What people encounter.
To what extent do employees recognize a core value in behavior, decisions, and their daily interactions?
Research
The experience of values can be measured.
I developed a scientific instrument to reveal where existing core values are experienced, desired, and communicated—and where those three perspectives diverge.
Three perspectives
One value.
Three perspectives.
Every organizational value is assessed three times by every employee. The relationships and differences reveal how organizational culture is experienced in practice.
What people care about.
To what extent do employees believe this value should genuinely characterize the organization?
What the organization promises.
To what extent do employees recognize the value in what the organization says about itself, internally and externally?
Methodological foundation
Grounded and relevant.
The methodology was developed by Stephan Ummelen, an organizational expert, and a behavioral scientist (PhD). It builds on the distinction between Actual, Desired, and Communicated Identity in Prof. Balmer’s ACID Test of Corporate Identity.
Differences are tested for statistical significance. Results can be broken down by relevant characteristics—such as age, tenure, or organizational unit—when those variables are included in the study.
Scores are deliberately not normalized into a universal benchmark. The same distance may mean something different in two organizations. Interpretation is therefore not a weakness, but the moment the measurement acquires meaning.
01High – high – highThe value is desired, communicated, and recognized in practice.
02Low – high – highThe value matters and is promised, but is not yet sufficiently experienced.
03High – low – highThe value is visible and communicated, but employees want something different.
From measurement to action
A result does not yet have meaning.
This methodology does not end with a dashboard or benchmark. It reveals quantitatively where we can ask qualitative questions about how culture is experienced.
Design
We examine the existing core values and design the study around the question, context, and relevant background variables.
Measure
Employees assess every core value separately from three perspectives: experienced, desired, and communicated.
Analyze
We test differences for statistical significance and reveal where groups experience the same—or a different—reality.
Create meaning
We connect the patterns to employees’ concrete stories and experiences. From there, a path to action emerges.
The outcome