A study by talent consulting services provider Korn Ferry revealed that while 100% of executives from more than 500 global businesses believe company culture is important or extremely important to organizational performance, only 32% believe that the organization’s company culture and business strategy are in alignment.

The problem isn’t recognizing the importance of developing a company culture that supports the business strategy, fosters innovation, protects intellectual property, and drives profitable results. The problems come with the next steps.

According to the study, 76% of executives claim that their organizations’ leaders have identified and communicated an organizational culture, but only 35% say that the majority of their employees are able to articulate the organization’s culture to a great extent. Futhermore, only 22% of executives believe that employee behavior generally aligns with what leaders say is the culture.

Compare those statistics to the number or executives who believe their companies use culture as a key lever for driving organizational transformation—63%, and the gap between company culture and business strategy becomes abundantly clear. [Read more…]