Company culture plays a pivotal role in a motor carrier’s success. Culture impacts every facet of operations, from safety and compliance to hiring and retention. The term “culture” is sometimes described simply as “The way we do what we do,” and might be viewed as an undefined vibe permeating the walls of a company.
In reality, culture can be measured, and just like any safety initiative, if it can be measured, it can be improved. Below are several culture measurement techniques and action items. Consider using one or more of these to establish a baseline for your company's culture and track your transformation.
PULSE CHECKS
A pulse check is simply a means of learning the current state of your company. You can use various techniques, such as emails, questionnaires, a suggestion box, etc., to gauge the pulse of the company. The goal is to capture a baseline and then track the company’s change over time. For example, using a five-point scale, one could ask employees about a specific topic like leadership’s support of safety initiatives. Using the average score as a baseline, determine a course to make improvements in this area, then take another pulse check to see if the scores improve.
MILESTONES
Change does not occur overnight, and big ideas can fizzle quickly if a long-term strategy for change is not mapped out in advance. For this reason, before implementing any organizational change initiatives, establish key milestones to benchmark your progress. Even if you know the goal you are trying to achieve will take years to accomplish, setting milestones to track your progress along the way is great for keeping momentum and reinforcing the importance of the initiative.
TRAINING AND ASSESSMENTS
Training is one method to introduce key elements of the company's culture to employees. Before offering training, conduct a pre-training assessment to gather a baseline that establishes where employees currently stand. One example could be assessing employees' knowledge of the company mission, vision, and values. Once the training on this subject is complete, conduct a post-training assessment to measure if knowledge improved.
SCORECARDS
Scorecards are a great visual to help employees understand the current state of any initiative. Regarding cultural transformation, providing a scorecard that shows the status of each stage of the process keeps the initiative front of mind with employees and can be a morale boost to show improvements are being made. Displaying the scorecards in departments, providing updates in emails, or even displaying results on the company intranet are creative ways to demonstrate the company’s progress.
CALL TO ACTION
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Take a pulse check to learn how employees view the current company culture.
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Define key milestones for the next initiative to transform your company's culture.
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Conduct culture awareness training and assess employee knowledge before and after the training.
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Develop and display scorecards that show the progress of culture transformation initiatives.
The information in this article is provided as a courtesy of Great West Casualty Company and is part of the Value-Driven® Company program. Value-Driven Company was created to help educate and inform insureds so they can make better decisions, build a culture that values safety, and manage risk more effectively.
Note: These lists are not intended to be all-inclusive
This material is intended to be a broad overview of the subject matter and is provided for informational purposes only. Joe Morten & Son, Inc. does not provide legal advice to its insureds or other parties, nor does it advise insureds or other parties on employment-related issues, therefore the subject matter is not intended to serve as legal or employment advice for any issue(s) that may arise in the operations of its insureds or other parties. Legal advice should always be sought from legal counsel. Joe Morten & Son, Inc. shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss, action, or inaction alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the information contained herein. Reprinted with permission from Great West Casualty Company.