Building a Stronger Organizational Culture

You wake up in the morning and reach over to switch on your Ikea lamp. Still half-asleep, you make your way to the bathroom and brush your teeth with Colgate. After washing up, you lace up your Nike trainers, brew your morning Nespresso, and scroll through your messages on your iPhone. You head out the door, but not before putting on your Sony headphones and tuning in to your playlist on Spotify. And once at the office, you dive into your day on Microsoft 365.

Now hold on a sec—why these brands?

Because we trust them. Because they feel familiar, their quality is proven, and their design is thoughtful, so much so that they’ve become a natural part of our lives. And all of this traces back to one thing: each of these brands boasts a strong organizational culture that flows through its people, its decisions, and ultimately, its impact.

The bottom line is that culture isn’t about what a company says; it’s about what it is. When an organization lives its values, not only in mission statements, but in everyday actions, it becomes more than a business. It becomes a brand we trust, one that we willingly embrace into our lives. These brands do more than meet our needs; they shape our daily experiences, earn our loyalty, and simultaneously build their own legacy in doing so.

But how does one get there? How does a company move from talking about its culture to genuinely living it?

Why Organizational Culture Matters

Organizational culture happens when leaders model it consistently, visibly, and without compromise. Leadership sets the tone, and when that tone is authentic, aligned, and lived, culture becomes more than a concept. It becomes the foundation of everything.

It’s very easy to go around proclaiming, “People are our greatest asset!”

What’s not so easy is demonstrating it.

Think about it: when a company says its people are the most valuable part of the business, how do they act during challenging times like market downturns or recessions? Do they still stand by that belief, or is their first move to start laying off some of those very ‘greatest assets’?

More often than not, the answer is disappointing. The hard truth is that while many companies loudly tout their core values, few in reality live by them.

You’ll see words like ‘Integrity’ or ‘Teamwork’ displayed on websites and in glossy brochures, but those values don’t necessarily translate into the regular workplace. And when the employees themselves can’t even name the company’s values—let alone see them in action—they’re not values. They’re slogans.

When there’s a disconnect between what a company claims to believe and how it behaves, trust begins to erode. Employees lose faith in the mission and start disengaging from their work. One study found that 1 in 3 employees believe their company’s vision and mission don’t align with daily operations.

Another revealed that 46% would consider leaving their company if it failed to reflect their personal values. This kind of misalignment does more than affect morale; it also hits the bottom line. Globally, disengaged employees cost businesses $8.8 trillion in lost productivity—or, to put it into grim perspective, equal to 9% of the global GDP.

What thus sets exceptional employers apart is their ability to remain aligned with their values, especially when it’s inconvenient or challenging to do so.

While this route may not always be the easiest option, it’s certainly the most sustainable one. It’s what builds lasting trust, cultivates loyalty, and drives the kind of long-term commitment that fuels resilient, high-performing teams.

Walking the Talk: Align Values with Actions

So, you’ve got a great culture—on paper. It reads well, sounds impressive, and looks convincing on your website. But the real question is whether it’s actually showing up in your day-to-day reality.

And that’s the real test, as culture isn’t defined by what’s written down, but by what people experience. At its core, culture is a shared identity for a company and its people, something that they feel, talk about, and practice every single day.

But the fact of the matter is, a company’s values and culture can’t live solely in HR documents or hang neatly on a wall. They have to be lived: repeated through stories, reflected in behaviors, and reinforced by decisions made every day. A strong and authentic culture is built in moments, not memos.

5 Practical Steps to Strengthen Workplace Culture

So how do you transform your culture from being merely words on a page to something that’s real, visible, and practiced across the organization? Here are some practical strategies to help you make that shift.

1. Define Clear, Shared Values

Here’s a quick test: Ask a handful of your employees what ‘Integrity’ means. If you get 10 different answers, then your value isn’t clear enough. If a simple word like ‘jar’ can mean a container, a sudden shake, or an emotional jolt, imagine how widely common buzzwords like ‘Respect’, ‘Innovation’, or ‘Courage’ might be interpreted.

The trick is to use plain, human language and not corporate fluff. When defining your values, involve people from across the organization to help you solidify what your values mean to them in real life. The more diverse the voices, the more relatable and grounded the values become.

The goal of this procedure isn’t to lock down a rigid definition, but to build a shared understanding. When your people help identify what these values look like in action, they’re more likely to live them and be accountable for them.

2. Diagnose the Real Culture

Words are just…words.

Never assume that what looks good on paper is truly happening in reality, or that you have a full grasp of the day-to-day dynamics.

Get curious. Ask your employees what it’s really like to work there. Probe to discover what behaviors are rewarded, what gets overlooked, and where the disconnects lie. Go a step further by asking your customers and partners how they perceive your organization.

And remember, one survey isn’t enough. This requires ongoing, intentional effort. The real truth often comes out through informal channels such as side conversations, anonymous comments, or patterns beneath the feedback.

3. Identify & Close the Gaps

Once you’ve got a clearer picture, look for the gaps between your values and actual behaviors. Where do the contradictions lie? Do you emphasize ‘collaboration’ yet focus mainly on rewarding individual performances? Do you claim to value ‘transparency’ but keep major decisions behind closed doors?

Closing these spaces doesn’t demand perfection, but it does require intentional and continuous action. Focus on one or two key friction points and develop targeted plans to address them. Even making small, visible changes can send a powerful message that you’re committed to aligning your actions with your values.

4. Integrate Values into Your Operations

This is where values either come to life or fade into the wallpaper. Learn to integrate them into everything, such as hiring, onboarding, goal-setting, performance reviews, recognition, and even the way you run meetings.

When values are embedded into the core processes of your organization, they become the foundation, the main mechanism that runs your business, rather than just background noise.

Ask yourself: if someone were to observe how we run the business – how we communicate, prioritize, or make decisions – what would they say our values are? The answer to that question will reveal whether your values are indeed at the core of your business or if they’re all talk.

5. Celebrate and Share Success Stories

Like any achievement in sports, school, or at work, culture needs to be celebrated. Recognition is a powerful tool in reinforcing what sincerely matters to your organization.

Culture spreads through stories. When someone embodies a value, whether it’s a small action or a major contribution, share that story. Highlight the employee who went above and beyond for a customer, or the team that chose ethics over a quick win. Over time, these stories become the folklore of your organization, shaping how your people think as well as how they act.

By sharing these stories, you create a cycle of reinforcement, where values are celebrated, acted on, and passed down through every conversation and decision. It’s how culture becomes more than a set of words, and instead becomes something everyone feels and lives.

Partner with Frontline to Build a Culture That Lasts

Culture change isn’t about sweeping transformation overnight, but about the constant alignment between what we say and what we do. When values move from being words to everyday practices, they become part of the DNA of the organization—and that’s when culture fully thrives.

To learn more about how to better define and live your company values, watch our free webinar. In this episode, Jimmy Nelson, Director of Leadership & Organizational Development at Frontline, walks through how to define your core values, assess your current culture, and embed those values into everyday actions to create a thriving workplace.

If you’re looking for deeper support or a tailored approach, get in touch with us at Frontline to explore solutions for a culture worth building.