Denison Organizational Culture Survey Coming Next Week: Another Chance for You to Provide Input on Our Agency Culture

At Heartland AEA, we define culture as “the way we do things around here.” It’s about our collective behaviors that are driven by our individual assumptions and beliefs. This matters because our collective behaviors lead to our results. Culture is often confused with climate, which is “the way we feel about the way we do things around here.” Obviously, both culture and climate are important. 

Is it possible to shape our culture (the way we do things around here)? Absolutely! And we have been actively working to shape our culture over the past several years. In the spring of 2012, 2013 and 2014, our agency administered the Denison Organizational culture Survey to a stratified sample of our staff, and in 2016 and 2017, the survey was administered to all agency staff. The Denison Survey is designed to assess an organization’s strengths and weaknesses as they apply to organizational performance. In past years we’ve also included various modules in the survey including those that measure trust, commitment and consistency. Dan Denison, author of the Denison Survey, offers this brief video about the culture model. 

What do we know about our results? Over the years we’ve administered the Denison Survey, our agency saw what the Denison consultants call “textbook progress.” In other words, our efforts have impacted our assumptions, beliefs and behaviors (the way we do things around here), which in turn is reflected in more positive survey results. This was made possible by our collective input, suggestions and actions. 

What’s next for you? It’s time to update our culture survey results once again. 

•  As we let you know last year, the Agency Planning Council (APC) decided to administer the entire Denison survey in even numbered years and a portion of the survey that measures specific traits from the Denison circumplex in odd numbered years. This schedule was put in place in order to continue to monitor our culture indicators over time. 
• Two years ago, after analyzing all survey data, APC selected the consistency trait as an area of focus, as scores in that area were lower than scores in the other three areas. The consistency module only was administered last year, and APC established a WIG (Wildly Important Goal) for 2017-18 that was intended to improve outcomes in that area. 
• This year, the full Denison survey will again be offered to all staff. 
• The survey is scheduled to launch on April 23 and will close May 11. 
• All staff will receive an email with a link to the survey. This link will take you to a survey website that has been designed specifically for Heartland AEA. Please be as honest as possible when completing the survey. Your responses are completely confidential and cannot be tracked. 

What’s in it for you? We are glad to be able to provide all staff with the opportunity to complete the survey. By completing the survey, you will ensure that your voice is heard along with your colleagues about the way we do thing around here. This input has and will continue to be very important as we look for themes and points of leverage for advantage in areas such as impact of our services, our professional relationships and our continuous improvement. We hope each and every one of you will take the time to complete the Denison Survey and provide your input. 

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback!