What should we do next?
The signal flags your results triggered, and the actions we recommend for each.
A material share of respondents rated this area poorly — a signal of friction, concern, or drag that warrants direct attention.
- Action & Risk Mindset28% negative2.82
AskWhat is causing friction, concern, or drag?
A large share of respondents gave a middling rating, suggesting unclear expectations, inconsistency, or low perceived priority.
- Leadership49% neutral3.27
- Decision Making63% neutral3.15
- Innovation (incl. AI & Emerging Tech)72% neutral2.92
- Teamwork41% neutral3.35
- Talent & Culture71% neutral3.07
- Action & Risk Mindset62% neutral2.82
AskIs this unclear, inconsistent, or not viewed as a priority?
An overwhelming majority of respondents rate this area highly — well above the norm for any organization.
- Systems, Tools, and Processes89% positive4.41
AskWhat should we study and spread?
A strong majority of respondents rate this area positively — a real asset worth protecting.
- Customer / Client80% positive4.03
AskHow do we reinforce and protect this?
A high share of respondents gave the top rating of 5 — unusually strong enthusiasm for this area.
- Systems, Tools, and Processes66% rated 54.41
AskWhat is creating such a strong positive experience?
- Evaluate distinctive cultural strengths within departments or locations and learn from them. What are they doing differently, and how can you spread their practices throughout the organization?
- Evaluate high-priority dimensions where positive scores were below 70% and prioritize actions to drive improvement in these areas.
- Evaluate high negative scores and decide what to prioritize based on what will have the greatest impact and be easiest to implement.
- Evaluate areas of high neutral concentration for increased leadership focus.
- Your areas with a high concentration of 5s are a major competitive advantage. Protect them and use these strengths to achieve your targets.
Our recommendations Beta
Based on 11 findings computed from these responses. Every figure quoted is checked against those findings. In client engagements, a JRA analyst reviews these before release.
Meridian's problem is acting, stopping and learning, not tools, and Sales/Marketing disputes the customer strength the rest of the organization reports.
The results have a clear shape. The highest-scoring questions are all about equipment: systems, tools, data access and process capability, led by "I have the systems and tools to excel at my job." at 4.43, with Systems, Tools, and Processes at 4.41 against a benchmark of 4.18. The lowest-scoring questions are all about acting: bold action, calculated risk, stopping low-value work, learning from failed initiatives and turning ideas into improvements. Action & Risk Mindset sits at 2.82 and Innovation at 2.92. People are well equipped. The constraint is the step from idea to decision to action. These weak dimensions also barely move between groups (Innovation spread 0.28, Talent & Culture 0.31, Action & Risk Mindset 0.52), so no part of the organization has solved this yet. It is an organization-wide habit, not a pocket to fix. Most dimensions also carry a neutral concentration, with Innovation at 72% neutral. Many people are unconvinced rather than hostile. Action & Risk Mindset is the exception, at 28% negative.
The finding that most changes the plan is Sales/Marketing: 30 people, 17% of respondents, scoring 2.80 overall against 3.50 for everyone else. They rate Customer / Client at 2.32 against 4.38 for the rest, and "Our clients love our products and/or services." at 2.13 against 4.36. Human Resources rates the same question 4.54. Sales/Marketing also carries concern flags on Leadership, Decision Making, Teamwork and Systems that the organization-wide view does not show. Sales/Marketing is usually the function with the most direct client contact. If that holds here, the organization's second-strongest dimension may reflect an internal view of clients more than the clients' own. Treat the customer strength as unconfirmed until the two views are reconciled.
The order of work follows from this. Talk to Sales/Marketing on its own first, because anything aimed at the whole organization will be outvoted by the groups that feel fine. Then take on the shared problem of stopping, deciding and learning. Do not treat tooling as the answer. That is the part that already works.
- 1Now · CEO and head of Sales/MarketingHold a Sales/Marketing-only conversation before any organization-wide rollout
Sales/Marketing scores below the rest of the organization on Customer / Client, Teamwork and Systems, and its concern flags disappear in the blended average. Any organization-wide program will be read through the lens of the majority, who do not share this view. Next week, convene the team without other functions present and open with one narrow question: what are clients telling you that the rest of the company is not hearing? Record the answers verbatim and commit to a reply within a month.
Evidence Sales/Marketing n=30 · 17% of respondents · overall 2.80 vs rest 3.50 · "The company cares deeply about our client/customer experience." 2.13 vs rest 4.36 · Teamwork 2.32 vs rest 3.57 · Leadership 2.82 vs rest 3.37
- 2This quarter · COO with heads of Human Resources and Sales/MarketingInterview HR and Sales/Marketing about how each sees clients
Human Resources and Sales/Marketing sit at opposite ends of every Customer / Client question, and that one dimension travels further between groups than any other. The question is not who is right. It is what each group's work exposes them to. Interview a handful of people from each group about where their picture of clients comes from: direct contact, internal reports, escalations or wins. Then set what you hear alongside whatever client signals the company already tracks before treating the customer strength as settled.
