Why Company Culture Deserves a Strategy

TL;DR 
Culture isn’t soft stuff… it’s strategy. Engaged employees create engaged customers, and leaders set the tone. Build culture with intention, weave it into your strategic plan, and it becomes your most sustainable competitive advantage.

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“Your leaders are the megaphone for the company’s culture. In a world of soundbites and tweets, our leaders have a moral obligation in what they say and how they behave.” – Michael Fraccaro, Chief People Officer MasterCard

Why Culture Is the Real Competitive Advantage

Most companies list customer service as their main competitive advantage and set annual goals to improve it. Yet, not all succeed. Why? Hint: It all comes down to company cultures, and today we’re going to tell you why.

The priorities and behaviors modeled at the top inevitably shape what  customers experience at the front line. A company obsessed only with quarterly results will project that short-term focus to clients. Conversely, a culture rooted in trust, care, and accountability produces employees who naturally extend the same values outward.

The reason an organization delivers good or bad customer service comes down to one thing: what is happening on the inside of that organization is what companies feel on the outside.

To sum it up in two words: Company Culture.

Engaged Employees = Engaged Customers

It’s impossible to have deeply engaged customers without deeply engaged employees.

A strong culture goes beyond hiring talented people—it’s about:

• Attracting those with the right attitude and growth mindset

• Providing meaningful training and development

• Creating an environment where employees feel valued and supported

In order for a company to put its best foot forward, it must set an example of customer service behaviour from the top. Implementing a positive and fun company culture will instill loyalty, drive, and ambition in all employees and ensure that they work hard for the company that they ‘love’ to work for – they will want to see it succeed.

Company leaders must treat their employees how they want their customers to be treated – setting an example at the top so that the only attitude trickling down is a positive one.

Culture in Action

Think about companies like WestJet, Google, or Apple. Each has built a reputation not only for their products or services but for the energy and experience created by their people. That enthusiasm and commitment comes from culture first, not customer scripts.

If employees love where they work and feel a sense of purpose, customers notice. And in today’s competitive market, that emotional connection can be the difference between retention and churn.

Building Culture with Intention

As leaders, we know strong cultures don’t happen by accident. Leaders at all levels build them through clarity, consistency, and alignment with strategy. To build culture strategically, organizations should:

• Define Cultural Values Clearly: Move beyond posters and slogans. Involve employees in shaping the values and behaviours that matter most, and make them visible in everyday decisions.

• Align Culture with Strategy: Ask, “What kind of culture will help us achieve our business goals?” A growth-focused strategy might require a culture of innovation and adaptability, while a service-focused strategy may prioritize empathy and collaboration.

• Embed Culture into Systems: Recruitment, performance reviews, recognition, and succession planning should reinforce cultural expectations, not just financial targets.

• Measure What Matters: Engagement surveys, customer feedback, and cultural assessments can track whether your intended culture matches the lived experience of employees and customers.

• Model at the Top: Leaders must consistently demonstrate the values they expect from others as culture erodes quickly if there’s a gap between words and actions.

Where Strategic Planning Fits

Strategic planning isn’t just about numbers and goals, it’s the perfect opportunity to align culture with your long-term vision. When leaders engage their teams in planning, it:

• Creates ownership of both goals and cultural values

• Brings clarity to how behaviours connect to business outcomes

• Builds alignment across departments, preventing silos from eroding culture

• Signals to employees that culture is not “soft stuff” but central to success

• Strengthens communication as clarity reduces confusion and builds buy-in

By intentionally weaving culture into the strategic planning process, organizations set themselves up for more than just hitting revenue targets. It provides an opportunity to create a thriving environment where both people and profits grow.

Ready to Align Culture and Strategy?

If your next strategic plan isn’t addressing culture, you may be leaving your greatest competitive advantage untapped. At X5 Management, we help leaders integrate culture into the planning process, so it’s not just about hitting targets, but about creating an environment where people and performance thrive together. Connect with us to explore how facilitation and strategic planning can strengthen both your culture and your bottom line.