ISO/PRF TS 24178

Human resource management -- Organizational culture metrics cluster

Management des ressources Humaines -- Indicateurs de mesure de la culture d’entreprise

Standards Content (sample)

TECHNICAL ISO/TS
SPECIFICATION 24178
First edition
Human resource management —
Organizational culture metrics cluster
Management des ressources Humaines — Indicateurs de mesure de la
culture d’entreprise
PROOF/ÉPREUVE
Reference number
ISO/TS 24178:2021(E)
ISO 2021
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ISO/TS 24178:2021(E)
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ISO/TS 24178:2021(E)
Contents Page

Foreword ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................iv

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................v

1 Scope ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

2 Normative references ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

3 Terms and definitions ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

4 Engagement, satisfaction and commitment metric ......................................................................................................... 1

4.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

4.2 Purpose .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

4.3 Formula ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

4.3.1 What to measure .............................................................................................................................................................. 2

4.3.2 Choice of tools .................................................................................................................................................................... 3

4.3.3 Choice of questions ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

4.4 Contextual factors ................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

4.5 Predictive factors .................................................................................................................................................................................. 5

5 Retention rate metric ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

5.1 General ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

5.2 Purpose .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5

5.3 Formula and analytics ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6

5.3.1 General...................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

5.3.2 Culture and data collection groupings .......................................................................................................... 6

5.3.3 Culture and causal analysis ..................................................................................................................................... 6

5.4 Contextual factors ................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

5.5 Predictive factors .................................................................................................................................................................................. 7

Annex A (Informative) Basic corporate culture survey (maturity stages 1 and 2) ...............................................9

Annex B (Informative) Developing corporate culture statements in a mature organization

(maturity stages 3 and 4) .........................................................................................................................................................................12

Annex C (Informative) Culture and HR metrics ......................................................................................................................................13

Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................15

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ISO/TS 24178:2021(E)
Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards

bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out

through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical

committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International

organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work.

ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of

electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are

described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the

different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the

editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www .iso .org/ directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of

patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of

any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or

on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www .iso .org/ patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not

constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and

expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the

World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www .iso .org/

iso/ foreword .html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 260, Human resource management.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A

complete listing of these bodies can be found at www .iso .org/ members .html.
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ISO/TS 24178:2021(E)
Introduction

ISO 30414 highlights guidelines on the following core human capital reporting areas or “clusters”:

— compliance and ethics;
— costs;
— diversity;
— leadership;
— organizational culture;
— organizational health, safety and well-being;
— productivity;
— recruitment, mobility and turnover;
— skills and capabilities;
— succession planning;
— workforce availability.

This document deals specifically with the cluster of metrics in the organizational culture area.

An organization's workforce includes permanent employees, casuals, contingent workers and all

workers who fall within the reporting organization's governance and leadership structure. Where

possible and practical, reporting and metrics should include the breakdown by type of worker. There

should be both aggregated measures that assess the overall assessment of culture across the whole

workforce and breakdowns that link metrics to factors that can be acted upon to influence changes

in culture. For example, outsourced workers can operate within a different leadership or governance

structure yet have an influence on the overall performance of one or more different business units.

All such people are contributing components of overall human capital yet can also be part of a supplier,

distributor or other third-party contracted organization. Assessment of culture in this situation can be

assessed as part of supply chain, supplier performance evaluations or both. Such reporting of culture

falls outside the scope of this document.

Each organization should document the worker categories that make up the workforce pertinent to its

activity and ensure this definition is reviewed and updated regularly. For example, worker categories

can include employees and casuals for a period then additional contractors or outsourced labour will

possibly be required. This would necessitate changes to the definition, metric and reporting of these

worker categories.
Breakdowns and analysis of data can include:
— subsidiary, division, department or cost centre hierarchy;
— geographic location;
— workforce category or grouping;
— position or level (e.g. management, supervisory, front line);
— function (e.g. technical specialization);
— tenure or length of service;
— values or culture orientation at time of assessment.
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ISO/TS 24178:2021(E)

Organizations need to understand the drivers of a committed and engaged workforce and ensure

that the metrics and groupings selected can be linked to a causal relationship with factors that can be

addressed to change current performance. Some examples include:

— lack of clearly defined organisational purpose can create conflicting priorities;

— lack of clearly defined or understood values can cause inconsistent behaviour;
— inconsistent supervisory direction can cause lower engagement;

— inadequate hiring practices can introduce employees who do not share organizational values;

— poor departmental safety records can impact employee retention.