Evidence "Our clients love our products and/or services." HR 4.54 vs Sales/Marketing 2.13 · spread 2.41 · Customer / Client spread 2.24 · org Customer / Client 4.03, flagged Cultural strength
- 3This quarter · CEO and executive teamRun a quarterly review whose only outcome is stopping work
Almost no one agrees the organization stops work that is not creating value. That is the most mechanical of the low scores and the easiest to change by leadership decision rather than by persuasion. Schedule one portfolio review this quarter where the only permitted outcome is ending or pausing something, and announce what was stopped and why. Leadership also scores well below benchmark with close to half of responses neutral, so a visible decision like this does double duty.
Evidence Action & Risk Mindset 2.82, 28% negative, bench 3.75 · "We stop work that is not creating value and focus on what matters most." 2.81, 8% positive · Leadership 3.27, 49% neutral, gap -0.8
- 4This quarter · COO and Operations leadClose the loop on failed initiatives, starting with junior staff
Learning from initiatives that do not succeed is among the lowest scores, and Junior / Support staff feel it hardest. They are the best place to learn how the lessons get lost. For the next initiatives that stall or close, hold a short review that includes junior staff and publish one change that resulted. Sales/Marketing scores highest on this question, so ask its leaders what they do differently.
Evidence "When new initiatives don't succeed, we learn quickly and apply those lessons." 2.80, 29% negative · Level: Junior / Support 2.58 · Sales/Marketing 3.15 · "We effectively turn new ideas into improvements in how we work and serve customers." 2.90
- 5This quarter · COO and function leadsPush decision authority down where review adds little
Decision Making is well below benchmark and mostly neutral, and bold action is weakest in Operations. People have the tools and data to act, so the likely friction is permission rather than capability. The survey does not confirm this, and these steps will test it. Map the decision types that most often leave a team for sign-off, and push authority down one level for those with the weakest case for review. Austin scores lowest on Decision Making and highest on bold action. That result is directional at this group size, but worth a conversation about how decisions are routed there.
Evidence Decision Making 3.15, 63% neutral, gap -0.92 · "My team takes bold actions to drive outcomes for our customers." 2.80, Operations 2.62 · Location: Austin Decision Making 2.64, bold action 3.25 (n=8, directional)
- 6Next quarter · People teamTrack whether neutral answers move after the first changes
Most dimensions are dominated by neutral answers, which reads more as waiting to be convinced than as opposition. Innovation is a near miss on negative sentiment and should be watched, not treated as a problem yet. After the first stop-work review and decision changes, re-ask the Action & Risk Mindset and Innovation questions in a short pulse to see whether neutrals shift toward positive or toward negative.
Evidence Innovation negative 18% vs 25% flag threshold · Innovation 72% neutral · Talent & Culture 71% neutral · Innovation group spread 0.28
- 7Ongoing · CIO / head of ITProtect the tooling strength and keep it out of the fix
Systems, Tools, and Processes is the one dimension above benchmark, held with strong conviction. Strengths like this erode quietly through growth, turnover and ad hoc tool sprawl rather than through any single decision. Name an owner for tool standards and new-hire onboarding, and add one question to every tool request: does this address a gap the survey actually shows? Sales/Marketing is the exception on systems, but its lowest item there is delivery on customer requirements rather than its own tools. Explore that in the group conversation before spending anything.
Evidence Systems, Tools, and Processes 4.41 vs bench 4.18 · 66% rated 5 · "I have the systems and tools to excel at my job." 4.43 · Sales/Marketing Systems 3.11 vs rest 4.68 · "My organization has strong process capability to consistently deliver on customer requirements." Sales/Marketing 2.86 vs rest 4.75
- This is a single survey wave from 176 respondents, and not everyone invited took part. People who did not respond may see things differently, and a single snapshot cannot show direction of travel.
- Groups are reported one at a time, and department, level and location may overlap. For example, Junior / Support and Operations may include some of the same people, so treat related group findings as possibly describing the same population.
- Location: Austin has 8 respondents, so its results are directional only.
- Scores show how employees see the organization, not how clients or results actually behave. The gap between Sales/Marketing and other groups on customer questions needs outside client evidence before anyone draws conclusions about client outcomes.
The findings behind these recommendations
- F1Overall shapeOverall shape of the results
- F2FlagsFlags triggered organization-wide, and near misses
- F3Group differsDepartment: Sales/Marketing differs from the rest of the organization
- F4Group differsDepartment: Human Resources differs from the rest of the organization
- F5Group differsDepartment: IT differs from the rest of the organization
- F6Group differsDepartment: Finance differs from the rest of the organization
- F7Hidden by the averageDepartment: Sales/Marketing carries concern flags the organization-wide view does not show
- F8Mirror-image pairHuman Resources and Sales/Marketing point opposite ways on the same questions
- F9Spread between groupsHow far each dimension travels between groups
- F10Felt hardest byWho feels "When new initiatives don't succeed, we learn quickly and apply those lessons." hardest
- F11Felt hardest byWho feels "My team takes bold actions to drive outcomes for our customers." hardest