Theme #2 Culture change interventions

The role of HR in cultural change and interventions

Culture is not HR’s party! And yet – it absolutely is! While it is vital that the executive team and management take ownership of culture change, HR plays an equally important role. It is a shared responsibility in which HR’s talents add significant value. Don’t let that opportunity slip away, step up and own your role as an HR professional!

Carmen van den Blink, november 2025

Culture change is inseparable from achieving strategic goals. The desired future requires a specific way of working, with corresponding behaviours and standards of interaction. It is essential that management recognises the value of culture (and culture change) and doesn’t focus solely on the more ‘tangible’ goals and results. HR’s role here is to support and facilitate this process at different levels and in different ways.

As a true strategic partner, HR can help translate organisational goals into the culture needed to achieve them. This goes beyond defining the organisation’s core or cultural values. It involves clearly articulating the new behaviours and ways of working that align with the desired future, so every employee understands what is expected of them.

“You must be able to demonstrate it and others must be able to imitate it”
Ben Tiggelaar, business expert and author

The visible uppercurrent

HR also has an important role in the journey towards that desired culture. The culture acts as input for HR policy and the development of HR instruments. For example, if we aim for a culture defined by ownership, responsibility and self-reliance, employees will need to take charge of their own sustainable employability and lifelong learning. HR policy, role distribution and processes must therefore be aligned with that and will look very different if the cultural starting point were another.

HR can help embed cultural change by supporting both the visible (the ‘uppercurrent’) and, more importantly, the invisible (the ‘undercurrent’) aspects of change. If you’d like to learn more about this topic, I recommend this (Dutch) book Systematisch Transitiemanagement by Thiecke and Van Leeuwen (2019), which I have drawn upon. The uppercurrent refers to tangible, visible elements such as organisational structures, systems and work instructions. Examples include:

  • Embedding desired cultural aspects into the performance cycle, onboarding (new hire introduction) and exit interviews.
  • Offering targeted training programmes.

Role HR in the undercurrent

However, HR plays an even more crucial role in addressing the undercurrent. This involves the intangible side of culture: relationships, emotions, behaviours and hidden norms. What behaviours are currently visible that we no longer want to see? What behaviours remain invisible but are quietly at play ‘below the surface’? What behaviours do we want to see, and how can we move towards them?

Support for the uppercurrent tends to be more widely accepted than for the undercurrent. Often, managers will create a vision, translate it into organisational goals, adjust the structure, redesign work processes and move people into new roles. The uppercurrent is well managed. Yet, employees still do not behave in ways that bring the change to life.

For change to succeed, people must also undergo a transition in the undercurrent. This aspect is often unacknowledged by management and dismissed as noise or trouble. HR can make the difference here, playing a key role in initiating and guiding targeted interventions. Take, for example, a situation where resistance arises. Resistance is entirely normal during change. By giving it attention and time, clarity, insight and connection can emerge. Initially, that resistance may not feel wise or constructive, but HR must explore its source. Go towards the resistance. Make time for conversation. Allow space for uncertainty, show empathy, and listen deeply to what is being said.

Resistance often stems from fear, such as fear of losing quality in service delivery. Through open dialogue, management and employees may find they share the same concern. This shared ‘wisdom’ can help refine goals or processes, without compromising the overall direction.

Supporting difficult conversations

HR can also facilitate and support ‘difficult’ conversations and add value by recognising behavioural patterns and bringing them to light. This requires a strong HR team, one that is connected to the organisation and attuned to what’s really going on. This includes what remains unsaid or unseen.

Recognising patterns is not automatic. The process of identifying, analysing and making them visible deserves explicit attention. And remember as HR, you are also part of the culture. That can be challenging, particularly when the existing culture is no longer fit for purpose.

So, take a step back now and then. Imagine sitting in a cinema seat, watching the organisation as a film in which you yourself play a part. Observe what happens. Which ingrained patterns emerge? Which of these no longer contribute to the desired behaviour and ambitions – and which must we let go of? And have the courage to bring in external expertise where needed, such as an external (team) coach.

HR requires courage

Courage is an essential quality for HR when driving culture change and the related interventions. Even when management doesn’t explicitly create space for it, HR must make that space. Have the courage to expose patterns, to give resistance a voice, and to bring employees and management together in challenging situations. Don’t look away, hold up the mirror when leaders fail to model the desired behaviour. And of course, in your ambassadorial role, you must lead by example yourself.

Do not allow managers (or others) to push you into the role of the owner of the organisation’s culture. Show courage by constructively pushing back, reminding others of their own responsibility and helping them take it. Coach and guide management in fulfilling their role and take ownership of your own.

“Teach them to slow down in order to speed up”
Team coach, Muoviti

Dare to challenge management to make choices that may not seem optimal in isolation, but that serve the desired cultural shift and are, therefore, more effective for the organisation in the long term (for example, in recruitment decisions aimed at changing entrenched power dynamics).

Work creatively with managers to help them embed the desired culture into departmental plans and team meetings. Show them how to hold meaningful conversations – both one-on-one and with groups – using the right HR tools and frameworks. “Teach them to slow down in order to speed up” (a quote from a team coach in my network, Muoviti). Provide a range of interventions tailored to the specific team, individual or manager in question.

Work on culture together, even when no formal culture change project is under way. Culture is not temporary. It is not a project with a start and end date, nor a checklist to be ticked off. It requires ongoing, conscious attention. Make time for reflection, evaluate regularly and continue to develop together.

We build the new culture together!