The Nine Dimensions of Climate

CUES Podcast

In the latest episode of the CUES Podcast, Lesley Sears defines the differences between climate and culture and explains how they together create the workplace your staff members experience every day.

VP/consulting for CUES, Sears then rises to the challenges of describing each of the nine elements of climate in two minutes or less. In that short span, she defines each, explains what to look for if they’re healthy or unhealthy dimensions, and what to do to bring each along toward health.

The nine dimensions of culture Sears highlights are:

1. Challenge and engagement
2. Freedom
3. Trust and openness
4. Idea time
5. Playfulness and humor
6. Conflict
7. Idea support
8. Debate
9. Risk-taking

Credit unions want high numbers for every dimension except conflict, Sears says..

“Debate is different than conflict,” she explains. “Debate is healthy conversation. Conflict is not healthy. So, it's the sniping. It happens when people genuinely don't like each other. There's a dislike in the climate. So again, as much as playfulness and humor ... can be a good representation of a healthy climate, conflict can often be a very good representation of a not very healthy climate.”
What are some things you can do to promote low conflict at your credit union? Sears suggests identifying common goals. “Distract the attention from the conflict itself and focus on the healthy stuff,” she advises. “How are we all moving toward the same goals? How are we doing that? What dimensions around conflict can we do better at?”
Listen to the full show for more about each dimension.
“I love how a climate is made up,” Sears summarizes. “And I love that behavioral psychologists have really been able to bring these dimensions together. So, I'm passionate about them. I think they are truly a way of measuring who you are as a credit union.
Sears advises using the results of a climate assessment to help you focus your talent development efforts. “Like we've got ‘x’ number of resources,” she says. “How can we get the most that we possibly can out of those resources? And I think these dimensions help us really do that well.”
Links for this show:

• Transcript
• More content from Lesley Sears
• CUES Consulting
• From new CUES CEO Heather McKissick, I-CUDE: Addressing Talent Challenges Requires a Holistic and Innovative Approach