The metrics that indicate key aspects of corporate culture are defined in ISO 30414 as follows:

— engagement, satisfaction and commitment;
— retention rate.
This document describes the following components for each of the above metrics:
— general description;
— purpose;
— formula;
— contextual factors;
— predictive factors.

Metrics relative to organizational culture can be considered an ongoing and evolving area and

organizations should strive to continually develop their understanding of their culture and link metrics

within the culture cluster to key components that driver the overall level of a high-performance culture.

Organizational culture is a reflection of the way an organization operates and deals with the creation of

a work environment that defines, supports and creates the expected behaviours of the workforce. The

outcome of an effective culture is a workplace that encourages engagement, involvement, commitment,

innovation and those attributes that support the corporate vision and purpose.
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION ISO/TS 24178:2021(E)
Human resource management — Organizational culture
metrics cluster
1 Scope

This document describes the elements of organizational culture and provides the formula for

comparable measures for internal and external reporting.

This document also highlights issues that need to be considered when interpreting the organizational

culture data, especially when deciding on appropriate interventions internally and when reporting

these to external stakeholders (e.g. regulators, investors).
2 Normative references

The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content

constitutes requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For

undated references, the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.

ISO 30400:2016, Human resource management — Vocabulary
3 Terms and definitions

For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 30400 apply.

ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:

— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
4 Engagement, satisfaction and commitment metric
4.1 General

Engagement, satisfaction and commitment are part of the terminology for assessing the degree to

which human capital in an organization is operating at the optimum potential. An important outcome

of the environment which is created within an organization by many contributing factors should be

a high level of alignment between people’s actions and desired organizational outcomes. Factors

influencing an effective culture include the organization's vision, values, norms, behaviours, beliefs,

habits, rewards, recognition and feedback and employee engagement.

National, regional, local and organizational cultures are often unique, and terminology can differ. Those

developing metrics in this area should ensure that the data collection and measurement approaches

being used reflect these differences while creating relevant feedback on the alignment between human

capital and organizational purpose, strategy and values.

ISO 30414:2018, 4.7.6.1, defines an “engaged employee” as an individual who is fully absorbed by and

enthusiastic about his or her work and takes positive action to further the organization’s reputation and

interests.” Engaged employees are in many cases also enthusiastic about opportunities for development,

collaboration and progression.

ISO 10018 indicates that engagement occurs when people are fully engaged in the activities of the

organization and experience more personal fulfilment. The organization consequently conducts its

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activities more effectively. It defines engagement as the level of satisfaction that people have in activities

such as communication, learning and management. See also ISO 56000.

Approaches to metrics that measure culture develop as an organization matures in its approach to

human resource management. Initial surveys use questions related to general employee satisfaction.

More mature organizations assess satisfaction against expectations of values and behaviour that have

been defined and stated as organizational values.
4.2 Purpose

One key outcome of an effective organizational culture is a high level of employee engagement and this

metric is necessary to gain insight into the level of employee engagement in their work. Engagement,

satisfaction and commitment mean different things to different countries and cultures. Awareness of

international context and comparability is important.

The organizational culture should provide the motivation for employee engagement; this can be defined

as values and attitudes that drive individuals to commit to organizational and individual objectives

and reflects a willingness to deliver maximum performance. Increasing workforce motivation is

associated with increasing the value of human capital. Results from this metric provide internal users

with information to enhance levels of employee engagement. External users can use this information

to assess management’s performance in the effective use of human capital both from an operating

perspective and in terms of sustaining competitive advantage from the workforce as an investment.

4.3 Formula
4.3.1 What to measure

Corporate culture is often referred to as “the way things are done around here.” In any organization,

“what is done” is a combination of its purpose (mission or vision) and its values (principles that guide

behaviour). Understanding purpose, and one’s own role in achieving the desired organizational

outcomes, is a key driver to corporate performance and human satisfaction. Understanding values is

the key driver in guiding all areas of personal behaviour, including compliance with laws as well as

abiding by required codes of ethics and conduct.

