Beyond Dashboards: Rethinking HR Data for Real Culture Insight (Metrics That Matter, Part 2)

In Part 2 of our Metrics That Matter series, Kristine and Monica sit down with organizational psychologist Dr. Nicole Eisdorfer, founder of Truer Words, to unpack why so many HR and culture metrics feel useless, and what to do about it.

Nicole blends HR practitioner experience with IO psychology research to explain why most HR data wasn’t designed to measure culture in the first place. She breaks down how default assumptions, legacy systems, and borrowed templates distort our metrics and offers practical ways to make your data “truer” so it actually supports trust, leadership, and culture.

If you’ve ever stared at performance ratings, engagement scores, or dashboards and thought, “This doesn’t match reality,” this episode is for you.

In this episode, we explore:

• Nicole’s path from HR to “truer” culture work
• Why most HR data is not “bad,” just mis-designed
• Performance ratings, normal curves, and pretty dashboards that lie
• “Treat your data as a mirror, not a measurement”
• Inside Nicole’s ‘Making HR Data Truer’ worksheet
• Trust, honesty, and naming flawed metrics out loud
• The limits of engagement scores and eNPS
• Template drift and the danger of “lift and shift” HR
• AI, HR data, and the next generation of work
• Leadership pipelines and why Gen Z isn’t rushing into management
• HR’s strategic seat (without the impostor syndrome)

Resources & Links

• Making HR Data Truer – Worksheet by Dr. Nicole Eisdorfer
• Use this practical tool to examine your HR data, spot flawed assumptions, and start building metrics that actually reflect reality.
• 👉 https://www.culturegrove.com/resources/making-hr-data-truer
• Connect with Dr. Nicole Eisdorfer
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neisdorfer/
• Substack: Truer Words – essays on culture, defaults, and organizational life

This is Part 2 of our Metrics That Matter series on Collaborative Culture. If you’re rethinking how you measure culture, trust, and engagement—and how those metrics shape real decisions—this conversation with Nicole is a powerful place to continue the journey.

Thanks for Listening!

We’d love to hear from you.

Kristine Gentry, PhD

[e-mail]

🌐 www.culturegrove.com

🔗 LinkedIn: Kristine McKenzie Gentry

Monica M. Smith

[e-mail]

🌐 www.tradewindscareerconsulting.com

🔗 LinkedIn: Monica Mary Smith

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