centered performance measurement of culture that should be used to your advantage.
Workplace culture is just ONE of the pillars within your organization that needs to be measured. For more detail on performance measurement for the other pillars, be sure to get a copy of The Human Centered Team out soon.