Picture a modern office, its walls adorned with carefully crafted value statements and mission declarations. Yet beneath these polished surfaces lies a fundamental truth: organisational culture isn’t built through posters and policies alone. It thrives—or withers—in the shadow of leadership behaviour.
“Culture is not something that can be outsourced,” asserts Atul Mathur, EVP & head -learning and development, Aditya Birla Capital. He’s addressing a common misconception in corporate corridors—that cultural transformation can be delegated entirely to HR departments.
The reality is more nuanced. While human resources plays a critical role in enabling culture, the responsibility for defining and living it lies squarely with leadership. Leaders set the tone, articulate the vision, and ensure that cultural transformation is not just seen but felt throughout the organisation.
“Culture is not something that can be outsourced.”
Atul Mathur, EVP & head -learning and development, Aditya Birla Capital
Consider the daily rhythm of workplace decisions. When a manager consistently prioritises short-term gains over team wellbeing, or when a leader’s actions contradict the company’s stated values, no amount of HR initiatives can bridge that credibility gap. Culture lives in these moments of truth, not in policy documents. “Authenticity is important and coming across as that is important for employees,” enunciates Rajesh Rai, vice president & head-HR (APAC), GlobalLogic. HR alone cannot do this, as any culture framework cannot be practiced in a silo. It requires the collaboration of employees, HR, and leadership, all of whom act as custodians of the culture and define behaviors that build the desired organisational culture.
Pankaj Lochan, CHRO, Navin Fluorine, draws a crucial distinction between operational improvements and genuine cultural shifts. “HR excels at managing discrete improvements,” he explains. “But initiatives aimed at driving cultural shifts demand collective alignment and behavioural reinforcement from leaders across the organisation.”
“HR excels at managing discrete improvements. But initiatives aimed at driving cultural shifts demand collective alignment and behavioural reinforcement from leaders across the organisation.”
Pankaj Lochan, CHRO, Navin Fluorine
This dynamic plays out in countless scenarios. Take inclusive hiring policies—well-intentioned HR initiatives that crumble when leaders, pressed for time, bypass established processes. Or consider transparency initiatives that falter when leadership maintains opacity in decision-making. These disconnects don’t just undermine specific programmes; they erode trust in the entire cultural framework.
Leaders have a unique power to shape culture through their actions. They model the behaviours they expect to see, setting the standard for employees to emulate. If integrity is a professed value, for instance, leaders must demonstrate transparency in decision-making. This visible adherence to values sends a powerful signal to employees, far outweighing the impact of HR-led workshops or campaigns.
“Authenticity is important and coming across as that is important for employees. HR alone cannot do this, as any culture framework cannot be practiced in a silo.”
Rajesh Rai, vice president & head-HR (APAC), GlobalLogic
“Regular communication from leaders about the dos and don’ts of culture helps set expectations,” Mathur notes. “Awards and recognition can highlight desired values, but the real impact comes from leaders’ day-to-day actions aligning with the broader cultural fabric.”
The relationship between HR and leadership resembles that of a navigator and captain. HR can chart the course—designing training programmes, establishing recognition frameworks, creating feedback channels. But leadership must steer the ship, demonstrating through daily actions what the organisation truly values.
The consequences of misalignment are predictable yet profound. When leaders delegate culture-building entirely to HR, even the most sophisticated initiatives risk becoming hollow gestures. As Rai shares, “It is a recipe for disaster if HR alone is held responsible for culture building, without ownership from leadership stakeholders. The biggest challenge is that HR cannot build behaviors into the organization independently; rather, it needs enablement and assistance to ensure that behaviors are consistently role-modeled by leadership in all aspects of decision-making, communication, and ways of working.”
HR may design policies, create engagement surveys, or facilitate developmental programmes, but without leadership buy-in, these tools remain underutilised.
Misalignment between leadership actions and HR initiatives can be particularly damaging. Consider inclusive hiring policies. If leaders prioritise short-term goals over inclusion, they undermine both the initiative and its broader credibility. Conversely, when leaders previously resistant to change begin to embody new values, it can create a ripple effect, demonstrating the sincerity and value of the cultural shift.
Yet when the partnership works—when HR’s enablement meets leadership’s embodiment—the impact can be transformative. “HR plays a pivotal role as an enabler in driving cultural change, orchestrating the ‘how’ while leadership defines the ‘what,’“ says Lochan. This involves designing training programmes, fostering empowerment, and establishing systems to reinforce cultural priorities.
Leadership buy-in is essential in embedding cultural values into strategic priorities because it is the leadership (across all levels) that can embody and walk the talk on the behaviors associated with those strategic priorities, with frameworks co-developed with HR. This buy-in enables the closest connection between the defined behaviors and ways of working with the vision, mission, core values, and purpose of the company, without which the organisational ship cannot be steered in the desired direction.
HR can organise workshops on ethical decision-making or implement delegation frameworks to promote trust, but these tools only succeed when leadership embodies the desired values. Recognition programmes, for instance, can highlight exemplary behaviour, but without leaders consistently demonstrating and rewarding such actions, these efforts risk becoming hollow gestures.
This symbiosis between HR and leadership determines whether cultural aspirations remain mere wall decorations or become living, breathing realities. HR can provide the tools and monitor progress, but leadership must steer the ship. Only through this partnership can cultural aspirations transform into organisational norms.
As organisations navigate increasingly complex cultural landscapes, this truth becomes more crucial: culture isn’t HR’s job alone. It’s a leadership responsibility that demands active participation, consistent modelling, and unwavering commitment. Ultimately, the best HR strategy cannot compensate for leadership that fails to prioritise and model the culture it seeks to instil. Only when leaders and HR work in tandem can cultural initiatives become more than aspirational—they become reality. Without this synergy, culture remains an empty promise: a missed opportunity to foster an environment where employees and organisations thrive.