Does Culture Change Really Drive Business Success?

January 17, 2025 Jamie Notter

A lot of leaders may not admit it, but they consider culture “extra,” something that is nice to have, but isn’t core to organizational success. They just don’t see the connection. This makes me mad, because culture isn’t just about feel-good team-building exercises or a “vibe”—it’s the engine that drives productivity, innovation, speed, and employee engagement. But how does culture change translate into measurable business results? Let me walk you through it.

Aligning Culture with Goals

The key to successful culture change lies in alignment. It’s not about creating a generic “great culture”; it’s about designing a culture that supports your organization’s specific goals and success drivers. When we assess a culture in our consulting, we also have the client spell out exactly what makes them successful. What are your super powers? What has the biggest impact on your success? This sometimes comes as a surprise—what does that have to do with understanding culture? Simple: once we have that strategic clarity, we align your culture change priorities directly with those outcomes.

For example, if collaboration across teams is a stumbling block, then focus on solutions that break down silos. If innovation is a priority, then design cultural practices that encourage experimentation and risk-taking. Every culture change strategy is tied to improving how your organization achieves its goals. That’s why it’s so powerful.

Improving Engagement and Retention

We all know that engaged employees are more productive and less likely to leave. But engagement doesn’t happen by accident—it’s the result of an intentional culture that makes your people continuously successful. When you do culture change right, consistently, you’re your people will recognize that your organization is different. It doesn’t tolerate the annoying culture friction that others do. It intentionally makes their lives easier and more productive. That makes them much less likely to leave, and the average cost of turnover for an organization with 100 employees is more than $1 million, so this has big financial implications, not to mention the fact that every departure represents lost institutional knowledge and momentum.

Increasing Efficiency and Productivity

One of the most tangible impacts of culture change is the way it removes obstacles to efficiency. Inefficiencies often hide in plain sight: duplicated work, miscommunication, and decision-making bottlenecks. By addressing these through targeted culture changes, such as improving communication or streamlining workflows, your organization can operate more smoothly and productively.

Take transparency, for example. Many organizations struggle with information sharing that is reactive—it’s often too little too late. We’ve seen a lot of culture change work focused on sharing information more proactively, like sharing KPIs earlier on or using asynchronous tools like Slack to share progress before projects are done. The result? Decision making improves because people have the right information at the right time, and your organization moves closer to achieving its goals.

But You Get Nothing Without Action

Culture is not just an idea—it’s in-the-trenches work to build a successful enterprise. If you want the business results I have just laid out for you, then you need an action-first approach to the work of culture change. Try things, experiment with new processes, let your people try a discover new ways to be successful. If you wait until you know it’s perfect, you will have missed the opportunity. The best cultures in the world know that an ounce of change activity is worth a pound of core values posters.

If you do this right, culture change doesn’t just drive business success—it defines it.

If you’re interested, learn more about our culture design consulting.

Jamie Notter

Jamie is a co-founder and culture strategist at PROPEL, where he helps leaders create amazing workplace cultures that drive greater performance and impact. He brings thirty years of experience to his work designing and managing culture, and has specialized along the way in areas like conflict resolution and generations. Jamie is the co-author of four popular business books, including the award-winning Non-Obvious Guide to Employee Engagement, and his fall 2023 release, Culture Change Made Easy. He holds a Master’s in conflict resolution from George Mason and a certificate in Organization Development from Georgetown, where he serves as adjunct faculty.