DHRM webinar: Leaders urged to align culture with strategy; five guiding questions offered to change workplace norms

Dan Chase, director of leadership and organizational development for the Utah Department of Human Resource Management, told attendees at an August “Off the Shelf” webinar that organizational culture is largely implicit but shapes how people behave and how well agencies meet their strategy and goals.

"Culture trumps strategy every time," Chase said, summarizing a central point of the presentation: visible artifacts such as office decor or rituals are only surface-level indicators, while deeper "underlying assumptions" drive day-to-day decisions and trust.

Chase used an iceberg metaphor to distinguish artifacts (what people see), espoused values (what organizations claim), and underlying assumptions (what actually motivates behavior). He warned that a gap between espoused and enacted values — as with the Enron example he cited — creates cynicism and can make even well-intentioned perks feel hollow. "You can throw all the pizza parties... but your underlying assumptions will always overpower those small gestures," he said.

Why it matters: Chase reviewed research linking cultures of trust to measurable workplace outcomes, citing summary figures from organizational studies discussed in the webinar: markedly lower stress and burnout and higher productivity, energy and engagement when employees report trust in their workplace. He said those gains are not automatic; leaders must use primary embedding mechanisms — what they pay attention to, measure and reward — to shift culture.

Practical examples and tactics: Chase highlighted concrete leader actions. He praised John Baron, identified in the session as a director of HR, for an initiative to make gratitude visible in his unit, saying Baron is "actually walking the talk and expressing gratitude." Chase outlined eight tactics to build trust, including granting autonomy, facilitating whole-person growth, intentionally building relationships, increasing transparency, recognizing excellence, modeling vulnerability, inducing appropriate challenge ("eustress"), and enabling job crafting.

Guiding questions for change: Chase offered five questions leaders should answer before trying to change culture: Why change? What specific behaviors should shift? Does the desired culture align with purpose and strategy? Which existing cultural strengths should be honored? Are formal and informal mechanisms integrated? He emphasized measurement and monitoring as essential to know whether a culture is truly changing.

Diagnosing problems: The webinar listed signs of unhealthy or toxic cultures — pressure to "cover" (suppressing identity at work), cynicism, hypercompetitiveness, high turnover, silos, inadequate training, gossip and resistance to change — and contrasted those with "voice cultures" where employees feel safe to speak up. Chase described common employee responses when culture is poor (exit, neglect, or compliance) and urged leaders to foster voice rather than mere loyalty.

Next steps and resources: Chase told attendees they would receive slides and a recording and pointed to related webinars, including a Sept. 25 session by JJ Acker about asking effective questions. He closed by offering to stay briefly for questions.

What the webinar did not do: The session was educational and diagnostic; it recorded examples, research summaries and leader practices but did not adopt new policies, take formal actions, or vote on measures.

A note on sources: Chase cited organizational scholars and publications during the talk (Edgar Schein, Paul Zak, Cameron and Quinn, Annie McKee, Tim Clark; Harvard Business Review was referenced for research summaries).