Culture: High stakes or full of fakes?

It was the kind of early morning where a fog lingers in the dewy backdrop of a hopeful sunrise. Where you drive in to work and feel as though you may be the last person alive on the planet as everyone else in the universe peacefully sleeps.

I stepped into the lobby of my longtime employer, where our recruiting team was preparing to welcome nearly 100 new employees. For us in recruitment, these days arrived like clockwork every month, and we lived for them. They were the culmination of months of conversations and relationship-building, the long-awaited wedding day after an engagement that stretched on too long.

Outside, the fog was heavy and gray, but inside the air carried a light citrus note— carefully chosen, cautiously optimistic. A deliberate brand activation for the senses: clever, effective. Like how you might expect a company with a yellow logo to smell like lemons, determined to radiate sunshiny positivity.

The walls throughout the building were painted in the exact shades of the brand palette, carefully chosen to complement the mission and values etched in bold Helvetica along every corridor. Everything was in place, and we recruiters—the wedding planners—were ready. Not a corner of the building lacked the buzz of excitement for the journey ahead.

Even on days that weren’t our monthly “wedding day,” the culture was palpable. Sometimes it hummed quietly in the background, woven into everyday interactions. Other times you could practically reach out and touch it. And yes— there were moments I thought, this is ridiculous. Was I in a cult? Did we really need conference rooms named after brand phrases?

Once, I watched our CEO wave a $100 bill, offering it to the first recruiter who could recite the mission statement from memory. As a young and eager recruiter, I was more terrified of forgetting a word than I was tempted by the cash. Only in hindsight did I appreciate the brilliance of the tactic. It wasn’t about the $100. It was about making sure we embodied the mission so fully that it lived in our heads and rolled off our tongues without effort.

We were walking, talking brand ambassadors before “brand ambassador” was cool. And it worked. Every candidate felt deeply connected to the mission from the very first interaction. By the time they walked through the doors on day one, the goal was simple: to make them feel like a child entering Magic Kingdom for the first time, already knowing every word to every princess song by heart.

A lot of time has passed since those days, and I’ve moved on with a deeper appreciation for the power of culture. I’ve met with and interviewed countless companies—C-level executives, directors, VPs, and individual contributors. Large corporations. Mid-sized firms on the cusp of scaling. Startups brimming with chaotic hope. Private equity-backed entities and consulting shops.

No matter the size or stage, they all talk about culture as if they’ve been reading from the same handbook reciting footnotes in lockstep. Integrity. Collaboration. Transparency. Ect. Some add catchy taglines. Others obsess over mission statements and brand palettes. Many spin a compelling story anchored by a few influencing ambassadors. And yet, for all the familiar tunes, most of it feels more rehearsed than lived.

For all that polish, the truth can be brittle. The same company that staged citrus-scented lobby weddings for new hires turned ruthless the moment someone left. No goodbye, no handshake—just a cold shove into the parking lot, even when resignation was voluntary, respectful and with notice. For me, it was a shock to my system then, and it still lingers, like scar tissue that aches when someone brags about their “people-first culture.” The people who stayed saw it too. Watching departures handled with cruelty, questioning if the culture they’d stewarded had ever been real at all.

So when the treatment doesn’t match the story- when people feel dismissed, excluded, or discarded- it severs the very connection culture is supposed to create. And disconnection, for many reasons, isn’t just a hunch. The data tells the same story over the years. HR.com found back in 2015 that 61% of employees don’t even know their company’s mission statement, and 57% aren’t motivated by it. Newer studies suggest disengagement is even worse today, with only about half of employees saying they feel thriving at work (Gallup 2025). And according to ADP Research Institute (2025), trust is the single most critical driver of commitment: employees who trust their leaders are 41x more likely to feel engaged and motivated (HR Executive, 2025).

Companies keep tossing out buzzwords like confetti, but the substance rarely matches. It’s a merry-go-round where new hires jump on while others slip off—or are pushed off—just as quickly. Leaders keep pouring money into the illusion, like building a theme park full of castles and glitter but disappoint the moment you realize the lemonade stand is serving watered-down juice in a styrofoam cup.

They could repair the sham far more quickly, and cost effectively, if they simply paid attention to what happens to their brand after the door shuts.

Cultures as a Safety Harness

Starting a new job is always hard. Even terrifying. Remote work adds another layer of distance. In those moments, culture is the fast pass, the seatbelt, the safety harness that makes the ride survivable. Without it, every bump feels like free fall.

So how do you actually breathe life into something so powerful, yet elusive, as “culture”? Start with data:

1. New-hire retention (90–180 days). Do people stay through the awkward beginning?

2. Referrals. How many new hires came from this source? People recommend places they believe in, not just places that pay bonuses.

3. Engagement, pulse, and exit surveys. The NPS that matters most: would someone recommend you on their way out the door?

4. 30/60/90-day new-hire surveys. First impressions are sticky. Do new hires see values in action, or just on posters?

5. Candidate experience. According to Talent Board, two-thirds of candidates share negative experiences publicly. Two-thirds! That’s not a recruiting problem—it’s a cultural one.

Culture isn’t wallpaper or scent. It’s in the small things: phrases everyone uses, behaviors rewarded, consistency from leadership, how feedback is handled, and how people are treated beyond the honeymoon stage when life gets messy.

Entrance, Exits, & Everything in Between

Here’s the real test: do you treat your departing employees with the same respect you show new ones? Many companies don’t. They roll out the red carpet for orientation, only to yank it back at the exit. That hypocrisy isn’t lost on anyone, especially not the people still sitting at their desks.

A very experienced HR leader once told me: “Remember your boomerang employee. They’re like Hotel California—‘you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave.’” At the time, I assumed he just liked the Eagles. I understand it differently now: if you treat people poorly on the way out, they will carry that experience forever, and often back into your workforce when they return.

I’ve seen both sides. Companies with chaotic onboarding but graceful, dignified exits left me oddly appreciative. Others, who staged elaborate welcomes but treated departures with cruelty, left me disillusioned. Time’s New Rules of Quitting (2022) put it bluntly: how you treat someone on the way out is what they’ll remember most (Time.com).

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Recap: Culture in Practice

I used to think culture lived at the extremes: either cult-like or nonexistent. Just words on walls HR people used to throw around to look smart. Maybe it’s always a bit of both. But overlook its importance, and you’re riding a rollercoaster in the dark without a seatbelt.

So how do you keep people strapped in for the ride?

1. Measure it. Look at early retention, referrals, candidate and employee surveys. The data tells you where the cracks are.

2. Define it. Move beyond buzzwords. Translate values into behaviors that can be seen, measured, and rewarded.

3. Live it. Treat new hires, tenured employees, and departing employees with the same dignity. Every moment is culture in action.

4. Repeat it. Culture isn’t a campaign. It’s daily, relentless reinforcement from leadership and peers alike.

Culture isn’t lemon-scented lobbies or glossy mission statements. It’s what shows up when people are hired, when they’re tested, and especially when they leave. Data can measure parts of it, but trust, consistency, and dignity define it. Companies that invest only in the “wedding day” moments while neglecting exits or daily reality will always be exposed.

At the end of the day, culture is the thread that ties the human experience together at work. It’s people who give business its purpose and its profit. And when people feel truly connected, they’ll strap in and ride with you through the slow, suspenseful climbs and the wildest stomach-dropping descents.