Part Two: Why Investing in Culture is the most strategic move you'll make - practical tips for Leaders.

Part Two -

Three Practical Ways Leaders Can Start Investing in Culture Today

Investing in culture doesn’t require a complete organisational overhaul. In fact, the most meaningful shifts often begin with small, intentional actions that compound over time. We often refer to this as "marginal gains".

Start with micro actions that can be sustained over time.

Here are three practical places where leaders can start.

1. Measure What You’re Really Experiencing — Not What You Intend

Most leaders have a sense of their culture. Fewer have a clear, shared understanding of how it’s actually being experienced across the organisation.

Culture lives in perception. It’s how safe people feel to speak up, how supported they feel by their leaders and team members, and how aligned they feel to vision, purpose and values. Without insight, leaders are left guessing.

• Start by creating space to listen, regularly and consistently

• Use meaningful data, conversations, and feedback mechanisms that surface what’s really happening beneath the surface.

When leaders understand the lived experience of their people, they can move from assumption to intention,  and from reaction to strategy.

2. Build Leadership Capability 

Culture doesn’t change through posters or policies, it changes through positive leadership behaviour.

Every leader casts a “shadow” through how they communicate, respond to pressure, give feedback, and role-model expectations. If leaders aren’t equipped to lead with emotional intelligence, clarity, and consistency, culture will always struggle to take hold.

Investing in culture means investing in leaders and helping them build self-awareness, strengthen relational capability, and understand the impact they have on others.

When leaders positively shift how they show up, culture shifts with them.

3. Align Culture to Strategy — Then Reinforce It Daily

One of the most common gaps we see is a disconnect between stated values and day-to-day reality. Culture becomes powerful when it actively supports organisational values and the vision of where the organisation is going.

• Ask: What behaviours do we need more of to deliver our strategy?

• Then ask: Are those behaviours being clearly reinforced, recognised, and rewarded?

Culture is strengthened when leaders consistently highlight what “good” looks like, call out aligned behaviours, and address misalignment early. Over time, this creates clarity, accountability, and forward momentum as well as removes the ambiguity that so often undermines performance.

• So celebrate the small achievements and micro shifts.

We love working with organisations who are genuine about building thriving workplace cultures. You can reach out to us to find out more about how PQfactor, our workplace culture tool plays a pivotal role, and why are leader scaffolding is the difference organisations need.

Read about PQfactor here or here.