Take a minute to think of three words that describe your organization’s culture. Got them? Now, consider: Would others in your organization choose the exact words? When you think about how your organization describes itself on websites and how your leaders communicate culture, is there alignment? Finally, ask yourself: are these words based on your physical location?
I do this exercise routinely when working with executive committees. I ask each person to write three words describing their company culture on a Post-it note and have them hang it on the wall. It’s incredible to see how different these words are, even among a small group of executives. Imagine how much the perception of culture can differ between leaders and employees.
I’ve heard it said that one of the biggest detriments to an organization’s soul is to say you’re one thing but do something else. Cultural misalignment results in lower engagement, lost productivity and increased turnover. On the flip side, according to Gallup, employees who feel most strongly aligned with their culture are more engaged (4x more) and less likely to leave their employer (43% less). Highly engaged employees drive business outcomes: they have 23% better profitability, 81% less absenteeism, and 18% higher productivity.
Culture transcends geography
Culture isn’t just a buzzword or a page on your website. And importantly, culture is not a place defined by your four walls. Culture is crucial, and it transcends location.
Research backs up the notion that culture is not correlated with place. The percentage of employees who feel a strong connection to culture is almost the same whether they work in the office full-time (20%), part-time (21%) or not at all (20%). This research reinforces what I see in my practice. Working in the office does not provide any magic on its own, nor does working in a hybrid or virtual setting. What provides that magic in any setting is when leaders intentionally cultivate connection, collaboration and culture.
So, where do you start? As a leader, you have the power and responsibility to strengthen your culture. I go through the same process with every leader I work with — articulating and clearly defining the mission, values, beliefs, purpose and vision that make your culture uniquely powerful.
The 4 ‘W’s that define culture
A simple set of powerful culture-clarifying questions can help you define your culture. The answers create a foundation for meaningful dialogue and change. If you’re a senior leader, you must drive how culture is clarified and communicated. If you’re a manager or team leader, ensure you’re clear on your culture and pass it on to your teams.
WHO
- Who do you serve?
Focus on your key stakeholders so you never lose sight of their needs in your daily decisions. Is it the market? Your clients, customers or your people?
WHAT
- What do you do?
What is your mission? What is the high-level goal that drives daily actions?
- What do you stand for?
What are your values? These could include things like innovation, excellence, trust or transparency. These can act as a guiding light that helps govern decision-making.
- What do you expect of your people?
Define the behavioral expectations of your employees. What are the behaviors you want to see, and what are the behaviors you won’t tolerate? These expectations help you reinforce actions that are in line with your culture and hold people accountable for actions that are not.
WHY
- Why do you do what you do?
What is your purpose? Define the “why” behind what you do. Purpose always precedes policy and guides action.
WHERE
- Where are you headed?
What is your vision for the future? Vision is often intertwined with your “what,” your “why” and your “who.”
The answers to these questions give you the foundation by which you measure anything you do. If something shakes you, you go back to who you are fundamentally, and you’ll know how to move forward. When organizations are clear on culture, they can operate from a position of strength and proactivity rather than reactivity and flip-flopping. Their culture becomes their north star, guiding future actions and driving policies and practices.
Culture beyond coordinates
Where employees work, in the office or out, is often decided as a reaction to external events or trends rather than a deep look into who you are and what you stand for. In that case, a stand-alone policy dangerously disconnected from your values can lead to messy results. But if your culture drives your policies, it will align with your values and people and drive the right results.
The widespread assumption that organizational culture requires physical proximity has been definitively challenged. Successful organizations continue to demonstrate how they can build strong cultures in distributed and flexible work environments that rival those with traditional workplaces. Wendy Davidson, CEO of The Hain Celestial Group, offers an example of developing and practicing intentional culture. My organization awarded her The Flex Leader Award in 2024 for her efforts.
Hain Celestial’s purpose is to inspire healthier living through better-for-you brands. When Wendy launched a cultural transformation process, she knew that healthier living was more than just the food you eat; it included how you live and work. Hain developed a hub and spoke model for their global office locations and purposely did not mandate a set number of days in the office to give employees flexibility to work in a way that met their needs in both work and life. To build culture and connection, they created the concept of “moments that matter,” where teams come together to ideate, collaborate and celebrate regularly, making in-person time intentional by design. The cultural transformation is working: since it launched, they’ve seen a 300% increase in applications, a 500% increase in female applicants and higher engagement.
Connecting people to your culture
Once you clearly define your culture, leaders at all levels must own the culture, make it part of their DNA and express it in the way they work and lead. The key to sharing ownership of culture across your organization is to plug all your people in. There are four parts to this process of connecting your people to your culture:
- Define it. Go through the 4W process. Articulate your culture clearly. Communicate it.
- Clarify the role of stewardship. Give everyone on your team the job of cultural steward. Your employees are your culture carriers; let them own that role.
- Provide examples. Proactively reinforce when an employee brings your culture to life in a beneficial way. Use group meetings, emails, incentives and awards to share these examples.
- Reinforce. Culture is never one-and-done; the communication and reinforcement of culture have to be ongoing.
Organizations that thrive align culture with practice and move beyond rigid or reflexive policies to create human-centered workplaces that drive both performance and possibility. When they do this intentionally, culture transcends place, allowing organizations the flexibility to work in the way that serves them best.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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