Organizational climate assessment is an assessment of the general atmosphere within the organization. Specifically, it involves looking at the perceptions of the employees in relation to the organization and their workplace. Apart from looking at the employee's perceptions, an organizational climate assessment also involves looking at other factors in the organization that affect productivity and work culture such as ethics, compensation and communication within the organization.

The assessment enables the management to look at the answers and finding out ways of increasing the satisfaction level at the workplace and consequently the productivity.

A detailed assessment will help us to optimize the resources of the organization. The assessment studies all the different dimensions of the workforce such as their commitment, communication skills, compensation and the general culture. It also tries to devise a mechanism that can be used to initiate change within the company.

Some of the aspects of the assessment are:

1. Assessment of the corporate culture: The culture of a company has a profound influence of its employees. It is directly linked to satisfaction and morale. A good assessment will help you understand how aligned your employees are to the company’s morale and the level of their commitment to the long term goals of the company.

2. Assessment of the Employee Commitment: Central to maximizing productivity in an organization is the level of commitment amongst the employees. A detailed study of the employee morale needs to be carried out. Factors which may be depressing employee morale need to be identified and steps taken to rectify them.

3. Evaluation of Communications within the organization: The more an organization communicates within itself, the more its productivity. Communication within an organization can be dampened by a number of factors such as ambiguous lines of communications, absence of a clear line of authority etc.

4. Assessment of Compensation and Benefits: The perception of compensation and benefits is of extreme importance as it has tremendous influence in the workplace environment. A perception of unfair compensation can cause mistrust and unhealthy rivalries within coworkers and departments.

5. Perception of Company’s ethics: The perception of company’s ethics has a deep effect on the productivity and the general work environment. A negative perception affects the organization while a positive perception helps morale.

An organizational climate assessment should be done in a broad and comprehensive manner. The questions posed to employees should be tailored to their specific environment, work function and department. The confidentiality of the employee is paramount. If the employees are apprehensive about the confidentiality, the answers may not reveal their true feelings and consequently, the objective of the exercise is compromised.