Any system of metrics for assessing culture should address both purpose and values; the depth

of questions asked should determine whether the guiding information has been established and

communicated and forms the basis of actual practice. A critical factor for choosing what to measure

depends upon the understanding and maturity of the organization in determining its own unique

culture. This can be understood as assessing the level of the maturity of culture, as demonstrated in

Table 1.
Table 1 — Suggested stages of cultural maturity
Stage Cultural Explanation Approach to cultural assessment and
maturity measurement

1 Undeveloped No purpose, values or statement exists Questions based on general workforce

defining expected culture. satisfaction indicators.

2 Early Desired culture has been developed and Questions based on a mix of traditional

gaps assessed between desired culture, satisfaction indicators and desired culture

behaviour or values and existing reality. versus actual performance.

3 Developing Desired culture embedded in hiring Questions specifically related to key as-

programs, orientation, leadership devel- pects of organizations' own expectations

opment, policies and procedures, perfor- versus actual experience by employees
mance feedback, compensation and all within specific activities.
other aspects of “how we do business”.
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ISO/TS 24178:2021(E)
Table 1 (continued)
Stage Cultural Explanation Approach to cultural assessment and
maturity measurement

4 Mature Culture understood and applied where Portfolio of multiple tools to assess holistic

strategic and business planning are culture such as surveys or other means
aligned for equality between human based on desired performance, leadership
capital and operational outcomes. Human 360° assessments, client input, supplier
behaviours are clearly aligned with opera- input and others.
tional goals.

See Annex A for culture questions that can be used in an organization at levels 1 or 2 of maturity.

Annex B and Figure B.1 provide further consideration of how culture can be developed as a central

aspect of strategic planning that guides organizational behaviour as a key aspect of strategic vision. The

outcome of this thinking should guide questions for developing surveys at levels 3 and 4 of maturity.

Annex C provides suggestions and ideas to develop specific culture questions.
4.3.2 Choice of tools

The most common instrument to obtain findings on employee engagement is an employee survey as

a basis for generating an overall (high level aggregated) index (Table 2). The use of employee surveys

or other similar tools can vary depending on business model, environment or size of an organization.

In cases where organizations are not able to conduct employee surveys, other systematic evaluations

can be used. Any instrument used (e.g. survey or evaluation) should guarantee and safeguard the

anonymity of the employees.

With respect to leadership and motivation issues, it has to be ensured that any questionnaire which

helps to collect basic data on an organization’s people commitment or job satisfaction across several

countries uses a terminology that has the same connotations and meaning in all these countries.

Otherwise, data will not be completely comparable at an international level.
Table 2 — Example of reporting on engagement index
2018 2017 2016
Europe 84 83 80
Asia/Pacific 86 85 81
North America 81 81 76
Average engagement index (scale be- 84 83 79
tween 0 and 100)

Aggregated results of focus groups can also be used to provide input to the level of employee

engagement, satisfaction or commitment; these can provide the basis for identification of effective and

non-effective drivers of employee motivation.

External input can also be obtained to provide third-party perspectives of employee commitment and

engagement. In service organizations such as financial services, customer information can be extremely

valuable in providing independent results. Customer input can be critical in assessing culture; as an

example, questions about “how easy we are to deal with as a supplier” or “how helpful our organization

is in problem solving” can provide insight into the culture as seen by others.

For internal assessments of organizational culture, tools such as 360° surveys (where those in

leadership positions are evaluated by superiors, peers and subordinates) can also be very helpful in

providing an understanding on how well organizational (behavioural) values are being demonstrated

by those in leadership positions.
4.3.3 Choice of questions

In order to build a meaningful link between levels of employee engagement and organizational culture,

questions selected should link to known drivers of employee behaviour, attitudes and beliefs which

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result in motivation and engagement. The questions asked and the results obtained should enable users

to identify the potential cause of lower performance so that action can be taken to eliminate such cause.

Questions related to purpose tend to be task-related and ensure linkage between the organization's

intended product or service outcomes and the individual’s contribution to activities to ensure these

outcomes are achieved. Examples include:
— Does the organization have a clearly stated purpose?

