HR leaders should focus on identifying and empowering these influential employees to foster a connected, values-driven workplace.
By Lauren Jackman
HR departments know how important employee morale and living the company’s mission can be. In most companies, there are some employees who consistently embody the organization’s values and guide other team members to do the same. Known as “culture carriers,” these individuals do more than their jobs—they bring life to an organization, shaping the work environment and inspiring others to believe in the company’s core values. However, culture carriers don’t just echo the organization’s values; they truly live them, influencing those around them in meaningful ways.
Why Culture Carriers Matter So Much
Culture carriers have a profound impact at work, not just in supporting the company’s mission but also by enhancing employee experience. As such, organizations that recognize the value of culture carriers are positioned for greater resilience and success in the long run. Fostering a culture carrier is an investment in corporate strategy. After all, without dedicated employees rooted in their culture, organizations risk losing their identity and connection with their workforce.
Culture carriers help create clarity within their organization because they understand it at its core. Employees of this type actively look for opportunities to help coworkers connect the dots between company objectives and day-to-day work. They may also assist other staff to determine how their work contributes to overarching company goals. In addition to offering clarity, culture carriers can coach and empower their peers.
Because they have substantial institutional knowledge, culture carriers act as connectors within the organization, fostering relationships between the right people at the right time. For example, if a team member is having a problem, a culture carrier could suggest who they could go to in order to address the problem. They also might share insights from their own experiences and act as hubs of connection across various teams and levels.
Furthermore, culture carriers help combat cynicism, thanks to their genuine alignment with the organization’s values. Because they have a strong understanding of what the company stands for, they are uniquely positioned to recognize and address misaligned behaviors when they encounter them.
Identifying and Championing Culture Carriers
Finding culture carriers starts with the hiring process. HR teams should focus on a candidate who discusses initiatives outside their role that they have been involved with, or even led, at a past company. Perhaps they even shared ideas outside their area of responsibility.
HR professionals and others involved in recruitment can tell from these indicators that the candidate was connected to their last organization in a meaningful way. Candidates with these qualities might make excellent additions to the hiring organization, too.
Employees with the potential to be culture carriers tend to be highly engaged in their work and show consistent alignment with the company’s mission. They are the ones that others look to for guidance, serving as informal leaders who naturally build trust and set standards without the intrinsic need for official titles.
While culture carriers may be easier to spot in managerial roles, they exist across all departments and ranks. This underscores the importance of a company-wide approach to identifying them.
When organizations acknowledge the value of culture carriers, they validate employees’ contributions and signal that living the company’s values matters as much as hitting performance targets. Beyond recognition, culture carriers thrive when they’re empowered to use their pull with other employees and help the company truly make an impact.
How can managers, the C-suite, or HR representatives aid in giving eager employees a platform? Some options include giving them an opportunity to contribute more formally to company meetings. Organizations might also involve them in strategy sessions or provide channels where their perspectives can shape corporate decisions. Initiatives like these allow culture carriers to feel seen and valued, encouraging them to continue their work and serve as examples for others.
The Role of HR in Developing Culture Carriers
HR professionals must help not only with pinpointing culture carriers but also championing them to ensure their influence is harnessed effectively within the organization. Still, all departments share this responsibility, at all levels, in all geographic areas the company serves. Remote and hybrid teams must also work to encourage workers to champion company culture.
By designing programs that prioritize cultural alignment, HR departments can help foster environments where these genuinely engaged individuals are identified and supported so they can go on to do great things for the company. For instance, HR might sponsor programs like training sessions that reinforce core values, mentorship opportunities with new staff, or team-building exercises. When new employees enter the organization, the expectation becomes clear: thriving at this company requires more than job skills; it requires embracing a shared set of principles.
HR can also add cultural alignment metrics to performance reviews and offer rewards for employees who embody the company’s values. Doing so ensures engaged team members receive acknowledgment, compensation, or growth opportunities within the company.
Building the Next Generation of Culture Carriers
As experienced employees transition out of the organization over time, remaining employees will need to take up the mantle of encouraging its mission. By actively seeking and nurturing new employees who demonstrate this cultural alignment, HR teams can ensure the baton is passed seamlessly.
Building this pipeline begins at recruitment. New hires who feel a strong connection to the organization’s culture are more likely to become engaged drivers of values. Additionally, onboarding programs should emphasize the importance of company values.
Creating pathways for employees to grow within the organization’s culture over time matters, too. HR teams can sponsor workshops, leadership training, and networking opportunities to give staff who don’t currently seem like culture carries opportunities to engage with organizational core values and envision how they can contribute to sharing these ideas. Importantly, making these opportunities widely accessible reinforces the idea that every employee can, and should, contribute to the cultural backbone of the business.
Why Organizations with Culture Carriers Succeed
When culture carriers are empowered, they ignite a positive ripple effect throughout the organization, improving engagement and performance. Companies that invest in these driven employees report higher levels of employee engagement than those that don’t.
After all, culture carriers inspire their colleagues and create environments where people feel a sense of purpose. An environment like this can encourage productivity, job satisfaction, and loyalty. Retention improves under these circumstances, too. Companies with strong guiding principles have lower turnover rates and therefore reduced recruitment costs. Additionally, when companies face uncertainty, culture carriers can offer a grounding influence, maintaining morale and helping to keep the team focused on shared goals.
Prospective employees are increasingly selective about where they work, with many considering an organization’s values and workplace environment as top factors in their decision-making. Companies populated by culture carriers stand out because they demonstrate an authentic commitment to these principles. This advantage not only attracts high-quality talent but also builds a positive reputation within the industry.
When organizations work to integrate culture into every stage of the employee experience, they create an environment where culture carriers can thrive. For any organization focused on growth, long-term impact, and a positive workplace, culture carriers are more than valuable—they’re essential to long-term success.
Lauren Jackman is the senior vice president of culture, experience, and learning at Medallia.
