The secret of organisational culture: from measurement to real engagement

Index

1. From theory to reality: what is organisational culture really?

2. The limitations of traditional measurement

3. How to build a vibrant and participatory culture

4. Tools and approaches for real engagement

Less than 50% of employees are completely honest when sharing feedback with human resources. This highlights a fundamental problem: the difference between measuring corporate organisational culture and creating genuine engagement. To further complicate the picture, 35% of executives say that corporate culture is the most serious problem to be addressed, while 75% of Generation Z and Millennial workers consider the organisational climate and culture to be among the three main factors in choosing an employer.

In this article, you will explore what organisational culture means beyond theoretical definitions, the limitations of traditional approaches to measuring it and, most importantly, how to transform organisational values and culture from abstract concepts into everyday experiences. You will discover practical tools and innovative approaches to building a work environment that not only improves productivity but also positively impacts your company's ability to attract and retain top talent.

From theory to reality: what is organisational culture really?

Imagine two young fish meeting an older fish. ‘Good morning, boys, how's the water?’ he asks them. As they swim away, one of the young fish asks the other, ‘What the hell is water?’ This metaphor perfectly illustrates the concept of organisational culture: something so pervasive that it is invisible to those immersed in it on a daily basis.

Organisational culture: beyond definitions

Organisational culture is not simply a set of written rules or motivational slogans hung on the walls. It is the soul of the company, the way things are done, the atmosphere that is breathed every day. Edgar Schein, one of the leading experts on the subject, defines it as ‘the coherent set of fundamental assumptions that a group has invented, discovered or developed while learning to cope with problems of external adaptation or internal integration’.

Less than 50% of employees are completely honest when sharing In practice, culture manifests itself on three distinct levels:

Artifacts: physical and visible elements such as the organisation of spaces, symbols and observable behaviours
Stated values: explicit communication, formal principles and official statements
Basic assumptions: deep and often unconscious beliefs that guide behaviour

Although many companies focus on defining values, Marc Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, reminds us that ‘culture is not what you say, it's what you do.’ In fact, only 5% of board members say they are ‘very confident’ that the desired culture aligns with the culture they actually experience.

Organisational climate and culture: two sides of the same coin

Organisational climate and culture are concepts that are often confused but deeply interconnected. Climate represents employees' subjective perceptions of the work environment, while culture refers to the values, beliefs and norms that govern behaviour.

In other words, if culture describes “what” the organisation is, climate indicates “what employees feel and believe” the organisation to be. This distinction is also reflected in temporality: climate is a short-term phenomenon, influenced by subjective experiences, while culture is a long-term phenomenon that defines the identity of the organisation.

An important difference is that while climate measures whether expectations have been met, culture refers to the nature of these expectations themselves. Climate can be relatively manoeuvrable in the short term, while culture is strategic and much more difficult to change.

However, there is a cycle of mutual influence: culture influences climate, determining how employees perceive the working environment, while climate analyses can identify areas for improvement in order to evolve the culture.

The limitations of traditional measurement

Measuring organisational culture is a key challenge for many companies. According to experts, when we don't measure something, we cannot understand its importance or change it to achieve better results. However, traditional approaches have significant limitations that prevent a true understanding of corporate culture.

Feedback as a metric vs feedback as a relationship

Effective feedback is not simply a collection of data, but a relational bridge. Feedback that conveys only feelings, without reporting the facts that support them, does not adequately inform the recipient. Furthermore, to be truly useful, it must focus on specific behaviours and never on the person.

At its deepest level, effective feedback is that which maximises the quality of the relationship, respecting words with syntactic and semantic precision. Conversely, when feedback is treated only as a metric, it loses its transformative function and becomes a sterile tool.

Why annual surveys are no longer enough

Company surveys are a powerful tool for improving the working environment, but they lose value if they do not lead to concrete changes. Traditional surveys, especially annual ones, have several problems:

Lack of timeliness: corporate culture is constantly changing and evolving, making a one-off analysis insufficient.
Difficulty in analysing data: many HR leaders encounter obstacles in terms of timing and interpretation, failing to make decisions based on the results.
Loss of trust: employees become disappointed when they do not see concrete action following surveys.

The risk of misalignment between stated and experienced values

One of the most critical aspects of performance management is ensuring that employee behaviour reflects the company's stated values. According to research, 80% of organisations have formalised a set of values, but only about a quarter of them actually measure how these values are put into practice on a daily basis.

This misalignment has tangible consequences: when there is a lack of consistency between stated values and actual behaviour, barriers to change are created. In effect, top management risks planning transformations based on a view of the company that is completely different from the reality experienced.

A lack of consistency in values and culture is directly linked to higher resignation rates, with costs estimated at between 1.5 and 2 times the annual salary for each replacement. Therefore, values cannot be relegated to the website or inspirational speeches, but must be translated into measurable everyday behaviours.

