Creating a safe and inclusive workplace is not achieved through policies alone. It is shaped by culture. The everyday behaviours, decisions, and signals that tell people whether they will be believed, supported, and protected when something goes wrong.
At ICENA, we support organisations to understand and transform workplace culture as a core part of preventing sexual harassment. Measuring culture allows organisations to move beyond assumptions and hear the real experiences of their people. When culture measurement is done well, it becomes a powerful driver of trust, accountability, and meaningful change.
Why Measure Company Culture?
Company culture directly influences whether sexual harassment is challenged or ignored, whether people feel safe to speak up, and whether leadership is trusted to act. Even where policies and training exist, culture determines whether they work in practice.
Measuring culture helps organisations:
- Understand whether people feel safe, included, and respected
- Identify where silence, fear, or power imbalance may be present
- Strengthen retention and engagement by addressing root causes of harm
- Align stated values with everyday behaviours
- Reduce legal, reputational, and human risk
From a business perspective, safe and inclusive cultures support productivity, innovation, and sustainable performance. From a human perspective, they protect dignity and wellbeing. Culture measurement brings these priorities together.
Key Metrics & Indicators of Culture
Culture is revealed through patterns rather than single scores. ICENA works with organisations to identify indicators that reflect psychological safety, inclusion, and accountability.
Key metrics include:
- Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): whether people would recommend the organisation as a safe and supportive place to work
- Turnover and retention: particularly where people leave due to feeling unsafe or unheard
- Employee referrals: confidence in the organisation’s values and behaviours
- Engagement levels: motivation, trust, and commitment
- Sentiment indicators: perceptions of leadership, fairness, and reporting processes
- Recognition and respect: whether inclusive and respectful behaviours are valued
- Confidence to speak up: a critical indicator in preventing sexual harassment
Together, these metrics help organisations understand not just how people feel, but why.
Methods & Tools to Measure Culture
Effective culture measurement combines quantitative data with qualitative insight to capture both scale and lived experience.
Climate Surveys / Employee Surveys / Pulse Surveys
Anonymous surveys provide a safe way for employees to share their experiences of workplace culture, including sensitive topics such as harassment, bystander behaviour, and reporting confidence. Pulse surveys allow organisations to track progress over time.
Focus Groups / Workshops
Facilitated focus groups and workshops create space to explore themes emerging from survey data. When delivered safely and independently, they enable deeper understanding and collective reflection.
Exit Interviews
Exit interviews can reveal cultural risks that current employees may not feel able to raise. Patterns across exit data often highlight systemic issues.
Culture Assessment Instruments (OCAI, OCI, etc.)
Established tools such as OCAI and OCI help organisations understand dominant cultural norms and how they may support or undermine safety and inclusion.
Sentiment Analysis / Textual Analytics
Analysing open-text responses allows organisations to identify emotional tone, recurring concerns, and unspoken fears that may not appear in numerical scores.
Behaviour Monitoring (Observation, Communications Metrics)
Culture is reflected in behaviour. Observing how leaders respond to concerns, how incidents are handled, and how messages are communicated provides essential context.
Third-Party Tools
Third-party platforms can support data collection and benchmarking. ICENA’s specialist expertise ensures these tools are used through a prevention, safety, and inclusion lens.
Designing a Culture Survey
Designing a culture survey is an opportunity to build trust. It must be done with care, clarity, and integrity.
Survey Objective & Scope
Clear objectives help employees understand why the survey is being run and how their feedback will be used to improve safety and inclusion.
Sampling & Frequency
Pulse vs full surveys
Most organisations benefit from an annual in-depth culture survey, supported by shorter pulse surveys to monitor change.
Question Types
Likert scale, open text
Likert-scale questions provide consistency and comparability, while open-text questions allow employees to share lived experience in their own words.
Avoiding Bias in Wording, Order Effects
Neutral language, inclusive wording, and thoughtful sequencing reduce social desirability bias and increase honesty.
Anonymity, Confidentiality
Anonymity is essential, particularly when addressing sexual harassment. Without it, people will self-censor or disengage.
Communication & Rollout
Transparent communication about purpose, anonymity, and follow-up actions significantly increases trust and participation.
Interpreting Survey Data & Insights
Interpreting culture data is a leadership responsibility.
Effective interpretation includes:
- Quantitative score analysis (means, distributions, outliers)
- Segmenting data by team, demographic, or location where safe
- Synthesising qualitative feedback into themes
- Identifying trends, red flags, and protective factors
- Benchmarking progress internally and, where appropriate, externally
Insight should always be used to improve safety, inclusion, and accountability — not to defend results.
From Insight to Action: Driving Culture Change
Listening creates expectation. Action builds trust.
Culture change is driven by:
- Presenting findings openly to leadership
- Prioritising interventions that reduce harm and increase clarity
- Embedding change through leadership behaviours, role modelling, policy, and everyday rituals
- Tracking progress through repeat measurement and clear KPIs
- Communicating transparently with staff about what will change and why
When organisations act visibly on feedback, they demonstrate that speaking up is worthwhile — a critical condition for preventing sexual harassment.
Challenges & Pitfalls to Avoid
Common challenges include:
- Low response rates due to fear or mistrust
- Social desirability bias when anonymity is weak
- Survey fatigue without visible action
- Misinterpretation of data without specialist context
- Organisational inertia
The greatest risk is asking people to speak up and failing to respond.
FAQs on Measuring Culture
How often should you run a culture survey?
Most organisations benefit from annual culture surveys supported by regular pulse surveys.
Can you measure culture quantitatively?
Yes — but quantitative data must be complemented by qualitative insight to understand lived experience.
What is a good response rate?
Response rates above 60% typically indicate trust. Higher rates often reflect confidence that feedback will lead to action.
