By Sheetal Sridhar
Most of us today are trying to stay healthy by tracking steps, sleep, or heart rate because we know well-being requires awareness and regular check-ins. But health tracking isn’t just for individuals, is it? Organisations too, need moments to pause and reflect, especially as they grow in size and complexity.
In August, we signed up for the Organisational Health Index (OHI) survey, a diagnostic tool developed by McKinsey for nonprofits to understand how effectively an organisation operates and sustains performance. I thought of it as a fitness tracker for organisational culture and practices. Instead of counting steps, it helps you evaluate alignment, leadership, motivation, work environment, and overall organisational habits.
A moment to pause, reflect, and ask: How healthy are we really? And the voices bringing together the answers to these are the people who make the organisation what it really is.
Tech4Dev’s OHI Snapshot
When the results arrived, they felt validating, energising and, as I heard, surprising to some (we can be a little critical of ourselves sometimes). The numbers affirmed what many of us have sensed here, that our culture is one of our biggest strengths.
OHI 2025 Snapshot
| Overall Score | 92 (Top Quartile Globally) |
| Top Strengths | Leadership | Motivation | Inclusion |
| Top Scores | Capabilities 99 | External Orientation 96 | Work Environment 94 |
| Opportunity Aa | Coordination & Control 78 |
| Employee Experience | 96% feel connected to purpose | 94% report job satisfaction |
Being in the top quartile globally (across 203 organisations and 13,000+ participants) is definitely something to be proud of. But more meaningful than the score was what it reflected, that Tech4Dev’s people-first, mission-driven way of working is not just felt; now it’s measurable in some form as well!
Some highlights from the survey
- One thing I appreciated about the report was how clearly it even called out our Top 10 and Bottom 10 organisational practices. The spread made it easy to see what’s truly working and what needs strengthening as we scale. It also highlighted Power Practices which are high-impact behaviours identified to strongly drive long-term organisational health. Seeing many of these show up in our top practices was reassuring, because it means our strengths are built on habits we can sustain and with time tailor to our growing needs.
- I love a well-structured process, and the OHI rollout did just that. The survey was simple to take, instructions were clear and after what felt like a slightly long wait, we had a detailed report in hand the following month.
- We’ve always sensed that Tech4Dev’s culture is mission-driven and people-first. The data confirmed it. Seeing top-quartile scores in leadership, purpose, and belonging was reassuring.
Where We Can Grow
This health check also brought out some areas that needed work. For us, Coordination & Control emerged as a growth opportunity. If you ask me, it’s unsurprising and, in some ways, healthy for a scaling organisation. It signals where systems and clarity can evolve next.
Looking ahead, I would love our next OHI to go even deeper by:
- Including open-ended questions for more nuance
- Pairing data with conversations that explore the “why” (I see myself chasing this a little too much or too little sometimes, so we’ll find the balance)
- Understanding the profile of peer organisations for better context
Our culture is clearly a strong foundation. Now comes the ongoing work: nurturing it, strengthening systems around it, and continuing our own half-yearly reflections to carry our strengths forward and patch the gaps as we bring on more people.
I don’t see the OHI survey as a performance evaluation. To me, it was a reflection exercise that called out both our strengths and the areas that will matter as we grow.
Because organisational health, much like personal health, is not a milestone but a habit. And I’m excited for the habit we’re building together.
