GUIDE | Pulling out the open secrets. 6 principles of anthropology

What’s it really like to work in your organisation?

Not just the view from the C-suite, HR or Internal Communications, but what’s it like on the frontline? What’s the day-to-day experience for line managers? Or what about your IT teams that are constantly firefighting? How does it feel to work there if you’re from a diverse background and don’t fit whatever norms or stereotypes are in place?

How do people find workarounds and ad-hoc solutions when tech and tools don’t work the way they’re supposed to? Which rules and processes do people follow by the letter and which ones do they bend and break?

Ethnography is a method to look at how your organisation really operates in practice, from the ground up instead of the top down. Not the way it looks on org charts, process maps or spreadsheets, but from the perspective of your own people. It uncovers what’s great about working there and where there’s work to do.

As part of our comprehensive approach to research and insights, ethnography is a way to hold up the mirror to your company and see if you’re living up to your purpose, values and promises. It’s how you can pull out the open secrets that everyone knows and talks about, yet never show up on a survey.

Ready for a fresh take on the employee experience? Get our whitepaper exploring six key principles to harnessing the power of cultural anthropology and ethnography for employee engagement.