Does Culture Really Drive Results?

Ed note: Posts published on From the Workplace are written by outside contributors and do not reflect the view or opinion of SHRM.

Imagine asking a roomful of leaders the question, “What is culture?” You’d likely get as many answers as there are people. Some would describe it as the vibe of the office, others might say it’s the company values on the wall, and a few might dismiss it as the HR department’s domain. Yet, culture—the way people think and act to achieve results—is far more than just a concept. It’s the lifeblood of business outcomes.

In my role as chief strategy officer of workforce and labor, I’ve had countless conversations with leaders who fall into two camps. The first dismisses culture as “touchy-feely” and irrelevant to the bottom line. The second embraces it but struggles to connect it to tangible results. Both perspectives miss the mark.

The Culture Equation: More Than a Mission Statement

To explore this further, we partnered with Stanford University to study 243 large organizations over three years. The data was striking: companies with strong cultures outpaced their peers in revenue growth by a factor of four. Strong cultures drove 42.2% growth, while weaker ones managed only 10%. Notably, even companies with poor cultures saw some success, but their results were nowhere near transformational.

So, what defines a strong culture? It’s not about perks like kombucha on tap or ping-pong tables in the break room. Those are just distractions. Real culture is about aligning purpose, strategy, and actions to create meaningful results. We call this alignment the Culture Equation: Purpose + Strategy, powered by Culture = Results.

Transforming Beliefs to Drive Action

Most leaders focus on the top of the pyramid—results and actions. What’s often overlooked is the foundation: beliefs. The way employees think about their work and their organization drives their actions, which in turn drive results. For example, a belief that leadership values innovation will inspire actions like risk-taking and collaboration. Without the right beliefs, even the most well-crafted strategic plans will falter.

To cultivate these beliefs, organizations must design intentional experiences. Storytelling, recognition, and feedback are free but powerful tools for shaping how employees perceive their role in achieving organizational goals.

Measuring What Matters

Culture skeptics often ask, “How can you measure something as intangible as culture?” The answer lies in tying culture directly to measurable results. For example, in one case, retail stores implementing cultural changes saw revenue growth far exceeding their control group counterparts. Another client used employee surveys to assess the extent to which cultural initiatives influenced performance, weighting responses conservatively to ensure credibility.

By addressing the beliefs that drive actions, businesses can achieve results that are not just incremental but exponential.

A Framework for Leaders

If your organization is stuck in the “action trap,” it’s time to go deeper. Ask yourself:

• What shared beliefs are holding us back?
• What experiences can we create to foster new, productive beliefs?
• How can we align our culture with our strategic goals?

The answers to these questions will lay the foundation for a culture that delivers results. And remember, your culture is already perfectly aligned with the results you’re currently getting. If you want different results, you’ll need to change the culture.

Culture is not a side project or an HR initiative; it’s the core of your business strategy. 

Jessica Kriegel, Ed.D., is the chief strategy officer of workforce and labor at Culture Partners, where she has dedicated over 15 years to guiding Fortune 100 and global organizations in building intentional cultures that drive performance.