The modern workforce has evolved more rapidly than most cultures can keep up with. Hybrid models, AI-powered workflows, and shifting employee expectations have created a landscape where purpose and productivity must coexist. As a result, CHROs will be even more integral in 2026 to delivering a culture that fosters a productive, engaged, and skilled workforce. 

Yet too often, “culture” remains a buzzword rather than a measurable asset. In fact, a July 2025 Gartner survey of 222 CHROs found that less than half (47%) believe their organization’s culture drives employee performance today. When culture fails to connect employees to business outcomes, organizations experience the fallout — lower retention, inconsistent performance, and diminished innovation.

As Gartner’s latest report highlights, culture has evolved from a shared belief system to a measurable driver of performance.

Enable your corporate culture 

For years, organizations and CHROs have focused on employee engagement, ensuring employees are satisfied, connected, and loyal. But in 2026, engagement alone won’t be enough. The next frontier is enablement: giving employees the clarity, tools, and confidence to perform at their best.

That means:

• Translating values into daily behaviors and decisions
• Empowering managers as culture carriers
• Using technology to identify and remove performance barriers
• Aligning talent brand promises with the lived employee experience
  

When culture becomes actionable, it turns into an engine for performance.

Support your culture from the inside out

Sustaining a strong culture requires more than defining it. It means nurturing it every day for the people who live it. Supporting your culture begins with listening to employees, understanding what drives their connection to your mission, and addressing any factors that may erode it. 

Recognition programs, internal mobility opportunities, and transparent communication all reinforce that employees are valued, trusted, and seen. All of these things help to build an authentic employer brand where employees feel valued and supported in its unique culture.

Lead with authenticity in talent attraction

To build an authentic employer brand, organizations must ensure that what they promise externally matches what employees experience internally. That alignment doesn’t happen by chance — it starts with listening and understanding. By connecting analytics across talent marketing, engagement, and performance systems, leaders can gain insight into how their culture is truly perceived and identify gaps between the brand promise and reality.

As HR Executive reports, skills and culture are both essential for a future-ready workforce, but it’s culture that gives those skills purpose. Employer brand technology helps measure and strengthen this connection by tracking employee sentiment, content engagement, and alignment with brand values. These insights enable CHROs to refine their employer brand so it genuinely reflects the organization’s mission and the everyday employee experience.

When combined with authentic storytelling — through career sites, recruitment campaigns, and brand touchpoints — the employer brand becomes more than a message; it becomes a living reflection of culture. The result is a brand that employees believe in, candidates are drawn to, and leaders can sustain with confidence.

Treat culture as an investment

When culture and brand align authentically, the next step is ensuring that alignment translates into measurable business impact. Culture can’t be left to chance — it requires the same level of strategy and stewardship as any other part of the talent ecosystem. Treating culture as an investment means putting intentional effort into the systems, behaviors, and feedback loops that shape how people experience work every day. Data from engagement, performance, and sentiment tools can help leaders see where culture is thriving and where it’s holding the organization back.

The payoff is clear: when employees feel connected to the mission and supported by their environment, they stay longer, perform better, and advocate more strongly for the organization. In 2026, the organizations that thrive won’t just have a defined culture — they’ll have one that’s actively measured, maintained, and strengthened over time.

Discover more 

To learn more, check out these resources: 

• Explore how corporate culture impacts the talent experience in The Talent Acquisition Journey Through the Eyes of the Candidate.
• Learn how leading organizations bring culture to life through brand values, data, and creativity in the webinar, First Click to Final Offer: Candidate Journeys that Convert.