Ontario Municipal Human Resources Association

Workplace culture has always mattered. Today, however, it has become one of the primary drivers of an organization’s ability to attract, engage, and retain talent. Employees are no longer evaluating employers based solely on compensation or job security. Increasingly, they want to work for organizations whose values align with their own, where they find purpose in their work, and where they feel respected, supported, and heard.

Yet many organizations struggle to strengthen culture because they approach it reactively. By the time employee engagement declines, cultural issues may have already taken root, making them significantly more difficult to address.

The most effective organizations intentionally cultivate their workplace culture by investing in their leaders, regularly measuring employee experience, and acting on what they learn.

Employee Experience Starts with Leadership

Culture is ultimately experienced through day-to-day interactions with leaders. Every interaction with a manager—from everyday conversations and performance discussions to recognizing good work and responding to workplace concerns—shapes how employees perceive their organization. As a result, leaders play one of the most significant roles in shaping employee experience.

Today’s managers are often expected to wear many hats. They must balance operational demands with evolving employee expectations around flexibility, psychological safety, and transparent communication. Yet many were promoted because they excelled as individual contributors, not because they were equipped to lead people in today’s increasingly complex workplace.

Even capable leaders can struggle when they lack appropriate training, clear expectations, or sufficient time to effectively lead their teams. The result may be inconsistent decision-making, declining trust, and greater legal risk.

For HR, this means that improving employee experience begins with investing in leadership capability.

A Practical Framework for Strengthening Culture

There are various strategies organizations can use to strengthen workplace culture. These strategies exist along a continuum, from proactive measures aimed at strengthening culture and identifying issues early to more reactive measures designed to diagnose broader workplace concerns once they arise.

1. Equip Leaders First

The most proactive strategy an organization can take is developing its people leaders. This includes providing practical training on communication, performance management, conflict resolution, psychological safety, and legal obligations, while also ensuring leaders have the capacity (not just the capability) to lead effectively. Organizations should also recognize that technical excellence does not necessarily translate into leadership effectiveness. Promoting high performers into management without assessing leadership aptitude can unintentionally create significant cultural issues.

2. Conduct Stay Interviews

Stay interviews provide an opportunity to understand what keeps employees engaged before they begin looking elsewhere. These conversations can uncover barriers to engagement, identify emerging concerns, and provide insight into what employees value most about their workplace. When conducted consistently across the organization, they allow employers to address issues while employees are still invested in staying.

3. Use Pulse Surveys to Monitor Trends

Short, targeted pulse surveys help organizations regularly measure employee sentiment and identify patterns over time. Unlike annual engagement surveys, pulse surveys provide more timely feedback on issues such as trust in leadership, workload, communication, psychological safety, and overall employee experience. Just as importantly, organizations should communicate what they learned and what actions they intend to take. Collecting feedback without visible follow-through can undermine trust rather than strengthen it.

4. Learn from Exit Interviews

Exit interviews remain valuable, but they are inherently retrospective. While they can reveal recurring themes and opportunities for improvement, they generally capture insights after the organization has already lost the employee. They should therefore complement, rather than replace, more proactive strategies aimed at retaining talent.

5. Conduct Culture Reviews When Broader Issues Are Suspected

Where multiple complaints, recurring concerns, or other warning signs suggest broader cultural issues, a comprehensive culture review may be appropriate. Unlike an investigation focused on a particular incident, a culture review examines broader organizational dynamics, leadership practices, communication patterns, and employee perceptions across a team or workplace.

Culture reviews can provide invaluable insight, but they are also significant organizational undertakings. They require substantial time, resources, and employee participation. For that reason, they are generally best reserved for situations where there are indicators of systemic issues, rather than as a starting point.

Culture Requires Continuous Attention

Strong workplace cultures rarely emerge by chance. They require continuous attention, deliberate leadership, and a sustained commitment to listening and learning from employees. Organizations that make culture an ongoing priority are better positioned to build trust, retain talent, and create workplaces where employees can thrive.

Written by: Laura Williams, Partner, and Faraz Kourangi, Senior Associate, Williams HR Law LLP