Lasting Culture Change at Work: 5 Research-Backed Steps

Lasting Culture Change as a Competitive Advantage
Successful leaders understand that a healthy and aligned corporate culture can either accelerate success or undermine it. Positive, aligned cultures drive change rather than obstruct it, creating a sustainable competitive advantage in both people and performance. With the speed of change today, how work gets done — your organizational culture — can be as powerful a differentiator as strategy itself.

Foster Lasting Culture Change for Superior Performance
Want higher performance, stronger customer focus, and more consistent strategy execution? Culture research and change management training data point to five key tenets for creating enduring change:

1. Align Culture with Strategy
   The saying “culture trumps strategy” is true. Our alignment research shows that alignment between strategy and culture accounts for 71% of the difference between high- and low-performing organizations in revenue growth, profitability, customer loyalty, leadership effectiveness, and employee engagement. Strategic clarity sets direction, but culture determines whether it succeeds.

   Some cultures amplify performance (e.g., Southwest Airlines); others hinder it (e.g., The Department of Veterans Affairs). Leaders who fail to understand and intentionally shape their culture risk falling short of their strategic potential.

2. Accentuate the Positive
   Leaders often attempt to overhaul corporate values or start from scratch, but lasting culture change rarely emerges from a “reset.” Instead, identify and leverage the strengths of your current culture. Build on what works, evolving toward the traits that support your strategy, rather than attempting a sudden revolution that must fight against an unhealthy, toxic, or misaligned corporate culture.
3. Choose Your “Battles”
   Culture change is most often incremental. Focus on the critical few shifts that will create the greatest impact. Begin by assessing your current culture honestly, engage senior leadership to define the culture needed to support strategic priorities, and involve managers, influencers, and frontline employees in executing targeted changes.
4. Use a Variety of Tools to Effect Change
   Formal business practices — performance management, rewards, and policies — are essential, but change is most powerful when paired with informal tools: coaching, peer reinforcement, recognition in meetings, and team norm. Addressing both the structural and emotional dimensions of culture accelerates adoption.
5. Track Progress with Metrics
   As with any organizational change initiative, measurement is key. Metrics allow you to monitor progress, adjust interventions, and demonstrate tangible improvement, ensuring your culture evolves in alignment with strategic objectives.

The Bottom Line
Ignoring corporate culture during change initiatives is a recipe for failure. Aligned culture energizes and accelerates change, while misaligned culture obstructs progress and threatens sustainability. Leaders who purposefully shape and reinforce culture gain a measurable competitive advantage. Are you actively creating lasting culture change in your organization?

To learn more about how to align your culture, download the 3 Research-Backed Levels of Culture that Leaders Must Get Aligned