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CulturalAuditAssignmentDescription1.docx
Overview
A cultural audit consists of three stages: Assessment, Analysis and Recommendation. Your project will focus on the Assessment stage. In the Assessment stage, you will be provided only one of the variables in a cultural audit. A typical cultural audit is a very detailed review of the organizations assumptions, philosophy, values, norms, policies and practices that either support or hinder the organization’s mission. Cultural audits are often conducted by third party organizations because of this extensive process. This project is merely an introduction to cultural audits, their purpose and usage basing it on one variable and not many.
The goal of the project is to understand how to build employees' loyalty and enhance their productivity, increase the client base adherence, and attract more clients that are new; in turn driving the company's overall competitive advantage through this tool.
What is a cultural audit?
A cultural audit provides a snapshot related to the health an organization’s workplace culture. It involves the study of the characteristics, methods and behaviors of an organization to determine if they are acceptable to its employees, customers and stakeholders.
O.C. Tanner, a leading HR services firm focused on improving workplace culture through employee recognition, defines an organization’s workplace culture as “the essence of the company you work for.” It is the social operating system that influences how people work and how the organization interacts with its employees, customers and community. Workplace culture incorporates the history, story, vision, beliefs, norms and expectations held by your company. While culture may not be something you see and touch, it is something your people feel and it affects all parts of their employee experience at work.
Finally, workplace culture is not a static concept. It evolves and changes over time as various team members and leaders come and go. Therefore, it is imperative to ensure this process is not a “one-time event”.
Cultural Audit Components – Assessment Stage
A cultural audit, as mentioned earlier, has three main components – Assessment, Analysis and Recommendation. You will, in this project, work through the “assessment” stage. The key components of the assessment stage involve the following:
· Desktop Reviews: involves the review of internal documents, policies, procedures, communications, as well as external-facing information (i.e. – website, social media, news stories, etc.)
· Customer Reviews: Feedback from customers and consumers of product information allows for both complaints and compliments to be reviewed and considered by management
· Focus Groups (Staff and Stakeholders): intentional conversations set up with various groups of people, both internal and external.
· Workplace Culture Survey: development of a prescribed set of questions by which to survey the employees – across all levels in the organization – in an anonymous fashion.
Additionally, in a cultural audit, there are a wide variety of questions, which should be asked in order to solicit responses revealing the experiences and feelings of employees. The questions also should lead to the capturing of facts and data for use in the future stages of the cultural audit (i.e. – analysis and recommendation). The following questions provide an idea of the questions asked within the cultural audit process. This is not an exhaustive list, but provide a starting point for the project.
· What is the organization’s leadership style?
· How would you describe the workplace culture of the organization to a family member or friend?
· Do you feel valued as an employee of the organization?
· Is the workforce representative of the community in which it serves?
· Does the organization practice policies that are inclusive?
· How are the customers of the organization treated?
· Is leadership responsive to the concerns of employees? To the concerns of customers or stakeholders?
Cultural Audit Project Instructions
1. You have been retained as a consultant to provide a cultural audit of Denny’s Restaurants. You will be expected to assess the workplace culture of the organization and provide a final deliverable document of that assessment to the President and CEO.
a. Describe the organization’s culture based on the case study
b. Identify the various tools you would employ to gather the necessary information to arrive at this description (i.e. – focus groups you would assemble, questions you would ask, documents you would review, etc.). Please note the questions listed above can be used, but it is highly suggested that additional questions are asked based on the tool employed.
c. Describe the impact of the organization’s culture on its effectiveness and profitability.
d. Assess the role of leadership and its effects on the organization’s workplace culture – both positive and negative.
e. Review the organization today and describe the changes observed in the workplace culture.
2. A case study has been attached for your review (see Exhibit 1). This case study will present you with critical information useful in this stage of the cultural audit. This is the “Desktop Review” component (variable) of the assessment stage.
3. You also have access to the Denny’s website ( https://www.dennys.com/company ) and social media. This will be critical as you provide a comparison of the workplace culture reviewed in the case study and the current environment.
4. A rubric has been provided for your review as you complete your project.
5. Please note, how you choose to present your final document is at your discretion. There is no required number of pages or limit on pages. There is no requirement on font size or line spacing. There is no required number of words or limit on words. The expectation is you utilize the above instructions and the corresponding rubric to ensure you have addressed each of the expected components of the project.
