What makes a company culture stick? It's simple enough to create a set of values, hang them on a wall, or tout them on a careers page. But how do you turn those ideals into lived experiences—something employees feel in their day-to-day interactions, not just during onboarding?

That was the focus of a panel at From Day One’s Dallas conference, where experts explored how to turn company values into everyday practices. The discussion, titled “Culture That’s Real: Translating Company Values Into Everyday Reality,” was moderated by Will Maddox, senior editor at D CEO Magazine.

When Jim D’Amico became VP of talent acquisition at Caliber Collision, the largest collision repair operator in the country with over 30,000 employees, he knew culture couldn’t be an afterthought. But he soon learned culture doesn’t change just because leadership says it should.

“I thought I could set it and forget it,” D’Amico said. “I empowered my team to make decisions, even make mistakes, but didn’t account for the historic culture of the company. Changing culture takes effort. It’s not a quick turn, it’s a lot of work to right the ship.”

Real alignment begins with what D’Amico calls a company’s “true north”—a clear mission and vision that resonates at every level. “Is it something the CEO just said on a whim, or is it something we can all align with and feel?” he asked. “Once everyone believes in that mission, it’s simply saying, ‘Great, follow me.’”

Culture, he says, must be lived and felt. “People don’t want to be told. They want to be sold. And they want to see it in action.” When employees buy into company values, it shows in every customer interaction. When they don’t, leaders must act with intention.

Embed Values into Daily Systems

Culture must be part of day-to-day systems, says Prisca Anuolam, VP of HR at Entegris. Early in her career, she saw how mergers often focused on structure, systems, and reporting lines, while sidelining culture. “We quickly learned you can’t just look at typical HR metrics,” she said. “We had to flip it—to put culture at the forefront.”

That shift began with cultural assessments to understand how both acquiring and acquired companies worked. The goal wasn’t to enforce uniformity, but to help teams recognize differences and collaborate more effectively.

When interviewing for her current role, Anuolam used culture as her litmus test. She researched Entegris’ values and paid close attention during interviews. “I gave myself 60 days to see how people are leading,” she said. “It’s coming from the top and the bottom.”

Now, she works to bake culture into systems like talent management and organizational design. “If it’s not part of the employee experience, it might as well be a poster on the wall,” she said.

She encourages managers to apply values in practical ways. When a new leader asked if he could use the company’s leadership profile in Excel to assess his team, she said yes—and co-created a tool he could use, which later became a potential best practice. “People should be empowered to translate values into their day-to-day.”

Empathy Is Key to Change

Rebecca Degner, AVP of HR at Genpact, says that culture change is about learning, not fixing failure. “I don’t think we’ve had failure,” she said. “There’s always just learning lessons.”

At a company focused on outsourcing and acquisitions, integrating diverse cultures is a constant challenge. Each team, generation, and leader brings different expectations and requires a unique approach. That complexity grew with Genpact’s recent CEO transition. After more than a decade under the previous leader, the new CEO needed to reintroduce vision and goals.

“Culture is a lifelong change,” Degner said. “As we evolve, as humans and as technology changes, we have to keep changing.” For HR, the first step is aligning internal communication with that evolving vision.

Not everyone will be on board with every change, she says. “We just have to make sure they’re on board overall.”

Communication is critical, especially in a digital-first, hybrid world. “We have to communicate multiple times, multiple ways,” she said. With more than 150,000 employees globally, Genpact uses everything from bulletin boards to town halls with donuts and coffee to reach workers without email access. 

Empower Leaders as Culture Communicators

One of Cyntosha Ervin-Drewry’s biggest lessons came from a failed acquisition. At a previous company with 52,000 employees, she was involved in acquiring a 100-person startup. While the larger company saw it as an exciting opportunity, the startup didn’t share that perspective.

“We thought, how exciting for them to join our big company. They saw it very differently,” she said. The result was years of turnover and disengagement. “The lesson: think about culture during due diligence.”

Now VP of HR at Flowserve, Ervin-Drewry works to shape culture proactively. As the company evolves into a higher-performance environment, it’s trying not to lose what makes it special—like kindness and helpfulness.

But that niceness can sometimes hinder growth, especially around feedback. She’s helping employees reframe feedback as a form of care. “That constructive feedback is nice too—you’re helping people get better. You’re making our team stronger.”

To drive culture, her team equips leaders with tools and messaging. “We do posters, emails, town halls,” she said. “But what’s most impactful is focusing energy on leaders cascading the message.”

Leaders can translate corporate goals into context that makes sense, whether for a CFO or a shop-floor technician. “They become an army of communicators,” she said, “and the value is they can shape the message for their teams.”

Authenticity and Inclusivity Matter

Authenticity is essential and should not be forced, says Hari Date, senior solutions consultant at Workhuman and professor of HR and business management. Recognition that is immediate and specific to what someone did has far more impact than generic praise.

Inclusivity is also key. Recognition should include peer-to-peer moments—not just manager-to-employee. “Make sure everyone has a voice,” Date said. “Let peers recognize peers: ‘I saw you. You amazed me. You did great work.’” This reduces bias and builds belonging.

Feeling seen and valued resonates across generations. Date teaches both traditional and returning students and sees the same priorities: “Will I be respected? Will I be valued? Will I be heard? Leaders who foster environments where people can bring their whole selves to work are better equipped to attract and retain talent.

Ultimately, authenticity and inclusivity are cultural commitments. “Get it off the walls, get it out of the handbooks, bring it front and center in their lives,” Date said. That means making space for every voice and modeling the values your organization stands for.

Ultimately, culture can’t be built in a day or by HR alone. It takes time, empathy, and leaders who live the values they promote. As the panelists made clear, culture transformation happens in small moments—in check-ins, coaching conversations, and how people feel when they walk through the door.

Carrie Snider is a Phoenix-based journalist and marketing copywriter.

(Photos by Steve Bither for From Day One)