The Data-Driven Culture Playbook: Predict, Measure, and Align for Success

You might not realize it yet, but right at this very moment, your company’s culture is predicting just how successful your business will be.

The truth is, a strong culture can take a company to unimaginable heights, while a toxic culture can bring it crashing down—often much faster than anyone expects. Think about Enron, Theranos, or FTX: a bad culture doesn’t just hurt—it destroys.

So what makes a good culture? What makes a bad culture? And most importantly, how can HR leaders intentionally build a culture that fuels success rather than failure?

Step 1: Stop Thinking of Culture as Abstract

Yes, culture can feel intangible—sometimes defined by leadership’s words, actions, or perhaps even just a “vibe.” But leaving it up to chance is risky. Can you afford to gamble with something that could determine your success or failure?

1. Edwards Deming said it best: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”

The problem? Most companies still aren’t measuring their culture. But here’s the kicker: some companies are—and they’re reaping the benefits.

The good news? You don’t need to be left behind, the tools to define what makes up your culture are available today and can be implemented today.

Step 2: Define Your Culture

So how do you define culture? If it isn’t about vibes, pizza parties, or whether your team works from home, then what is it?

At its core, culture is made up of two scientifically backed components: People and Performance.

• People: How valued, connected, and included your employees feel.

• Performance: The level of clarity, alignment, and transparency needed to help your people succeed.

These components and their related factors enable organizations to break down their culture into areas that are tangible and can now be influenced. They are measurable, actionable, and the keys to unlocking a culture that drives success. 

For a deep dive on these components and the specific factors that make up each component, we’ve got a white paper for you right here.

Step 3: Measure Your Culture

Defining your culture is a great start, but now you need to measure it.

The good news? You already have a goldmine of culture and people data—hidden in plain sight. Your employees have the answers; you just need to ask the right questions.

Engagement surveys? They’re useful…for measuring engagement. But engagement is only one piece of the puzzle. To build a winning culture, you need to measure all the factors that shape People and Performance—not just rely on anecdotal insights from Janice in Accounting or John in Field Marketing.

The solution? A survey that measures every factor influencing your culture. With this, you can, among other things:

• Establish a clear baseline of your current culture.

• Identify key themes, sentiment, and areas for improvement.

• Drill down by department, region, seniority, or any other data point to uncover actionable insights.

By measuring each factor you’ll have a strong initial understanding of exactly how your organization is performing for each factor. 

Step 4: Start With Your Goals

So, you’ve got the data. Now what?

Here’s a common trap: You look at the results and see that employees want something like higher salaries. It could be tempting, if possible, to boost pay across the board and call it a day. But how do you know that’s the right move? What if it doesn’t solve the underlying problem? Worse, what if it takes you further from your organization’s goals?

Culture improvement isn’t about guesswork; it’s about alignment. Start with your business goals.

• Are you aiming to boost innovation?

• Is retention a priority this year?

• Is the CEO focused on aggressive revenue growth?

Whatever the goals, let them guide your next steps. 

Step 5: Improve the Right Factors

With clear goals in place, revisit your data. Every score, every comment is a data point that tells you how your culture aligns—or doesn’t—with your objectives.

Here’s where predictive models make a big difference. Instead of guessing, you’ll know exactly which culture factors to improve to align with your company goals.

We’re simplifying it here, but for example, let’s say your goal is to increase retention and the data shows that improving psychological safety will have the greatest impact on retention. Now, you know where to focus and what to improve.

From there, you can create your targeted action plans to:

• Align your culture with your strategy.

• Empower your people.

• Move the needle on your business goals.

And don’t stop there. Creating a successful culture is an iterative process and one that needs to always align with your goals, which will of course change over time - keep measuring, keep improving, and keep moving forward. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, don’t continue to leave your culture up to chance, it’s much too serious for that. Uncover the insights that already exist in your business today to predict and influence your organization's trajectory, and remember, when your people and your business strategy align, everyone wins.