Competitive organizations are defined by their strong organizational cultures. They understand that taking care of their organizational DNA sustains a powerful, holistic, and systemic impact that cuts across employee engagement, innovation, customer experience, and bottom-line performance. This is the reason organizations invest in culture transformation through various types of learning and development initiatives.

However, once a culture transformation has taken root, it must be nurtured and sustained for the long term. Failure to do so results in wasted resources, decreased employee morale, and subpar business results. Here are some actionable strategies to keep your new corporate culture delivering ideal outcomes as planned.

1. Ensure HR practices support the new culture

HR practices should support and reinforce your transformed culture. This includes linking performance management to how well employees adhere to the new culture. Recruitment policies also need to incorporate culture fit. When hiring new talent, HR needs to assess how well potential candidates match the renewed organizational culture. A market data report by Gitnux reveals that 32% of employees quit due to a feeling of disconnectedness with their company culture. Additionally, career planning and succession planning must be aligned with the organization’s new norms.

2. Conduct periodic reviews of your implemented transformation

Once you’ve implemented your culture transformation framework, routinely monitor critical KPIs so that everyone knows how well the results are being sustained. Keep the roadmap toward desired results clear for everyone. Regularly reviewing your new culture also prevents small kinks in the system from becoming bigger and more difficult to manage. It’s a good practice to keep your company nimble and responsive to issues.

3. Maintain conviction by recognizing improved behavior

Employees must be convinced that the new culture is beneficial on multiple levels—for themselves as individuals, their teams, and the organization overall. Recognizing new culture-induced behavior and linking them to positive business outcomes encourages employees to sustain the culture transformation. Make it clear that it’s out with the old and in with the new simply because it’s better that way for everyone.

4. Celebrate wins in the workplace

In relation to maintaining conviction for the new culture, it’s important to celebrate achievements, improved processes, and better organizational performance that arose from this new culture. Set up formal or informal rewards programs for employees who champion your new norms. Communicate big and small wins across organizational channels so everyone is reminded of how effective the culture transformation is.

5. Take regular, inclusive pulse checks

Regular pulse checks will reveal how well the new culture is being maintained and is benefitting the organization. Use feedback mechanisms such as employee surveys, 360-degree performance reviews, or customer focus groups. Continued measurement will allow management to assess if the organization is falling back to its old ways or if the new culture is meeting defined success metrics.

A Few More Reminders

Culture transformation is essentially a continuous journey rather than a finite destination. Ultimately, its success depends on everyone’s collective commitment to making things better while creating a winning environment that propels both individual growth and organizational excellence. Leadership also plays a pivotal role in maintaining an organization’s cultural integrity. Without active support from leaders, a culture may fragment and fall short of its intended impact.