Corporate culture is a critical component of an organization’s success. A strong corporate culture provides a competitive, strategic advantage that leads to higher productivity and a healthy workplace environment. Yet despite its importance, culture is often misunderstood or inconsistently applied across an organization.
The RW3 CultureWizard Corporate Culture survey conducted in Spring/Summer 2025 surveyed over 2,000 corporate professionals and revealed six powerful insights. It was created to better understand how employees' behaviors (such as being innovative and respectful) are reflected in the culture.
1. Leaders And Employees Don't Always See Their Corporate Culture The Same Way
One of the clearest findings from the survey was the significant disparity between how leaders and employees understand and appreciate their organization’s culture. Leaders typically assume that the way they perceive the organization’s values and desired behaviors is pervasive throughout the company. They also believe they are sharing and communicating those values and behaviors throughout. However, more often than not, employees may experience the workplace quite differently and don’t necessarily receive the messages that the C-suite assumes they’re getting.
2. Positive And Negative Values Move In Unison
Another striking finding is how closely cultural behaviors, both positive and negative, are linked and move together. For example, employees who expressed a strong sense of “mission” and “respect” also expressed a strong degree of “collaboration” and “excellence”. Conversely, organizations with weak cultures score low across the board.
This finding reinforces a critical point: culture is holistic. Generally, positive and negative behaviors are synergistic and have an additive effect.
3. Positive Cultures Engender Retention And Limit Employee Turnover
The data also confirmed what many leaders suspect: that retention is about more than how much money people earn. Employees who experience their organization as having a strong culture are more likely to stay. These individuals are also more aligned with the company’s values and mission.
The opposite is also true. People who do not experience their culture as positive are more likely to look for employment elsewhere.
4. Authentic Leadership Drives Cultural Strength
We’ve long believed and taught that authenticity was the defining characteristic of excellent leadership, and the survey reinforced that concept. Authenticity from leaders emerged as a key driver of a healthy corporate culture. Employees quickly notice when leaders' words and actions don’t align. That disconnect can erode trust and weaken morale.
Authentic leaders consistently model the values they expect from others. This creates psychological safety and inspires employees to bring their best selves to work.
5. Onboarding Sets The Tone For Cultural Alignment
Finally, our survey reinforced the critical role of onboarding. The first weeks and months of a new employee’s experience set the tone for how they will understand and engage with the organization’s culture.
Organizations with strong onboarding programs go beyond compliance and logistics. They use onboarding as an opportunity to reinforce values, explain expectations, and help employees see how their work connects to the company’s broader mission. This early alignment can dramatically improve engagement and retention.
Culture Must Be Intentional
Corporate culture must be intentional and shaped to support the unique demands of your industry and business model.
For example, manufacturing companies often need cultures that emphasize process, precision, and efficiency, where disciplined execution and consistency are the backbone of success. Whereas, entertainment companies thrive with cultures that champion creativity, innovation, and experimentation, encouraging employees to challenge the status quo and generate bold ideas.
The key is to define a culture that fits your specific context, clearly articulate it, recognize and teach the behaviors that will sustain it, and reinforce it at every touchpoint—from onboarding to leadership development.
Strong cultures don’t just evolve organically; they are built with intention. When companies align their culture with their industry and strategy, they create a powerful source of competitive advantage that drives results far beyond employee engagement.
Dive deeper into the impact of corporate culture with our report: RW3 CultureWizard Corporate Culture Survey.
