La Piana’s Organizational Culture Survey

A tool to assess and improve your nonprofit’s work environment and performance

Why did La Piana decide to create an organizational culture survey?

In recent years, workplace culture has been impacted by a shift to virtual and hybrid workplaces, increased demands for equitable workplace practices, and the incorporation of younger generations into the workforce. Throughout our various engagements with nonprofit staff and leadership, we have identified a need to facilitate structured conversations around workplace satisfaction, psychological safety, and organizational effectiveness that are grounded in evidence and encourage collective visioning for how organizational culture could be strengthened. Our organizational culture survey allows us to do just that.

How could this help your nonprofit?

Organizational culture is the shared experience of a work environment that affects employee engagement, satisfaction, and productivity. Conducting an organizational culture survey becomes vital for gaining valuable insights into how your staff perceive and experience various aspects of your organization, such as leadership, communication, collaboration, processes, performance, belonging, and more. Importantly, an accurate picture of how your organization is perceived can inform important discussions and work planning to improving your organizational experience and impact.

What areas of organizational culture are covered?

Our survey covers a range of key areas that are essential for a healthy and effective organizational culture. These include:

• Mission, vision, and values alignment: How well does staff understand and align with the organization’s purpose, direction, and principles?
• Direct supervision: How well do staff receive feedback, support, and guidance from their direct supervisors?
• Leadership and management: How well do staff trust and respect your organization’s leaders and managers? How well does leadership communicate and make decisions?
• Processes: How well do staff use and follow your organization’s processes, tools, and resources to carry out their work?
• Internal communication: How well do staff receive and share information within and across the organization?
• Performance and evaluation: How well do staff understand and meet the organization’s expectations and standards for their work, and how well do they receive recognition and rewards?
• Collaboration and teamwork: How well do staff work together and cooperate with each other?
• Work environment: How well do staff feel safe, comfortable, and supported in your organization’s physical and emotional environment?
• Overall experience of the organization: How well do your staff feel valued, engaged, and satisfied with your organization as a whole?

It’s worth noting that the survey design is not cookie cutter approach, but rather, it a starting point that allows us to customize according to each organization’s reality. We also make it a point to disaggregate information, as relevant, to ensure an equity lens in the data analysis and understand if there is a difference in people’s experience in the workplace based on their self-reported identities.

We don’t only carry out the survey, we also help with conversations and plans for improvement based on the results.

We also facilitate discussions and action planning around the results, helping you interpret the data, identify priorities, and develop strategies and solutions. We work with you and your staff to create a shared understanding of your organizational culture and a shared vision for improvement. We also help you monitor and evaluate your progress and impact over time.

The benefit of multiyear survey implementation and tracking.

Organizational culture is not static, but dynamic and evolving. To truly understand and improve your organizational culture, you need to measure it regularly and track it over time. That is why we offer multiyear survey implementation and tracking, allowing you to compare and contrast your results across different periods and see how your culture changes and develops. This can help you assess the effectiveness of your actions and interventions, as well as identify new opportunities and challenges. By conducting the survey every year or every other year, you can keep your finger on the pulse of your organizational culture and ensure that it supports your mission and goals.

Would you like a consultant to reach out to you about our Organizational Culture Survey? We’re happy to help.

Fill out our interest form here and look forward to hearing from us soon!