Cultural audit
| Cultural audit |
|---|
| See also |
Cultural audit - can be used to establish if there are various groups or subcultures in company that have completely different views about workplace, managers, organizational structure and so on. It is conducted to investigate attitudes and advantages of the workforce as well as actions they engage in. Cultural audit primarily includes discussions between managers of how employers see company's culture and how it can be improved and developed[1].
The cultural audit consists of such questions as[2]:
- How employers communicate with each other?
- How they spend their time on breaks?
- How employers proceed inside the organization?
- Are they empowered?
- What is the leading management style of managers?
This type of analysis concentrates on how critical qualities are embraced and demonstrated by employers in the whole organization. Employee surveys help to examine how workers feel about different critical issues, they can be quite useful for upward appraisal and response of management[3].
Bi-Cultural Audit
A bi-cultural audit pinpoints cultural relations within the merging organizations and determines degree to which cultural conflicts will probably happen. Cultural collisions can be minimized by running a bicultural audit before the merger[4].
Bi-cultural audit consists of three steps, which are represented below[5]:
- Data collecting: the process starts with interviews, questioning and observation of employees to discover cultural differences amongst the merging companies.
- Data analysing: second step implies analysis of collected data to determine which differences between these organizations can cause the misunderstanding and what kind of cultural values will be the fundamentals for building a united cultural company.
- Integration: in the finale it comes to forming strategy and making plans on how to bring the culture clash from merger to minimum.
Examples of Cultural audit
- Interviews: Interviews with managers and employees can provide an insight into the current state of the culture. This could include questions about how people feel about the company, their job roles, and their supervisors.
- Surveys: Surveys are a great way to gain insight into the larger culture of the organization. They can be used to assess employee morale, job satisfaction, and their overall opinion of the organization and its management.
- Observations: Observing the day-to-day operations of the company can provide insight into the company’s culture. This could include observing staff interactions, how they interact with customers, and how they respond to directives from managers.
- Focus groups: Focus groups can be a great way to get a sense of how employees feel about the company and its leadership. They can provide feedback on how employees perceive their roles and how they view their supervisors.
Advantages of Cultural audit
- A cultural audit provides an overview of the current state of the company's culture. It is an effective way to identify areas of improvement as well as potential areas of conflict between different subcultures within the organization.
- It helps to identify the values and beliefs that drive the organization, which can help organizations make better decisions and communicate more effectively.
- It is an effective way to assess the effectiveness of current strategies by looking at how well those strategies are being implemented and what results they are producing.
- The insights gained through a cultural audit can help managers identify areas where they need to focus their attention, as well as areas that may need to be addressed more urgently.
- It can also help to identify areas where the culture may be hindering progress and impede the development of new strategies or initiatives.
- Most importantly, a cultural audit can help organizations to clarify their values and mission, as well as ensure that their policies and practices are in line with those values.
Limitations of Cultural audit
A cultural audit can be a useful tool for assessing the effectiveness of a company's culture, however there are some limitations to consider. These include:
- It can be a time-consuming activity, requiring significant effort from both management and employees.
- It may be difficult to get accurate and honest feedback from employees, as there could be a fear of repercussions for providing negative input.
- It is often difficult to identify the root cause of problems within the culture, as there may be multiple contributing factors.
- Cultural audits often rely on subjective data, which can be difficult to analyze and interpret.
- Cultural audits may not always be able to identify the most effective solutions to problems, as they cannot always take into account the unique needs and goals of individual employees.
One of the common approaches related to Cultural audit is to evaluate the organizational culture through the use of surveys and interviews, as well as by observing behavior within the organization. Additional approaches to Cultural audit include:
- The use of focus groups to collect qualitative data from the company’s employees. This helps to uncover the true perception of the company’s culture and to identify any existing gaps.
- The analysis of the company's processes and procedures to see if they are in alignment with the desired culture.
- A review of the company's policies and procedures to see if they are in line with the desired organizational culture.
- An analysis of the company's communication channels to identify any disconnect between the desired culture and the actual culture.
- A review of the company's management practices to determine if they are in line with the desired culture.
In summary, Cultural audit is a process used to evaluate the organizational culture of a company, by analyzing the attitudes, behaviors, and values of its employees and how they interact with each other. It involves the use of surveys and interviews, as well as focus groups and the analysis of processes, policies, communication channels, and management practices.
Footnotes
References
- Aquinas (2009), Organization Structure & Design : Applications And Challenges, Excel Books India
- Bohlander G., Snell S. (2006), Managing Human Resources, Cengage Learnin
- Chalofsky N.F. (2014), Handbook of Human Resource Development, John Wiley & Sons
- Gooden S.T. (2015), Race and Social Equity: A Nervous Area of Government, Routledge
- Piscione D.P. (2014), The Risk Factor: Why Every Organization Needs Big Bets, Bold Characters, and the Occasional Spectacular Failure, St. Martin's Press
- Solomon C. (2004), Culture Audits: Supporting Organizational Success, American Society for Training and Development
- Strathern M. (2003), Audit Cultures: Anthropological Studies in Accountability, Ethics and the Academy, Routledge
Author: Uladzislau Leonau
