Given their distinct objectives, engagement and culture surveys tend to focus on a different set of issues. Engagement surveys speak more to personal issues – the employee’s alignment with the mission, the extent to which the organization is serving the employee’s basic needs, the level of support an employee receives from their manager and co-workers, and individual growth opportunities. From that, the organization can learn how connected employees are to the organization and the people who work there, why employees are or aren’t productive in their roles, and how likely they are to stay at the company over time.

Where engagement scores are a proxy for employee motivation and commitment, culture surveys tell us more about what causes the organization to act in a certain way and how work gets done. This draws on a wider set of variables that aren’t always apparent on the surface, making them more difficult to capture and comprehend.

Carpe Diem recently launched its Culture Screen^TM, which looks at four different aspects of an organization’s culture.

• Organizational Priorities – what drives the organization at a foundational level. Does the organization live by its values or just talk about its values? Does it support work-life balance or apply a 24/7 mentality?
• Decision-Making Style – how the organization approaches its opportunities and challenges. Is the organization proactive or reactive? Does it seek out long-term solutions or apply more of band-aid approach?
• Leadership Style – how leaders position themselves in their role and support their people. Are leaders accessible and engaged with their teams? Do they recognize employee achievement or call out employee mistakes?
• Social Structure – the nature of the staff’s relationship with the organization and with one another. Are they proud to work at the company? Do they think team first? Are they willing and able to work through conflicts?

The findings from a culture survey can still provide insights on employee motivation, productivity, and retention. However, by delving more into the inner workings of the organization, they can also help to establish what is driving organizational success, or what might be helping or hindering execution of key business objectives.

Let’s say an organization wants to create a greater level of accountability among leaders and staff. That would be easier to do if team members had a sense of PURPOSE [a defined set of values to guide their actions and clear directives around performance], OWNERSHIP [they were empowered to act on their strengths and recognized/rewarded for their accomplishments] and TRUST [they had a sense of community and were invested in the overall success of the company]. These are all manifestations of the culture.