Culture: The Missing Metric in Local Government

Recently, we’ve been exploring a critical question across the local government sector: Do we have the appetite and capacity to evaluate culture effectively?

The answer is clear culture is absolutely essential. It shapes how decisions are made, how teams collaborate, and ultimately, how services are delivered to communities. A strong culture fosters trust, innovation, and resilience, while a weak or misaligned culture can lead to disengagement, inefficiency, and poor outcomes for residents. Yet, despite its importance, most councils lack an objective, data-driven way to measure and manage culture. We talk about culture often, but when it comes to turning those conversations into actionable insights, the sector is still heavily reliant on outdated tools and assumptions.

What You’re Measuring Today and Why It Falls Short

Traditionally, salary benchmarking and biennial staff surveys have been the go-to methods for gauging organisational health. These approaches provide useful information about climate how fair and well-run employees perceive the organisation to be. Climate tells us whether people feel supported, whether policies are applied consistently, and whether leadership is trusted.

But here’s the problem: climate is not culture.

Culture runs deeper. It’s about the shared values and beliefs that influence behaviours, priorities, and decision-making every single day. It’s what drives how teams respond under pressure, how leaders set direction, and how services adapt to changing needs. Without measuring values the foundation of culture you’re missing the most powerful lever for organisational success.

Most councils want a positive culture. In fact, in our recent conversations with senior leaders, almost every respondent agreed that culture is a top priority. But when asked how they measure it, the answers were strikingly similar: “We rely on staff surveys.”

The challenge? These surveys are infrequent, slow, and often disconnected from real-time organisational dynamics. By the time data is collected, analysed, and actions agreed, the next survey cycle is already looming. This creates a reactive approach rather than a proactive one and it means opportunities for meaningful cultural change are lost.

What Our Research Shows

Through recent conversations with over 40 senior HR leaders and Chief Executives across 28 local authorities, one message came through loud and clear: culture matters but measuring it remains a challenge.

• 92% of leaders agreed that culture is a top-three priority for organisational success. They see it as the engine that drives engagement, performance, and ultimately, better outcomes for residents.

• Yet only 18% felt confident they had a robust, objective way to measure culture. Most admitted they were relying on outdated tools that fail to capture the deeper values shaping behaviour.

When we asked about current approaches:

• 76% said they rely on biennial staff surveys as their primary tool.

• 61% admitted that by the time actions are agreed, the next survey cycle is already due creating a frustrating lag between insight and impact.

• 83% told us they want a more agile, data-led approach to tracking cultural change, one that moves beyond climate and starts measuring values.

The appetite is there. Leaders want to understand and improve culture. But the tools and processes? They’re lagging behind. This gap is leaving councils reactive rather than proactive responding to issues after they surface instead of shaping culture intentionally.

The Problem with Current Approaches

Most councils still rely on staff surveys every other year as their primary tool for understanding organisational health. While these surveys provide useful insights into employee sentiment, they are far from agile. By the time data is collected, interpreted, and actions agreed, the organisation has often moved on and the next survey cycle is already looming. This creates a frustrating cycle of lag and lost opportunity. Leaders want to act, but the process is slow, reactive, and disconnected from the pace of change in local government. In a sector where priorities shift rapidly whether due to funding pressures, policy changes, or community needs waiting two years for cultural insight simply isn’t good enough. The result? Councils end up focusing on climate rather than culture. They measure how fair and well-run the organisation feels, but they miss the deeper values that drive behaviour and decision-making. Without understanding those values, it’s impossible to build a truly positive, resilient culture.

The good news is you don’t need to hire a full-time resource to fix this. Instead, you can save money and accelerate impact by partnering with experts who specialise in culture assessment and transformation. With the right tools and support, councils can move from reactive surveys to real-time cultural intelligence tracking values, identifying risks, and embedding positive behaviours before problems arise.

Introducing the Truth About Local Government Culture Program

That’s where the Truth About Local Government Barrett Values Centre Culture Assessment and Support Program comes in. It’s the fastest-growing culture support initiative for local authorities in the UK and for good reason. Unlike traditional approaches that stop at measuring climate, our program goes deeper. We start with values, because values are the foundation of culture. They shape behaviours, influence decision-making, and determine how your organisation responds to challenges. If you’re not measuring values, you’re not managing culture you’re managing perceptions.

What Makes Our Approach Different?

We combine sector expertise with a data-led methodology to give councils actionable insights, not just reports. Here’s how:

• Values Mapping: We identify the personal values of your workforce and compare them to the organisation’s current and desired culture. This reveals alignment or misalignment that drives engagement and performance.

• Cultural Gap Analysis: We highlight where your stated values differ from lived behaviours, helping you close the gap between aspiration and reality.

• Leadership Alignment Strategies: We work with senior leaders to embed values-driven decision-making, ensuring leadership behaviours set the tone for the entire organisation.

• Targeted Interventions: From team workshops to organisation-wide programs, we design interventions that address the root causes of cultural challenges not just the symptoms.

• Continuous Tracking: Unlike biennial surveys, our approach provides ongoing measurement, so you can track progress and adapt strategies in real time.

At a time when culture impacts everything from recruitment and retention to service delivery and reputation this program gives you the tools to move beyond climate and start shaping culture intentionally.

Everyone wants a positive culture. The question is: are you measuring what truly matters? If your authority is ready to take culture seriously, now is the time to act.