Organizational Culture

The Way We Do Things Around Here.” This is the definitive working definition of organizational culture. However, understanding, assessing, and shifting organizational culture is a challenging proposition that requires a long-term leadership commitment and sponsorship. Ephektiv helps organizations shift or cultivate high performing cultures in a pragmatic, data-driven manner through our proven cultural assessment methodology and change strategies.

Assessing Culture

Ephektiv includes quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess organizational culture. We are an accredited super user of the Organizational Culture Inventory® (OCI®) and have used it to measure culture for over twenty years across several global industries. It measures the underlying behavioral expectations and assumptions driving culture. The OCI®) is the most widely used and thoroughly researched tool for measuring organizational culture in the world. At the organizational level, the research shows a relationship between the Constructive culture styles measured by the OCI® and outcomes, including employee engagement, safety and reliability, successful merger integration, creativity, adaptability, and customer satisfaction. Similarly, the research underscores and demonstrates a negative relationship between Defensive culture styles and long-term performance, safety, and innovation.

Click here to learn more about the OCI^®.

Organizational Effectiveness Inventory^®

The Organizational Effectiveness Inventory^® (OEI) complements the Organizational Culture Inventory^® by measuring the Causal Factors (Levers for Change) that shape culture and the Outcomes of culture at the individual, group, and organizational levels.

The OEI provides an actionable, impactful, and research-based alternative to employee attitude and opinion surveys, linking climate and culture in terms of:

• What people experience and perceive as members of the organization
• The impact this has on what they believe is expected of them (norms and culture)
• How culture in turn leads to important outcomes at the individual level (e.g., engagement), the group level (e.g., teamwork), and the organizational level (e.g., adaptability and quality)

This comprehensive survey, particularly when used in conjunction with the OCI^®, assesses the most important internal factors and conditions likely to impact organizational performance and sustainability.

Click here to learn more about the OEI^®.

Qualitative Assessment

The final element in Ephektiv’s culture assessment is the qualitative approach that is a mix of interviews, focus groups, and observations from across all levels of the organization. The qualitative element uncovers the deeper drivers of culture, its impact on employees, and real examples of how the culture plays out on a day-to-day basis.

The OCI^® and OEI^®, with the qualitative element, provide a complete picture of the culture, its outcomes, and the levers for change. With the OCI^® measuring Ideal and Current Culture and the OEI measuring organizational practices and outcomes, and real examples of the culture in action, clear reasons and strategies emerge to initiate and guide change and development.

Ephektiv has a proven global track record working in partnership with companies to assess and improve organizational culture, especially in creating strong safety cultures. (link to case studies)

The benefits for your organization

Apply the OCI in your organization and you’ll provide members at all levels with an understanding of how they’re currently expected to approach their work and interact with one another—and how the existing norms either support or interfere with problem solving and task performance.  You’ll also empower them to create a vision of the ideal culture in terms of the behaviors that would enable them and the organization to execute strategic initiatives, achieve goals, and attain the mission. The OCI provides leaders and members with the data they need and a language for conversations about where they are now, where they want to be, and how they’re going to get there.

The OCI is invaluable for:

• signaling and/or validating the need for cultural transformation
• supporting programs to enhance strategy implementation, employee engagement and inclusion, quality and reliability, and/or customer service
• gauging and improving organizational readiness for culture change
• addressing barriers to (and enablers of) agility, adaptability, and innovation
• facilitating mergers, acquisitions, and strategic alliances
• evaluating the impact of change efforts — using the culture assessment again and again to measure progress and identify what’s working and what’s not

Ephektiv is super user for Human Synergetics International and is Accredited.

How it works

Two forms of the OCI are available for culture assessment:

• The standard OCI measures the current culture of an organization in terms of shared behavioral norms—that is, the behaviors that members believe are required to “fit in” and meet expectations. Members’ responses are combined and profiled on Human Synergistics Circumplex to show the relative strength of Constructive, Passive/Defensive, and Aggressive/Defensive norms within the organization.
• The OCI-Ideal complements the current form of the OCI by identifying the optimal or preferred culture for the organization. It assesses the behaviors that leaders and other members believe should be expected to maximize effectiveness and enable the organization to reach its goals. The result is a picture of the ideal culture based on shared values and beliefs — a benchmark against which the current culture can be compared to identify gaps and targets for change.

Members’ responses to these surveys are aggregated and electronically analyzed to generate a report (or reports) to support your company’s organizational culture change initiatives. A Human Synergistics consultant or accredited practitioner guides organizational leaders and change team members through the findings and the steps required for successful development and transformation.

The OCI surveys are available online on almost any digital device as well as in hard copy (including self-scoring) format.*

*Content and copyright courtesy of Human Synergetics International.© 2019 Human Synergistics International. All Rights Reserved.