Team Focus International | Programs | Cultural Drivers Assessment (CDA)

Cultural Drivers Assessment (CDA)

For almost 20 years Team Focus has worked with organisations to improve teamwork and culture. One of the challenges has been diagnosing what is really shaping a company's culture. We have used many of the instruments available on the market, and been exposed to almost all of them, but we have found that they only enabled us to describe the culture. There were no robust diagnostic tools available to help us accurately assess what was causing or driving the culture that had being described.

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Team Focus has joined forces with Henricks Consulting to offer the first assessment tool of its kind - a tool that brings you real data about what is driving your organisational culture.

An organisation's culture is almost universally defined as "the way we do things around here". Our approach differs because we believe culture is a tangible mix of what people are thinking, the behaviours they are demonstrating, the systems driving those behaviours, and the results that are measured and then become self-fulfilling.

Culture change requires a multi-faceted approach. You need to focus on shifting mindsets, teach and practice different behaviours, re-design systems, and realign company metrics to support the culture that you are trying to shape.

Three things the CDA will help you with:

Identify the results in REAL TERMS
Often starting a cultural change program can be expensive and as a champion of cultural change you need to be able to describe in no uncertain terms why there is a need to change.

The CDA measures 12 key results that will help you describe the result of your culture. Factors measured include: Job Security, Company Sustainability, Company Security, Career Needs, Job Satisfaction, Intent to Leave, Career Flexibility, Organisational Commitment, Recognition of Values, Support of Values, Congruence with Values, Motivation and Change Fatique.
Identify PRIORITY AREAS
The CDA identifies specific strengths and weaknesses across Mindsets, Behaviours, Systems and Results. The information gathered is simple to interpret - which will lead to greater application and change.

For a detailed list of the Mindsets, Behaviours and Systems that are assessed using this tool, see the CDA Table.

PRIORITISE next steps and action plan
Perhaps the most powerful aspect of the CDA is its ability to help prioritise and sequence your cultural intervention. How is this possible?

By differentiating between Results, Behaviours, Mindsets and Systems, the CDA helps you identify what is causing the culture you are measuring. Naturally, you will need to exercise judgement in determining this at times. However, this time, you’ll be exercising judgement based on data.

To demonstrate how the CDA helps a manager hypothesise the root causes of problems and develop an action plan we offer the case study below:

Case Study

Jill is an HR Manager for a relatively new start-up company. Over recent years it has grown rapidly, largely due to the work of a core group of employees who have been with the company since its inception. In recent years growth has stagnated and the CEO feels that the cause is at least in part due to the culture of the organisation.

What information did the CDA identify for her?

Firstly, Jill utilised the CDA to confirm her CEO's suspicions by looking at the "Results" section:

There were some pretty scary statistics evident. 60% of staff said that they were currently considering leaving the organisation and 80% said that they were unsatisfied with their jobs.

Secondly, Jill tried to identify what could be driving these results. The CDA identified the following weaknesses:

Systems - an over-reliance on key team members, lack of clarity about authorities and accountabilities and a sense that too many approvals were being required to get things done.

Behaviours - flawed decision making processes, unclear task assignment, creativity not being encouraged and inappropriate use of email was identified.

Mindsets - the stand-out issues with mindset appeared to be a lack of trust, a lack of personal responsibility when challenged with issues and a sense that staff can't "count on" their colleagues.

Thirdly, Jill considered all of this data in conjunction. It appeared that there was work to be done in each of the areas of Mindsets, Behaviours and Systems:

Systems - the business had grown rapidly and there had never been a need for job descriptions or clear performance accountabilities. It appeared that what the staff were now saying was that they needed this work and Jill noted that there was a suite of work required on Job Descriptions and an over-haul of their rather informal Performance Management system.

Behaviours - it appeared that the core "inner sanctum" of staff that had been there since the beginning were no longer behaving appropriately for an established, larger business. She determined that training in core management skills was required.

Mindsets - although staff criticisms of management appeared fair, it did appear to Jill that there were certainly elements of the current culture that staff needed to take personal responsibility for. She decided that rolling out a 'self managed teams' approach to local problems would be one good way of challenging the mindsets that were raised in the CDA.

Finally, Jill considered the sequencing of each of these initiatives:

It would be problematic to attempt to address Mindsets first since there were a number of systemic issues that were driving behaviours. However she did want staff to know that their concerns had been heard. She arranged for a CEO road-show to share the results of the survey and announce the plan to address those concerns.

Secondly she commissioned a review of existing Job Descriptions along with the Performance Management process. These core systemic issues had to be addressed immediately.

She did not feel that there was any reason why the required management training could not progress in parallel with the policy and process reviews that were required and so she designed a Management Training course which was tailored to the behavioural needs identified in the CDA and rolled this out with the top 20 managers in the company.

Once the systemic changes had been made and the managers obtained the training they needed, Jill then embedded the self managed teams approach to local issues. She did this with a variety of workshops. By doing all of the lead-up work on Systems and Behaviours, Jill was confident that nothing would undermine the initiative.

Interested in trialling the CDA?

This is an exciting diagnostic tool, and yet we've saved the best news till last. We've spent over 12 months in development and testing and are confident that the CDA will become one of the world's leading cultural assessment tools.

To celebrate the launch of this tool we have a great offer. Provided you require no company-specific tailoring of the tool or reporting format we are pleased to offer you the CDA Full Report for only $1500 plus GST.

That's an all inclusive price, no matter how many respondents. This represents great value - over 50% off our standard price, and up to 90% of other assessment tools! This is amazing value - all you have to do is book and pay for the CDA before Christmas.

The fine print

Offer valid for assessments booked and paid by 25 December 2008.

Offer does not include tailoring or changes to the standard report.

Offer does includes one follow up meeting for report interpretation.

Any number of employees is permissible - but all must access the assessment online.

I’m sure you realise this is great value so please do not hesitate to contact us about the CDA now before this limited offer runs out! Call 1300 551 274.

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