What do pre-election polls and corporate climate surveys have in common?.

Election polls show a certain percentage that a party or candidate will receive in an election. In elections, some parties get more votes, and the polls merely predicted the results well or poorly. However, polls haven't accurately told us why a voter chose a particular party/candidate. We don't know the motives of those who vote, nor do we know the motives of those who don't. Have they given up on everything, or for something? Apathy? What? In other words, we learned nothing from the polls, except for a potential winner.

If we are persistent enough with polls, we will see trends. And upward or downward trends will occur based on the 'experimentation' of parties/candidates. When they do this or that, the trends will be downward or upward.

Often, parties/politicians will play on existential factors and emotions. We must not experiment with this in our companies.

Symptoms and Signs

Working in a hospital left its mark on me. In a positive sense. I learned to distinguish between symptoms and signs very well. Symptoms and signs are important elements in medicine that help doctors diagnose and understand patients' health conditions.

In medicine, a symptom refers to a subjective experience or feeling that a patient describes or experiences. A symptom is something the patient feels and can verbally express to the doctor. For example, a patient may report feeling abdominal pain, nausea, or fatigue. Symptoms are individual and can vary from person to person. For instance, pain tolerance varies greatly from person to person. On the other hand, signs are objective evidence of the presence of disease or an abnormality. Signs are changes that a physician can observe during a physical examination, diagnostic tests, or other medical procedures. For example, a doctor might notice inflamed tonsils, a skin rash, elevated body temperature, or arrhythmia, tachycardia, bradycardia – an abnormal pulse. Signs are measurable and can be identified without the patient's direct subjective impression.

In organizational psychology, to arrive at signs, we use validated assessments. Where questions are self-assessments, they are correlated with other responses, e.g., intelligence, etc.

Companies

Companies often conduct various surveys. One of them is about corporate climate. They usually decide to conduct surveys when HR departments/management realize something is wrong. Typically, high turnover prompts a corporate climate survey, even though there were many signs that something was amiss beforehand. We just didn't diagnose them for some reason.

And then, instead of diagnostics and identifying signs, we rely on symptoms. THROUGH SURVEYS.

Can we draw a parallel that a corporate climate survey is the same as a pre-election poll?

Corporate Climate Survey

Yes, it is true that corporate climate surveys can provide information about whether something is wrong in an organization, but it can be difficult to draw conclusions based on the surveys alone, especially at the individual employee level. And it was precisely where we had a problem with individual employees that we might have had an influencer, an informal leader, etc.

Responses in corporate climate surveys are based on employees' subjective impressions. Each employee has their own perspectives, experiences, and attitudes, so opinions may differ. There is no objective standard for assessing corporate climate, so it is important to consider different perspectives.

Surveys typically provide quantitative data and answers to specific questions, but they may lack deeper information that might be needed to understand problems or identify causes. Survey questions may be limited and not cover all aspects of corporate climate.

Surveys are often conducted anonymously to ensure the honesty of employee responses. However, this also means that context and information about interactions among employees, teams, or relationships with superiors are lost. These interactions can be important for understanding problems in the corporate climate.

Corporate climate surveys can be either:

• a starting point (in corporations) or
• a control/final point in companies, after we have taken certain steps based on valid information.

If something is found to be amiss, further investigation is mandatory to delve deeper into the problems and identify the necessary steps for improvement.

Trends: Corporate vs. Non-Corporate Employees

Donald Trump said: “America is the greatest place on Earth.” And there's no reason not to believe him 🙂 America is also the biggest labor market. And it's fine for some trends to spill over to the rest of the world.

One such trend is Levi’s. Levi’s is an American jeans brand that has gained global recognition and popularity. Since its launch in the 19th century, Levi’s jeans have become a symbol of American culture and have been styled in various variations worldwide. Social trends like Cancel Culture have spilled over.

So why shouldn't corporate climate surveys spill over too?

The first surveys on corporate climate/culture originated in the fields of organizational psychology and human resource management. Corporate climate surveys have been developed and applied in various countries worldwide. However, it is worth noting that some countries and regions may have had a greater impact or been more advanced in studying corporate climate and applying surveys. For example, America, as one of the world's largest economic powers, has a long history of studying corporate climate and developing assessment tools. This also includes the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Australia.

What is the fundamental difference between these 'greatest countries on Earth'? They have corporations. We mostly don't, or they can be counted on the fingers of one hand. And they should continue to use corporate climate surveys.

What's the problem? It lies in the psychological profile of employees who like and want to work in a corporation versus those who don't.

Generalized profile of an employee in a corporation:

The psychological profile of workers who like and want to work in corporations can include the following characteristics:

• Ambition and motivation: People who prefer working in corporations are often more ambitious and motivated to achieve success. They strive for advancement in the organizational hierarchy and want opportunities for career development. Or, if they are less motivated and less ambitious, they want to 'blend in' with the crowd.
• Structure and organization: Employees who are attracted to corporations often prefer a well-structured and organized work environment. They feel comfortable in environments with clearly defined rules, procedures, and a hierarchical structure.
• Stability: Corporations usually offer greater job security than smaller companies. Therefore, employees who prefer a corporate environment often value the stability and sense of security that comes with working in large organizations.

