How to Overcome Employee Resistance to Change Company Culture (An Infographic)

Should your company invest in culture transformation? Culture is key to success. Focusing on cultural transformation can bring big rewards, including an 85% net profit increase in just five years, and a 25% workforce growth in three. In 2020, the vast majority of employees were not engaged, creating $7 trillion in lost productivity. Focusing on cultural transformation can bring a 50-point increase in employee engagement, which brings 10% higher customer ratings, 17% higher productivity, and 20% higher sales. 

Meaningful work is the difference between an employee who actively erodes company culture and one who works every day to better the organization. 1 in 3 employees states that the primary reason they stay at their current company is that they find the work meaningful. As more Millennials and Gen Z enter the workforce, they expect their work to help meet societal needs. When work is tied to our values, it increases employee engagement and raises motivation and productivity. 

Changing company culture is seen in the actions and behaviors of every employee. It’s unique to every organization and the people who work there and includes all of an organization’s attitudes and attributes. Culture transformation means aligning employee desires with current business strategies. It also instills a compelling vision for the future and rallies support through active communication. While a positive outcome is expected from all digital transformation efforts, barely 1 in 8 are successful.

Employees resist culture change for a variety of reasons. A poor corporate culture can make employees unwilling to buy into transformation efforts. If past efforts to change have failed, this can have the unintended consequence of compromising employee trust. Change often brings new responsibilities, and employees worry they’ll face more work with no reward. New technology can also expose employees who lack the necessary skills, prompting the fear of job loss. 

Cultural transformation investments that matter includes strategic imperative, establishing a compelling vision, skill training, job alignment, and reward success. Defining a single strategic imperative and focusing your efforts will lead to successful change. Equipping your workforce with the skills needed to meet your vision and aligning organization and job functions to the vision will also energize employees to exercise their passion every day. The benefits to improving company culture are evident; invest in the business and cultural transformation - the time is now.