A Four-Part Blog Series for CEOs and Leadership Teams
If culture drives performance, what exactly should leaders be measuring? Most companies track retention rates and engagement scores — but these metrics are lagging indicators. They tell you what’s already happened, not what’s coming.

At SKOR, we’ve found that high-performing cultures consistently measure three core ingredients. And together, these 3 ingredients are your culture SKOR.
1. Cohesion — Are teams aligned on purpose and values?
2. Clarity — Do employees know the goals and expectations? Are they held accountable?
3. Courage — Are leaders fostering psychological safety and continuous growth?
Consider Patagonia, a company known for its purpose-driven culture. Patagonia measures more than just employee satisfaction — they track purpose alignment, environmental impact, and leadership effectiveness. The result? A fiercely loyal workforce and customer base.
Or take HubSpot, which shares its “Culture Code” publicly and tracks metrics like leadership alignment, recognition programs, and the impact of manager 1:1s.
These companies understand that culture isn’t a side project — it’s a competitive advantage. And they treat it that way by measuring what matters.
Ready to Measure What Matters?
Not sure where your culture stands? Try our very own SKOR Snapshot—a quick way to sample our proven culture metric, SKOR, and see where your team stands.
In next week’s article, we’ll explore how to integrate culture metrics into your leadership scorecard — and the transformational impact it can have on trust, performance, and profitability.
👉 Challenge for the week: Discuss adding culture metrics to your leadership team’s scorecard.