Summary: Not all bosses are willing to invest in organisational culture, even though 98% of CEOs link it directly to bottom-line results. Three barriers hold them back: culture feels too intangible to measure, they don’t know how to change it, or they simply don’t care. If you’re facing resistance, you have options. Build a business case using your boss’s priorities and your organisation’s data. Break the challenge into manageable steps with quick wins. Or, if they won’t engage, focus on changing culture within your own team and collaborate with peers.
As Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, ex-CEO of LEGO said, “culture is the execution mechanism by which we deliver strategy”. When he arrived in the organisation in 2001, it was on the verge of bankruptcy. With a relentless re-focus on their customers and the deliberate crafting of a purpose-driven culture, the company has experienced double-digit growth for the past 20 years. In 2024, this was achieved on both the top and bottom line.
Knudstorp was not alone in his views. A growing number of leaders are putting culture on the list of business priorities, recognising its substantial impact when linked directly to strategy delivery. In a 2023 survey of 500 CEOs globally, 98% identified culture as the top factor boosting the bottom line.
Why don’t bosses want to change culture?
The evidence for culture’s strategic role in success continues to grow, so why do some bosses not ‘get’ its importance?
There are three main reasons:
- It’s too intangible to catch their attention. Unlike declining market share, increased costs or employee turnover, culture is hard to quantify.
- They don’t know how to change the culture; therefore, they don’t want to admit it needs changing. It feels too big a challenge to tackle so, instead, they focus on the things they know how to approach.
- They don’t care.
How can you overcome these challenges?
If you’re invested in making culture change happen, despite your bosses’ resistance, try these three routes:
1. Convince them
If you’re a Culture Pioneer – an advocate for change – it’s natural to evangelise about the importance of culture. It can be tempting to try to influence people with sheer enthusiasm, high-level concepts or big research statistics that do not always resonate.
Instead, build a business case rooted in whatever language your boss uses and data from your own organisation. If spiralling costs are what’s keeping them awake at night, join the dots between the impact of culture on engagement. Then, look at the knock-on impact on the costs of recruiting and retaining talented people. If their biggest priority is pace, unpack examples of how current behaviours and ways of working are slowing down delivery.
2. Make it easy
When your boss is juggling multiple high-pressure priorities, they are unlikely to try something new. Understanding and changing the organisation’s culture can feel overwhelming, so it is essential to break it down into bite-sized pieces.
You may clearly see everything that needs to change, all the levers to pull to make it happen and the potential impact on the business. But, for someone new to the territory, tackling this can feel overwhelming, and so they may avoid it altogether. In this case, do the following:
- Choose one cultural shift to start with – for example, moving from siloed to collaborative working
- Use each of the cultural enablers to make progress with this change – awareness, involvement, performance and embedding
- Shout about any quick wins and benefits
This will build confidence that change is possible and energise your boss to continue.
3. Go around them
Does your boss understand the impact of culture but doesn’t care to make changes? There’s little point in trying to persuade them to get on board with a wholesale culture change programme. But it doesn’t mean you can do nothing with your culture.
As Gallup found, 70% of someone’s experience at work is shaped by their immediate manager. If you can minimise the impact of your boss’s behaviour on the wider organisation, or on your own team or function, you can still make a difference.
Ideally, you would give them feedback to raise their awareness, but the reality is they may not be ready or willing to hear it.
If your attempts to raise their awareness are going nowhere, put your energy into engaging your own team with the culture change that’s needed and set the example yourself.
If appropriate, be transparent about the reality of the situation and open about why evolving the culture in your specific area is worthwhile. Collaborate with like-minded peers to bring about change in their areas, too.
As change starts happening, and the impact becomes apparent, your boss may take an interest.
Further resources
- How to change workplace culture in 100 days – This practical roadmap from Culture Pioneers and Pecan Partnership offers a tried-and-tested process for addressing deep-rooted leadership behaviours without waiting years for results. It includes the five cultural enablers that drive lasting change and a step-by-step guide to effective behaviour change through role-modelling.
- Worst to first on Glassdoor: Wurzak’s journey – Wurzak Hotel Group transformed its culture and won the 2024 Culture Pioneer Awards by making brand pillars tangible, introducing micro-learning for leaders, and launching on-the-spot recognition programmes. The results: improved ratings, reduced turnover, and 8.9% revenue growth.
- Culture Fit for the Future Report – Pecan Partnership’s research-based report explores how organisations can build cultures that support strategic delivery, offering practical frameworks and insights to help you drive meaningful change in your organisation.
