For participating organisations
- Individual culture profiles
- Dashboards and reports
- Trend reporting
- Benchmark comparisons where appropriate
Understand organisational culture
Culture Research & Benchmarking
Understand organisational culture through structured employee feedback and provide each organisation with meaningful insight into its own culture profile.
One research programme can provide individual organisation reports, association-wide insight and recurring benchmarking across multiple organisations.
Typical outputs
- Culture profiles
- Organisation dashboards
- Benchmark comparisons
- Association-level insights
Culture research can support:
- Internal dialogue
- Leadership discussions
- Organisational development
- Monitoring change over time
The goal
Turn culture research into insight for each organisation - and for the sector as a whole
Culture research helps organisations understand how employees experience different aspects of organisational culture.
When the same research model is used across multiple organisations, individual feedback can be combined with broader sector insight.
One programme. Two outcomes.
For associations and networks
- Aggregated culture insight
- Visibility of recurring themes
- Support for member dialogue
- Recurring research service
Culture research becomes more valuable when organisations receive feedback they can use.
Participating organisations rarely join a study only to contribute to an aggregated sector report.
Individual dashboards and culture profiles help organisations understand their own results while contributing to wider sector insight.
Research first, benchmarking where it adds meaning
Not every culture question needs a benchmark.
Some results are primarily useful as an internal profile: how employees experience particular aspects of the organisation and how those results differ across dimensions or over time.
Benchmarking adds another layer. It can help an organisation understand whether a result is common across the participating group or relatively distinctive.
The comparison should therefore support interpretation rather than turn culture into a league table.
A shared research model creates consistency across participating organisations.
Running the same culture research across multiple member organisations creates practical and methodological advantages.
Questions, calculations and reporting remain comparable, while each organisation receives its own results and the association receives aggregated insight.
This makes culture research suitable as a recurring member service.
The benefits
One programme. Two outcomes.
For participating organisations
- Individual culture profile
- Organisation dashboard
- Historical trend reporting
- Benchmark comparisons
- Support for internal discussion
For associations and networks
- Aggregated insight
- Visibility of recurring themes
- Input for member support
- Recurring research service
The culture methodology remains yours.
Associations and culture specialists define the model, dimensions and interpretation.
Compare to Compete translates that methodology into questionnaires, calculations, dashboards and reporting.
Proof in practice
SRA: culture research across member firms
Since 2016, SRA has offered recurring culture research alongside its wider research portfolio.
Employees complete the research through the Survey Tool, participating firms receive individual dashboards and SRA receives aggregated insight across member firms and over time.
More than 10,000 employees have participated.
Added benefit with our Survey Tool
From employee responses to an organisation-level result
The Survey Tool can automate the repeatable technical steps. Interpretation and organisational action remain human responsibilities.
Design
Define the culture model, dimensions, questions and reporting logic with the customer or subject-matter specialist.
Collect
Invite employees to complete the questionnaire in a consistent research environment.
Validate
Apply agreed checks to the research process and underlying data where appropriate.
Analyse
Calculate culture profiles, dimensions and comparison measures.
Report
Return results through individual dashboards or reports and provide aggregated outputs for the organiser.
Discuss
Use the results as an evidence base for internal dialogue, workshops or specialist guidance.
Privacy and access need to be designed into the programme
Culture research often involves sensitive employee feedback.
Before the programme starts, reporting and access rules should be defined clearly.
Typical questions include:
- Who can access organisation results?
- Which results can be aggregated?
- What minimum group size is required for reporting?
Follow change over time
A single measurement provides a snapshot. Repeated research reveals development over time.
Historical comparison is most useful when the core methodology remains sufficiently consistent. If questions, dimensions or calculations change, the effect on comparability should be considered explicitly.
The Survey Tool can retain historical research periods and support recurring reporting, while the customer remains responsible for the substantive interpretation of changes.
A recurring member service rather than a one-off survey
A structured culture programme combines:
- A consistent research model
- Individual organisation feedback
- Association-level insight
- Historical trend reporting
This transforms culture research from a one-off survey into a recurring member service.
A helping hand
Frequently asked questions
What is culture research and benchmarking?
Culture research collects structured employee responses about defined aspects of organisational culture. Benchmarking can add relevant comparison with a wider participating group, while each organisation retains its own profile and results.
Does culture research always need a benchmark?
No. An internal culture profile can be valuable on its own. Benchmarking is useful where an external comparison adds context and the research design supports a meaningful comparison.
Can every participating organisation receive its own report?
Yes. The Survey Tool can generate organisation-specific dashboards or reports from the same research programme, based on the agreed reporting structure.
Can we use our own culture model?
Yes. The customer or its specialist can provide the methodology, dimensions, questions and interpretation. C2C can implement that model in the Survey Tool.
Can culture results be compared with performance data?
The datasets can potentially be analysed together where the research design and permissions allow it, but any relationship should be interpreted cautiously. A statistical association does not by itself demonstrate causation.
Can culture results be compared over time?
Yes. Recurring rounds can retain historical results and show developments, provided changes in the methodology are considered when interpreting trends.
We help you through the development process
Considering a culture research programme?
Tell us:
- what organisations should learn
- which culture model you want to use
- what participants should receive
- how results should be reported
We'll help design the right research structure, reporting approach and operating model.