New Study: Employees Believe Leadership Actions Matter More Than Culture Messaging
A new national study from senior advisory firm bink finds that organizations don't struggle because they lack culture messaging. They struggle when leadership behavior doesn't match what leaders say.
The Culture at Work Study, conducted in partnership with Audience Audit, surveyed 300 professionals working in internal communications, human resources, employee experience, culture and organizational strategy. The research found broad agreement that leadership behavior, not communications alone, ultimately defines workplace culture.
“We expected to find a mix of viewpoints on the importance of culture. We didn't,” said Ann Melinger, CEO of bink. “We found remarkable agreement about what good culture looks like. The real breakdown happens when leadership behavior doesn't match leadership messaging. Employees learn what an organization truly values by watching what leaders reward, tolerate and reinforce every day,”
For communications leaders, Melinger believes the findings point to a larger opportunity. “These findings point to an important shift for communications leaders. The opportunity isn't simply to craft stronger messages about culture. It's to help organizations close the gap between what they say and what employees experience. That's how communicators help create the alignment every organization needs to build trust and improve performance."
Among the study's findings:
91% said the disconnect between leadership messaging and leadership behavior is one of the most damaging forces affecting workplace culture.
87% said culture has significantly influenced business performance.
84% said culture has significantly influenced employee retention.
78% said employees learn an organization's true culture by watching what senior leaders tolerate.
68% agreed that organizational systems have a greater impact on culture than messaging alone.
54% said the people responsible for improving culture lack the authority to change the systems that shape it.
The research suggests many organizations have created an accountability gap. Communications and HR leaders are often expected to strengthen culture but lack the authority to influence the leadership behaviors, incentives and decision-making systems that define it.
The study was designed to examine how culture is understood and reinforced across organizations rather than measure the health of any one company. Participants represented organizations across industries and included leaders from communications, HR, executive leadership, operations and strategy.
The full Culture at Work Study is available from bink at thinkbink.com.
