A significant disconnect is emerging between how corporate leaders and junior staff experience workplace culture, according to DHR Global’s latest research. The firm’s second annual Workforce Trends Report, which surveyed 1,500 corporate professionals across North America, Europe, and Asia, uncovered a troubling pattern: while executives champion culture as a strategic priority, entry-level employees remain largely disconnected from that vision.
The data reveals a stark perception gap. While 77% of C-suite leaders described workplace culture as “very important,” only 37% of entry-level employees agreed. Executives were 2.5 times more likely than their junior colleagues to view their organization’s culture as well defined.
This misalignment suggests that cultural initiatives designed in boardrooms may not be translating into meaningful experiences on the ground, with consequences that can affect employee engagement and retention.
Recognition and Autonomy Trump Traditional Perks
When asked what matters most, the survey showed employees have a nuanced view of their cultural priorities. Nearly all respondents acknowledged that workplace culture affects their employee experience, with 53% calling it “very important” and 40% saying it was “somewhat important.”
However, enthusiasm stops there. Only 36% believed their company culture was well defined enough to drive performance. The disconnect becomes clearer when examining how employees describe their current cultural reality. Nearly half of respondents (46%) characterized their organizational culture as reactive and inconsistent across teams, while another 15% found it vague and not actively shaped by leadership.
These descriptions suggest that many organizations are allowing culture to develop by default rather than by design.
A top-down push for culture is not enough either. The report stated, “Leaders may set the vision, but culture only thrives when employees buy in and actively participate.”
The report also noted that what employees want represents a notable shift from pre-pandemic priorities. Topping the list of desired improvements were greater flexibility or autonomy in how work gets done (34%) and recognition and reward systems that genuinely reflect company mission and values (also 34%). Office perks and social events, once considered cultural cornerstones, have fallen down the priority list as distributed work models become the norm.
“Now, employees in more distributed work environments value meaningful recognition and autonomy over office perks or social events,” the report stated.
However, it’s not a hopeless situation for management. Nearly one-third of respondents (31%) identified “a stronger, more purposeful workplace culture” among their top three desired improvements from employers over the next year, highlighting that they want to engage with the company and its culture.
The data also showed that rewards are another important way of keeping employees engaged, with the share of employees citing lack of reward or recognition as a top burnout driver nearly doubling from 17% to 32% between 2025 and 2026.
How Staff Engagement Professionals Should Respond
For employee engagement professionals, this data should serve as both a warning and a roadmap. The widening perception gap between leadership and staff suggests that traditional top-down cultural initiatives are failing to reach those who need them most.
Engagement platforms can help bridge this divide by tracking early warning signals before they escalate into larger cultural problems. These platforms allow organizations to monitor sentiment patterns, recognition frequency, and cultural alignment across different levels and teams. By capturing regular pulse data, they can identify when entry-level staff feel disconnected from cultural values or when certain departments experience the reactive, inconsistent culture that 46% of respondents described. This real-time visibility enables HR teams to intervene proactively rather than reactively.
Workvivo, for example, directly addresses the recognition gap highlighted in the research. The platform enables peer-to-peer recognition that can help mitigate the burnout risk identified in the report. By making recognition visible across the organization and tying it to specific cultural values, Workvivo ensures that recognition becomes an integral part of the employee experience rather than an occasional gesture from leadership.
Beyond recognition, engagement platforms can facilitate the autonomy employees crave by creating transparent communication channels where staff at all levels can contribute ideas, share feedback, and see how their input shapes decisions. This transforms culture from something broadcast from the top into something co-created across the organization, addressing the core issue identified in the DHR report: culture requires active employee participation, not just leadership vision.
Building Culture That Scales Beyond the Executive Suite
The DHR Global research makes one thing clear: the old playbook for workplace culture no longer works. As DHR CEO Priya Taneja noted, “Culture is a powerful driver of engagement and adaptability,” but only when it extends beyond executive intention to become a lived reality for employees at every level.
These aren’t minor grievances surfaced in the study; many are fundamental disconnects that affect retention, productivity, and ultimately organizational resilience.
As the study recommends, organizations that prioritize flexibility, invest in development, and lead with authenticity are positioning themselves to weather complexity and build true resilience, according to Taneja.
However, the research suggests that these efforts must be operationalized through systems and platforms that ensure cultural values reach every employee, not just those closest to leadership.
