I’m Just Going to Change the Company Culture!
Cultures have shaped people since the beginning of time. They form values, behaviors, and the way we communicate. The culture of a country, a society, or a company is usually deeply rooted, and it often takes several generations for meaningful change to occur. But what exactly is culture, and why do so many companies strive to transform it?
The word culture comes from the Latin colere, meaning “cultivation, tilling, tending, caring.” In fact, culture originally referred to agriculture and the cultivation of land.
Over time, the meaning of culture expanded. Beyond farming and livestock, it now includes all human achievements—such as making and using tools, creating jewelry and works of art, developing language, inventing writing, and advancing science and technology. Culture also encompasses the way people organize their lives together.
First Understand the Culture, Then Change It
Cultures don’t change overnight. They are part of societies that have formed over centuries. The same holds true for companies—especially traditional firms that have been established in the market for generations. Their culture has taken shape over time and must first be understood and accepted as a neutral reality.
Leaders are often expected to drive change. Sometimes, this expectation is even embedded in job titles such as Head of Transformation. But the biggest challenge is that these change efforts inevitably meet an existing company culture, which rarely provides fertile ground for transformation.
A company’s culture is a complex web of shared values, norms, and attitudes. It influences how decisions are made, how employees act and feel, and how relationships with colleagues, customers, and stakeholders are shaped. This culture is molded by the personalities within the organization.
Only when a leader truly understands the company culture can they spark change—and even then, only if the people in the organization want it as well.
People Only Change if They Want To
The values and attitudes of employees can only change if they themselves see a benefit and are willing to evolve. This may sound like a sobering conclusion for change management, but it is a reality that must be acknowledged.
A Three-Step Path to Cultural Change
When leaders try to anchor specific values in a company’s culture, it often feels like a Sisyphean task. I’m reminded of a large logistics company in Switzerland with more than 50,000 employees that has spent over 25 years trying to instill the value of “entrepreneurial thinking.” The success of these decades-long efforts has been minimal, while the resilience of the existing culture remains strong.
So what should a leader do if they still want to transform their company culture?
- Clarify values, norms, and attitudes. Reflect on which values, norms, and behaviors should be embedded in the culture and how these should manifest in everyday actions.
- Model the desired behaviors. Since people primarily learn through imitation, the leader must authentically demonstrate these behaviors, consistently and intentionally.
- Find allies. Alongside existing employees who fully embrace the desired culture, newly hired employees play a central role in accelerating successful cultural change.
Recruitment requires special care. The people you bring into the organization will, in turn, shape the culture—especially in small organizations or when hiring leaders in higher-level positions.
The Right Employees Carry the Culture Within Them
In my experience, more than 90% of successful cultural change comes down to hiring the right employees. “Right” means employees who already embody the company’s cultural values and attitudes. Then it’s simply a matter of reinforcing behaviors, values, traits, thoughts, and philosophies that are already part of the individuals you’ve chosen to bring on board.
Cultures and Subcultures in Large Organizations
Does company size matter when changing culture? Essentially no, except that larger organizations naturally develop subcultures. A company can define an overarching vision, mission, and set of values, but each subculture will interpret and express these elements differently. Sometimes they even add unique traits and practices of their own.
Think of Switzerland: there are shared elements and patterns of behavior that unite the Swiss. As Diccon Bewes describes in Swiss Watching (Der Schweizversteher), these national traits vary across cantons and language regions, as reflected in different voting patterns. It’s the same with large organizations: there are unifying values, but each subculture expresses them in its own way.
It’s important to recognize that a company can have an outstanding overall culture, while some departments remain dysfunctional. Politics, envy, and infighting may dominate certain teams. The reason always points back to the leader of that department. As the saying goes, the fish rots from the head down. A leader either actively shapes such a culture or passively tolerates it, lacking the courage to address dysfunctional behavior.
Are Your Leaders in the Right Roles?
A company’s top leader must recognize the vital role they play in shaping culture. They must have a clear picture of the behaviors they expect from employees and ensure that the right leaders occupy the right positions—leaders who genuinely embody the desired values and behaviors. Department heads, in turn, have even more influence on employees’ daily work and performance than the overall company leader, due to their closer interaction.
If you want to embed a specific culture, you must carefully define standards for the organization as a whole and specify what you expect from the leaders of individual subcultures. When these leaders display the desired behavior, a positive company culture can take root.
For cultural change to happen at all, leaders must first work on themselves. For practical and insightful approaches to self-reflection and leadership growth, I recommend my book The Hero’s Journey of a Leader – How to Become the Best Version of Yourself as a Leader.