Air Canad

Pascal Salhuana

In an era where AI is reshaping industries, labor shortages are testing agility and sustainability is a business imperative, the difference between leading and lagging often comes down to one thing — organizational culture. Companies that thrive don’t just react to change, they adapt to their broader context through their organizational culture embedded in their foundation and reflected in shared values, beliefs and behaviors. These elements shape how employees work, think and respond to challenges that arise in their daily environment. In other words, culture could be portrayed as the organization’s personality. Naturally, like changing a human personality, cultural shifts cannot happen in a matter of weeks, nor can they simply be erased and rebuilt from scratch with a "tabula rasa" approach.

When it comes to culture change, it is often framed as a journey between two distinct states, the “before” and the “after.” In addition to this, organizations commonly focus on the “end goal,” but the real work lies in how they navigate the complexities of their history, the crucial alignment of leadership and the role of managers throughout the cultural transformation process.

Building the future without erasing the past

Every organization has a history, shaped by events that have required adaptation, whether to overcome crises, cope with strikes, or respond to external pressures such as new regulations or shifting market demands. Ignoring this history in a cultural transformation process can lead to misunderstandings among the workforce and over time, a sense of detachment from the new vision. Consider professional sports teams as an example. When such organizations aim to transform their culture, they don’t erase the legacy of past championships or victories. Instead, they honor that legacy and use it as a foundation for culture evolution, focusing on the people at every level who contribute to its success. In essence, the key to a meaningful cultural transformation lies in understanding the past to effectively shape the future. Organizations must embrace their heritage, recognizing that cultural evolution builds on what came before rather than replacing it entirely.

"The key to a meaningful cultural transformation lies in understanding the past to effectively shape the future."

Strengthening leadership alignment

Meaningful engagement in cultural transformation at all levels should only occur when the executive team is aligned in its understanding and commitment to the “desired” culture. Notably, having a clear and well-defined vision may not necessarily mean engaging the broader workforce in the first steps. A common missing piece in creating the vision and involving the employees is the executives’ alignment on the cultural changes. Are executives truly aligned, or are we in presence of a false consensus effect? Do they understand the culture they’re trying to implement? More importantly, do they share the same interpretation of what their culture means?

When executives’ alignment is overlooked and disconnected from the organization’s history, even positive and well-intentioned change initiatives can falter. In the context of culture change, misalignment among leaders can inadvertently create disparate “subcultures” across business units, or even worse, countercultures. This fragmentation not only fosters confusion but also undermines engagement and trust, leading to potential resistance and delays in achieving desired outcomes. Ensuring the executive team is fully aligned on the vision, messaging and desired outcomes is critical.

Empowering people managers

Part of any cultural transformation journey, one essential truth emerges— people are at the heart of the process. While employee engagement is often emphasized in change initiatives,  it is the managers, those working directly with teams, who act as the bridge between strategy and execution. Despite this, the role of managers remains underexplored in comparison to leaders and employees. Although in varying proportions, most research agrees that managers have a significant impact on employee engagement, making their role indispensable in fostering cultural shift organizations aim to achieve.

In many cases, organizations overlook the nuanced and multifaceted role people managers play. What about the managers’ engagement in the cultural transformation? Are  organizations expecting them to do their “job” and act as promoters of the desired culture? The reality is that people managers are more than just intermediaries and should also be considered in the transformational effort. In fact, they have a bidirectional role. On the one hand, they interact daily with their employees, cascading down the new cultural vision to their teams, which could be reflected by the promotion of new values and behaviors. On the other hand, they also support the feedback loop by relaying employees’ reactions to the desired culture back to the leadership. This dual role positions them as strategic players in driving cultural transformation, and it should not be left to chance.