Generalized profile of an employee in a company:

• Entrepreneurial spirit: People attracted to companies often have an entrepreneurial spirit. They are inclined to innovation, risk-taking, and want to be part of a dynamic environment where they can actively participate in the organization's growth and development.
• Autonomy and flexibility: Employees who prefer smaller companies often value greater autonomy in their work. They like flexibility in decision-making and less bureaucracy. They prefer work environments where they can utilize their skills and ideas creatively.
• Personal relationships: Many employees in companies value the opportunity to develop close relationships with colleagues (and) management. They prefer workplaces where people are connected and feel supported within the team.
• Variety of tasks: Working in companies often involves diverse tasks and multifunctional activities. People who prefer this type of environment are often curious and enjoy constantly learning new things.
• Impact and visibility: Workers in companies often feel a greater sense of impact and visibility within the organization. They have the opportunity to see how their work directly affects the company's results and feel important to achieving collective success.

Before the end

As long-time IT professionals and psychologist-data scientists, we may have learned the hard way that data is everything. Hence those, now cliché, statements that data is the new black gold. For this reason, we decided to be a data-driven company with people at the forefront.

Something we encountered long ago is the DIKW model.

The DIKW model is a conceptual model that describes different levels of data processing and interpretation to create knowledge and make informed decisions. DIKW is an acronym for the following levels:

• Data: Data are raw, unprocessed factual elements. They can be numbers, text, images, or any other form of raw information. Data by itself has no meaning.
• Information: Information is data that has been organized, processed, and interpreted in a way that gives it meaning and context. Information provides answers to "who," "what," "when," and "where" questions.
• Knowledge: Knowledge is a deeper understanding of information and the ability to connect that information with other knowledge. This includes identifying cause-and-effect relationships, regularities, patterns, and context. Knowledge answers "how" and "why" questions.
• Wisdom: Wisdom is the highest level of the DIKW model and represents the application of knowledge in a practical context. Wisdom includes the ability to make informed decisions, predict future events, and understand the implications of those decisions. Wisdom is acquired through experience, intuition, and reflection.

In the context of the DIKW model, surveys provide raw data (Data) that are converted into information (Information) when analyzed and organized. However, surveys alone do not provide a deeper understanding or knowledge (Knowledge) of the motives or causes behind the data.

Therefore, first psychometric assessments, then knowledge and wisdom (K+W) based procedures, and finally a corporate climate survey.

Psychometric assessments, in general, are not popular in Croatia. The problem is likely prejudice from the time of driving tests or drawing parallels with 'old' intelligence tests.

However, today psychometric assessments are everything, and least of all intelligence tests. Also, psychometric assessments play a very important role in industrial-organizational psychology.

Psychometrics is a scientific field that deals with the development and evaluation of psychological tests, i.e., the measurement of psychological traits and abilities of an individual.

Industrial-organizational psychology is a branch of psychology that applies psychological principles to a specific workplace. Psychometrics plays an important role in industrial-organizational psychology because it can be used to assess individual differences in abilities, interests, and personality traits; however, this information can then be used to optimize employees' working conditions!

Maslow's hierarchy of needs can also be used as an instrument, serving as one of the predictors of employee departure or resignation. Just as intelligence, emotional intelligence, and creativity are considered predictors of individual success today, poorer results on Maslow's hierarchy of needs can be considered a predictor of resignation.

A study published in the International Journal of Human Resource Studies in 2013 found that Maslow's hierarchy of work needs was a strong predictor of employee turnover. The study found that employees who felt their work needs were not met were more likely to leave their jobs.

Maslow's hierarchy of work needs is a popular framework for understanding human motivation at work. How Maslow's hierarchy of needs is applied to the work environment can be seen below.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: PHYSIOLOGICAL

Business Application: Safe working environment. Adequate financial conditions...

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: SAFETY

Business Application: Providing timely feedback. Freedom to take risks. Autonomy in decision-making. Recognition of success. Company stability. Long-term employment.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: BELONGINGNESS

Business Application: Creating a sense of community and opportunities for teamwork. Employees are part of something larger than themselves. They have a clear understanding of the mission and vision. They know and recognize their role.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: ESTEEM

Business Application: Empowerment. Public praise. Employee recognition programs. Understanding that everyone's work contributes to the company's ultimate success.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: SELF-ACTUALIZATION

Business Application: Give employees the opportunity to see the bigger picture, to be creative, to have a vision for the future, to practice their creativity, to create new values. Let them be part of the company's success.

Today, we have many ways to examine the 'climate' in our company and what our employees think. However, if we want to know what they truly and honestly feel, Maslow's hierarchy of work needs might be one way to do so.

NOTE: Corporate culture surveys consisting of personal, company, and desired values may make sense, but more on that in another article.