Turning Organizational Culture into Action
As companies face increasing pressure to attract and retain talent while meeting rising employee expectations, translating organizational culture into tangible behaviors remains a key challenge. In response, McLean & Company, a global HR research and advisory firm, has released new case studies that illustrate how organizations can embed culture into daily operations to enhance performance, alignment, and engagement.
Real-World Case Studies Across Sectors
The newly published Case Studies: Articulate Organizational Culture highlights success stories from a variety of sectors, including public, private, and nonprofit organizations. These cases show how organizations have moved beyond abstract values to define specific behaviors that reflect and reinforce their desired culture.
Highlighted organizations include:
- A public sector entity aligning its culture with a newly refreshed strategic direction.
- A tech company turning values into actionable, lived behaviors.
- A global nonprofit bridging the gap between its mission and day-to-day practices.
- A healthcare organization reworking its values to combat burnout and improve patient satisfaction.
Each organization used tools such as employee engagement surveys, values assessments, and listening initiatives to assess their current cultural landscape. Based on these insights, they identified gaps between stated values and actual behaviors, then created clear cultural statements and behavior expectations. Leadership, HR, and people managers committed to shared accountability for driving these changes.
Challenges in Operationalizing Culture
Despite recognizing the strategic importance of culture, many HR leaders face significant obstacles when trying to operationalize it, according to McLean & Company. These challenges include:
- Vague value statements: Without behavioral clarity, employees struggle to translate values into action.
- Misaligned values and strategy: As business goals evolve, existing values may become obsolete or disconnected from reality.
- Lack of alignment between HR and executives: When leadership isn’t unified or priorities compete, culture initiatives often stall.
- Disconnected HR programs: Efforts to shape culture may be ineffective if they’re not integrated with performance management, hiring, and recognition systems.
Kelly Berte, Practice Lead of Human Resources Research & Advisory Services at McLean & Company, emphasized the importance of specificity and integration. “Culture only becomes a lever for organizational performance when leaders move beyond posters and slogans to define what values look like in everyday behavior,” she said.
The McLean & Company Blueprint for Culture
To support HR leaders, McLean & Company offers a structured process for articulating culture. Their blueprint focuses on creating shared understanding and practical implementation. The steps include:
- Assessing current culture: Utilizing surveys and feedback tools to pinpoint strengths and gaps.
- Co-creating values and behaviors: Collaborating across teams to define a focused set of cultural attributes and behaviors that align with mission and strategy.
- Embedding culture into systems: Integrating values into core HR programs such as performance reviews, hiring practices, leadership development, and recognition efforts.
- Measuring progress: Continuously tracking cultural alignment through feedback loops and metrics.
This process is supported by McLean & Company’s broader suite of research and workshops, including Shape and Sustain Organizational Culture and Gather the Employee Voice to Inform Engagement Action Planning. These resources help organizations embed culture into ongoing people programs and daily work practices.
Expert Resources and Media Access
HR professionals and media seeking expert insight on culture transformation and strategy alignment can connect with McLean & Company’s analysts, including Kelly Berte, for research-backed commentary. Additional resources and unrestricted access to McLean & Company’s research are available through their Media Insiders program.
About McLean & Company
McLean & Company provides practical, evidence-based HR research and tools to help organizations thrive. Their membership includes access to diagnostics, workshops, action plans, and advisory support for HR teams at all levels. As a division of Info-Tech Research Group, McLean & Company supports clients globally in shaping resilient, values-driven workplaces.
This article is inspired by content from Original Source. It has been rephrased for originality. Images are credited to the original source.
