CULTURE DOESN’ T FIX ITSELF; IT REFLECTS WHAT THE LEADERSHIP TOLERATES, MODELS, AND REINFORCES. CLOSING THE GAP STARTS WITH MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE.
CULTURE DOESN’ T FIX ITSELF; IT REFLECTS WHAT THE LEADERSHIP TOLERATES, MODELS, AND REINFORCES. CLOSING THE GAP STARTS WITH MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE.
• Decreased productivity and quality and increased turnover.
• Values that become corporate theater.
• Involve employees in the conversations about values and behaviors and how those translate into their daily work and contributions.
CORPORATE CULTURE
• Assign executive sponsors who ensure that mission culture is embedded into strategy and operations.
• Have systems in place to assess and evolve culture practices as the business grows or shifts.
• Create space for employee feedback to reshape culture focus areas.
• Conduct scenario planning for culture stress tests.
• Leadership that looks performative.
• Strategy that can’ t gain traction.
• Customer experiences that contradict the brand promise.
The truth is: culture doesn’ t break down overnight. It breaks down when the stated culture and the experienced culture diverge, and no one is held accountable for bridging or closing the gap. Ignore the gap, and you will fall into the abyss of dysfunction: disengagement, distrust, and decline.
Leaders must own this. Culture doesn’ t fix itself; it reflects what the leadership tolerates, models, and reinforces. Closing the gap starts with making it impossible to ignore.
HOW TO SPAN THE CULTURE GAP
Here’ s how forward-thinking companies can connect both cultures:
1. Conduct a culture audit
• Assess both the overall mission culture and the trench culture( s).
• Don’ t just measure engagement, look at your values in action.
• Gather feedback and identify areas for improvement.
• Ask what behaviors people see, experience, and reward?
2. Operationalize the culture
• Remember, culture = core values + behaviors
• Translate values into specific, observable, acceptable behaviors.
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• Embed those behaviors into hiring, firing, onboarding, performance management, and recognition.
3. Make leaders accountable
• Leadership must message and model the core values.
• They must also recognize those who live the values and reinforce the desired behaviors.
• Link leadership evaluations to cultural consistency, not just business outcomes.
• Hold leaders accountable for holding each other accountable to model, recognize, and reinforce.
4. Equip middle managers
• Give them the tools, time, and training to lead with clarity and consistency.
• They must also message, model, and reinforce the core values.
• They’ re the culture carriers; don’ t leave them stranded.
• Let teams express culture in ways that suit their functions, as long as they align with the mission culture.
• Everyone should know the non-negotiables, i. e., values, behaviors, expectations.
5. Build culture governance
• Formalize how culture is defined, measured, and reinforced.
• Create cross-functional committees with real influence.
6. Empower employees
• Create an environment where it’ s safe to speak up, share ideas, and challenge the status quo.
• Involve employees in goal setting and decision making in order to foster a sense of ownership.
• Give employees the freedom to make decisions and solve problems within their roles.
• Establish clear expectations about roles and responsibilities to reduce ambiguity and stress.
• Tie all of that back to the overall, intentionally-designed mission culture.
IN CLOSING
Live it. Make it real. Make it consistent.
Culture lives in the trenches, and those trenches often look different from team to team. If you’ re not managing that dynamic with intention, you’ re not managing culture at all.
You don’ t build culture by writing values on the wall. You build it by reinforcing them in the trenches: where decisions are made, trust is tested, and work gets done.
When mission and trench cultures align, your company earns credibility and a competitive edge.
Because in the end, your culture isn’ t what you say it is. It’ s what your people live: and survive.
Annette Franz is a globally recognized thought leader, author of three books, and speaker in culture transformation, employee experience( EX), and customer experience( CX). As the founder and CEO of CX Journey Inc., she helps organizations build strong, values-driven cultures that empower employees and drive exceptional customer experiences.