— Have the organization's plans for achievement of its purpose been communicated to you?

— Is your specific role in achieving the organization's purpose clearly defined?
— Do you have access to the tools or equipment needed to do your job?
— Is there regular feedback on actual results versus plans?
— Does feedback reflect leadership recognition of employee contribution?
— Can you suggest changes and improvements to your work?
— Are suggestions for improvement heard and, where practical, implemented?

— Are suggestions that you make taken seriously and implemented, where practical?

— Do you believe that your workload is fair and reasonable?

In some national and organizational cultures, questions related to levels of employee engagement with

organizational purpose are less relevant and can either be avoided or weighted to be a lower proportion

of the overall results. When deciding on questions to ask, the level of engagement in purpose-related

questions should align with the levels of employee involvement established in the values statement.

Questions related to values determine the behavioural environment that the organization expects its

workforce to operate within. Such values should typically permeate every aspect of interaction among

and between members of the workforce, between all departments, between all levels and, ideally,

between the workforce and third parties. Organizational values provide the basis for the actions taken

by the workforce while they are carrying out their tasks. Typically, effective cultures seek engagement

through areas such as communications, collaboration, cooperation and the building of trust. Examples

include:
— Does the organization have a clearly stated set of behavioural values?
— Do these stated values guide decision-making?
— Does my immediate supervisor consistently apply these values?
— Do I observe these values guiding my relationship with other departments?
— Does the organization demonstrate these values in external relationships?

Value-related questions should be driven by the objectives stated. High engagement comes when the

workforce knows, understands and observes stated expectations in action. Low engagement, together

with low test and commitment, comes where surveys or other means demonstrate a gap between

stated and actual behaviours.

A final series of questions should be asked to determine satisfaction with areas such as compensation,

incentives and bonus schemes and employee benefits. While these are limited in terms of motivation,

they can have a significant impact on negative attitudes.
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4.4 Contextual factors

Cultures are unique both in terms of where an organization operates – its national or regional locations

– as well as the industry within which it operates. Assessments of culture through employee engagement

should consider such realities.

The size and structure of an organization can often impact culture. International and multinational

organizations often have a mix of corporate and national cultures. Public organizations have different

cultures to private organizations. Owner-operated organizations often have a different culture to a

publicly owned organization. Mature organizations have different cultures to new, entrepreneurial

organizations. Metrics to assess engagement as a measure of culture should be created and structured

within the reality of the unique environment of the organization.

Organizations also undergo changes in culture when significant events occur. These should be taken

into account when assessing culture over time. Such changes can include economic downturns, mergers

and amalgamations, significant changes in corporate purpose and changes in ownership.

Levels of existing management credibility, together with an existing level of employee engagement, can

also have significant impact on results. Design and administration of both metrics and approaches to

data collection and evaluation should strive for a high participation rate to ensure balanced results

with as little bias as possible.
4.5 Predictive factors

Planning for and forecasting changes in culture is often hard as these changes are significantly impacted

by human emotions. Where actual results are low, improvements can take time due to factors such as

lack of trust in existing management or changes in leadership.

Loss of engagement and reductions in an effective culture are also often associated with any process

of change, such as new IT systems, new policies or changes in legislation that impact the business.

Understanding the current drivers of engagement and metrics relative to their performance can allow

the organization to plan for preventive action when such changes are anticipated.

5 Retention rate metric
5.1 General

Retention rate is one of several indicators related to corporate culture as it can reflect the level of

overall workforce satisfaction and is often referred to as the stability index. Retention rates should

provide an adequate understanding of overall changes between the start and end of a given period as

well as underlying details to enable causal analysis.

Detailed discussion, development and application of metrics related to both retention and turnover

are discussed in ISO/TS 30421 . This document explains in detail why an in-depth understanding of

the overall levels of both turnover and retention is important, but also the more critical importance of

understanding the impacts and root causes of change.
5.2 Purpose

Adopting a metric for retention rate provides an indicator of how effective the work environment or

culture is in retaining the desired workforce. Given that some level of turnover and loss of employees

is inevitable for personal or career development reasons, a positive culture should provide members of

the workforce with an incentive to stay within the organization.
1) Under prepara
...