Spotlight

Why yardstyck?
Overview:
Yardstyck is web-based and
provides a cost effective, efficient,
and automated way to measure
and help change culture
Yardstyck uses a forced ranking
technique for cultural indicators
benchmarked against HighReliability Organizations (HROs)
Leaders can view results grouped
by any chosen demographic group
such as level at the organization or
years at the organization
Leaders are waking up to the fact that
transforming their organizations culture
may be their greatest lever for improving
safety, sustainability, reliability, and
profitability. Unfortunately, many
leaders dont know where to start. In
particular, they dont know how they will
measure culture or potential impact.
And as the saying goes, if you cant
measure it, you cant manage it!

Figure 1: Yardstyck is entirely web-based

and uses a forced ranking technique

Yardstyck a Culture Assessment

and Change Management Tool
technique that is superior to other culture
surveys that may result in bias, while also
taking significantly less time to complete
than interviews and focus groups. The
tool helps leaders achieve the following
three objectives.

1. Baseline the current culture

The first step of the process solicits
employees to respond to a survey,
providing leaders with data and insights
into how employees describe the current
culture based on 40 different indicators.
Yardstyck provides a baseline that future
progress can be measured against.

Our forced ranking technique allows

leaders to know which areas to focus on
and celebrate areas that are going well.
Leaders can also view results grouped by
any chosen demographic group. For
example, yardstyck can show how
perceptions of culture vary by level in the
organization (such as senior leaders,
managers, and front-line operators).

2. Define the target culture

Next, participants describe the target
culture. This helps leaders understand
what employees want the culture to be
like, the degree of alignment, and the size
of the gap between current and target.

3. Benchmark against HRO culture

WP&C has conducted yardstyck
assessments with HRO organizations like
the U.S. Nuclear Submarine Force,
allowing us to provide organizations with
a third view that our competitors cant.
Upon completion, your companys results
are compared against those of a HRO.

A web-based, automated tool

Yardstyck is a web-based tool that
allows companies to efficiently assess
their culture. The entire process is
automated and respondents can
participate on their computer, phone, or
tablet. Yardstyck uses a forced ranking

Differentiated Reports

Figure 2: Yardstyck shows how your culture

aligns with the characteristics of a HRO

Figure 3: Yardstyck can give results based

on different demographic groups

Delivering results
WP&C has a track record of helping
companies transform their culture to
reduce incidents by +70% and improve
profitability by +$200MM in less than a
year. Our yardstyck process is the first
step in developing a plan for transforming
organizational culture. Once you have
established the baseline and defined your
target culture, we will help embed it in
every level of your organization through
our Values Integration Translation
Alignment & Learning tool (VITAL).
Finally, we will ensure your cultural
transformation is sustainable by
integrating it into every aspect of your
management system. Do you need help
assessing your culture? Contact us at
contact@wilsonperumal.com. For more
info visit www.yardstyck.com.

Wilson Perumal & Company Inc.

One Galleria Tower
13355 Noel Road, Suite 1100

www.wilsonperumal.com