Today managing risk has taken a front seat with execution. It’s been recognized that the two go hand in hand.

What are you at risk for?

• Expensive Lawsuits based on gender or racial bias
• Workers Compensation Claims due to unsafe worker safety related incidents
• Loss of customers and reputation due to IT Security breaches
• Missed ship dates or fines due to lack of commitment to the product development process
• Lost revenue and execution delays due to unplanned turnover of key talent
• Failure to capture the strategic value of a merger or acquisition due to unaddressed “us vs. them” or “conquerors” mentality.

These represent just a few of the risks company’s face today. Many leaders are dissatisfied with managing risk by looking at lagging indicators such as claims, breaches, and turnover. Instead there’s a desire to manage the leading indicators in order to prevent the risk in the first place.

If you have a concern in any of these areas and have found the purely technical or process solutions have fallen short in improving the situation then read on.

Research supports that projects that couple people and cultural process change with business process change average a ROI of 143% where as projects that don’t, yield an average of a 35% ROI.  To take on culture change requires that you first measure the cultural process and that’s called performing a Culture Assessment.

A Culture Assessment measures leading indicators and identifies those cultural factors that are causing waste and increasing risk. By isolating the root cause then you can develop a change plan that addresses the core issues so the desired changes will stick.

Why Measure Culture?

If you have a disease or fracture then your doctor orders blood panels, x-rays and discusses your symptoms in order to properly diagnose the condition. Once diagnosed then the doctor will suggest a treatment, therapy and or medicine to get you well.

An Organizational Culture Assessment serves a similar purpose as a blood panel and x-ray. It provides leaders and their advisors with a deeper understanding of what is causing risks in the organization so a proper treatment plan can be developed. A thorough Cultural Assessment provides leaders with insights into the organizational and cultural influences that are affecting performance.

Organizational Influences include:

• Technology: how the work is done.
• Structures: Training, policy, procedure, etc.
• Compensation & Rewards: pay, bonus structures, awards, promotions.
• Metrics: identifies leading and lagging indicators for the target risk factor.
• Environment: competition, industry regulations, customer expectations.

Cultural Influences include:

• Leadership: communicates a compelling vision, consciously reinforces the desired culture through what is acknowledged/rewarded, who is promoted, and what is prioritized.
• Values: Translates values into behaviors, and describes the principles of “how we do things around here.”
• Symbols/Rituals: Symbolic acts and events that reinforce the desired cultural values and behaviors.
• Heros/Stories: Retelling of the stories that reinforce the desired cultural values and behaviors.
• Norms/Assumptions: Norms are typically unwritten and are the way a group has agreed to behave together. Norms are often based on implicit (unexamined) assumptions. When norms are out of synch with stated values the organization has “dissonance” and becomes ripe for risk.

Cultureii’s Corporate Culture Assessment:

Cultureii’s Culture Assessment provides an assessment of the organizational and cultural influences that shape your company.  We are certified consultants for The Value Centre’s Cultural Transformation Tools (CTT) and combine that culture values survey instrument with personal interviews for an in-depth diagnostic of your corporate culture.

We review and discuss the assessment results with your leadership team so you can perceive your organization as your employees perceive it. Through this discussion you and your team will understand:

• Your company’s current culture alignments and misalignments.
• What your company’s employees desire from the culture.
• What your people are asking for and from you and your leadership team.

Through this process you and your team will:

• Have a broadened perspective about why stubborn issues persist.
• Internalize the need for change.
• Identify priorities and open up to new perspectives on how to transform the company culture to reduce risk and increase performance.

Please contact us for details.