How to build a vibrant and participatory culture

Building an authentic organisational culture requires constant commitment that goes beyond theoretical definitions. Cultural transformation starts at the top, with leaders setting an example, but it must permeate the entire organisation to be effective.

Creating moments of authentic listening

Active listening improves the effectiveness of a conversation by up to 60%. To implement it effectively, it is necessary to create spaces where employees can express themselves freely. Organising open dialogue sessions allows for discussion of complex topics, including personal experiences with identity and other workplace challenges. Techniques such as active silence, paraphrasing and verbalising the emotions heard transform simple conversations into moments of real connection.

Fostering trust through anonymity and transparency

Organisational transparency refers to a company's willingness to communicate openly, authentically and honestly. This approach allows employees to connect with company leaders to ask questions and receive constructive feedback. A system that guarantees anonymity encourages the sincere expression of opinions and concerns, which is essential for building trusting relationships.

Customise the cultural experience for each team

Each team has unique needs and dynamics. An effective approach is to distribute responsibilities through “Areas of Responsibility”, which assign specific skills to the most suitable member, regardless of hierarchical role. This system also allows newly hired employees to develop leadership skills and make important decisions, increasing their sense of belonging.

Integrate culture into HR and performance processes

To be effective, organisational culture must be integrated into everyday processes. According to McKinsey, the key to sustainable cultural change is to act on high-visibility behavioural levers. This means:

Culturally aligned recruitment and onboarding
Training that makes expected behaviours explicit
Recognition systems consistent with stated values
Promotion of interaction between departments

Culture does not change through top-down decisions, but through everyday behaviours and systemic consistency.

Tools and approaches for real engagement

Transforming organisational culture from an abstract concept into a lived reality requires concrete tools that give employees a voice and create authentic connections.

Pulse surveys and employee voice platforms

Pulse surveys represent an evolution from traditional annual surveys. These short questionnaires, administered every one or two weeks, provide rapid and frequent feedback on the health of the organisation. With higher participation rates due to their brevity (generally no more than ten questions), they allow you to keep your finger on the pulse in real time.

Employee voice platforms, on the other hand, create an authentic dialogue that allows staff to speak freely. Effective employee voice is based on four key elements: active listening, valuable feedback, maximum transparency and incentives for participation. Technologies such as LiveNow use machine learning to collect and analyse anonymous feedback in real time, transforming it into concrete actions.

Participatory leadership and cultural coaching

Participatory, or democratic, leadership creates an open environment where leaders listen and facilitate collaborative work. This approach gives each team member a voice, although it may require more frequent meetings.

Cultural coaching, on the other hand, supports employees in developing their strengths, linking individual ambitions to company goals. According to experts, coaching becomes a valuable tool for achieving organisational goals, promoting teamwork and a better understanding of complexity.

Internal storytelling and shared rituals

Internal storytelling cements a sense of belonging and creates cohesion. The main goal is to build trust through authentic stories, preferably narrated by the founder or key figures in the company. This narrative approach allows you to:

Build a collective identity
Stimulate involvement and participation
Strengthen existing relationships and create new ones

Organisations that excel at creating a vibrant culture implement concrete methodologies. Companies with a well-defined culture are 26 times more likely to achieve revenue growth of over 20%.

Among the most effective practices are:

Creating ongoing coaching and mentoring programmes between senior employees and new recruits
Defining specific “areas of responsibility” independent of hierarchical roles
Promoting transparency and open dialogue between all levels of the organisation

Conclusion

Organisational culture is therefore a fundamental element for business success, not just a statement of intent hung on office walls. Through this article, you have seen how companies with a well-defined and authentically lived culture significantly outperform their competitors in terms of performance and financial results.

Of course, measuring organisational culture presents considerable challenges. Annual surveys, although useful, are insufficient to capture the ever-changing dynamics of the workplace. Therefore, it becomes essential to adopt more frequent and personalised approaches, such as pulse surveys, which allow for constant dialogue with employees.

The misalignment between stated values and everyday behaviour remains one of the main obstacles to overcome. This gap not only generates mistrust, but also entails tangible costs linked to increased turnover. Consistency, on the other hand, creates an environment where engagement flourishes naturally.

Building a vibrant culture requires concrete actions. Active listening, transparency in decision-making processes and personalising the experience for each team form the basis of authentic engagement. Similarly, integrating culture into HR processes transforms abstract values into measurable everyday behaviours.

The tools presented – from employee voice platforms to participatory leadership, from internal storytelling to shared rituals – offer practical solutions for transforming your organisational culture. Without a doubt, these methodologies will enable you to create a working environment where employees truly feel part of something bigger.