105%
increase in cross-functional collaboration
Culture Alignment & Transformation
Create a Culture that Supports Your People and Your Strategy
Culture is the product of the systems, behaviors, and decisions that organizations reinforce every day. CLA, led by Partner and Chief Research Officer Natalie Baumgartner, PhD, one of the foremost experts in organizational culture, helps leaders understand what their culture actually is, where it is working against strategy, and how to build the conditions for lasting, measurable change. Our approach is grounded in the Connected Culture Model, a proven, data-driven methodology that transforms organizations from within.
Let's TalkChange the Behaviors Your New Strategy Depends On
When strategy shifts, the behaviors that made the organization successful in one era can work against the next. We start with a clear read on what people actually experience, drawing on surveys, interviews, and engagement data. From there we define the specific behavioral norms and process changes the new strategy requires, then equip people leaders with the skills and accountability structures to model them in how they run meetings, give feedback, and respond when things go wrong.
Turn Stated Values Into Daily Practice
Many organizations have well-intentioned values that have little visible connection to how decisions get made, how performance gets evaluated, or how people get recognized. The gap between stated values and lived experience erodes trust, disengages employees, and undermines the behaviors the organization needs to perform. We analyze your key HR and business processes against your values to identify where alignment breaks down, and deliver a clear, actionable playbook for closing the gaps.
Build Teams Where Every Voice Contributes to Performance
Teams where every voice counts solve problems faster and keep people longer. When people disconnect, capability goes unused and attrition climbs. We build belonging into how teams run, how decisions get made, and how contribution gets recognized.
Integrate Two Companies Without Losing Talent or Value
When two companies combine without a clear read on their differences, integration stalls, talent leaves, and the synergies the deal was built on get harder to capture. We map both organizations before, during, and after a transaction, identifying where they fit and where they will clash, and giving integration teams a plan for the shared operating norms the combined company will run on.
Recognize the Behaviors You Want Repeated
Recognition reaches every employee every week, and most organizations spend it on tenure and effort rather than on the behaviors the strategy depends on. Through our partnership with Achievers, we connect recognition directly to the values and behaviors you are building, so that what gets noticed and rewarded reinforces how you want people to work.
When strategy shifts, the behaviors that made the organization successful in one era can work against the next. We start with a clear read on what people actually experience, drawing on surveys, interviews, and engagement data. From there we define the specific behavioral norms and process changes the new strategy requires, then equip people leaders with the skills and accountability structures to model them in how they run meetings, give feedback, and respond when things go wrong.
Many organizations have well-intentioned values that have little visible connection to how decisions get made, how performance gets evaluated, or how people get recognized. The gap between stated values and lived experience erodes trust, disengages employees, and undermines the behaviors the organization needs to perform. We analyze your key HR and business processes against your values to identify where alignment breaks down, and deliver a clear, actionable playbook for closing the gaps.
Teams where every voice counts solve problems faster and keep people longer. When people disconnect, capability goes unused and attrition climbs. We build belonging into how teams run, how decisions get made, and how contribution gets recognized.
When two companies combine without a clear read on their differences, integration stalls, talent leaves, and the synergies the deal was built on get harder to capture. We map both organizations before, during, and after a transaction, identifying where they fit and where they will clash, and giving integration teams a plan for the shared operating norms the combined company will run on.
Recognition reaches every employee every week, and most organizations spend it on tenure and effort rather than on the behaviors the strategy depends on. Through our partnership with Achievers, we connect recognition directly to the values and behaviors you are building, so that what gets noticed and rewarded reinforces how you want people to work.
Our Approach to Culture
Our approach is grounded in the Connected Culture Model, a proven, data-driven methodology developed by Natalie Baumgartner, PhD, that emphasizes the alignment of values, behaviors, and business processes to create cultures that drive best-in-class employee and business outcomes.
Data-Driven Insights
Our approach is grounded in data. We use multiple data sources, surveys, focus groups, interviews, and engagement data, to provide actionable insights that address your culture challenges.
Quick Wins & Strategic Solutions
Our recommendations deliver immediate impact and long-term strategies, ensuring our work is both practical and impactful and that your culture evolves to meet business goals.
Employee-Centered
We keep your people at the center of everything we do. By gathering direct input from employees, we ensure our solutions are informed by those who live and breathe your organizational culture every day.
Aligned at Every Level
We integrate culture into all aspects of your business processes, ensuring that every employee, from leaders to frontline workers, embodies and advances your unique culture.
Preview the Whitepaper
Download Our Culture Alignment Whitepaper
Curious why most culture initiatives fail and how our approach succeeds? Our whitepaper explains why shifting from culture change to culture alignment is the key.
Our Clients Get Results
33%
reduction in cycle time
1.2X
increase in new product development
Our Expertise Is Trusted By
“Collaborating with the dynamic team at Contemporary Leadership Advisors was a game-changer for our organization. CLA's unparalleled expertise in the culture space, combined with their infectious energy and enthusiasm, made the process of refreshing our company values incredibly engaging. Their clear and meticulously data-driven approach revealed critical insights into our team's genuine values, fostering a renewed sense of purpose and pride within our organization.”
Experts in Culture Alignment & Transformation
Our practitioners include some of the foremost experts in organizational culture, network analysis, and behavior change, grounded in three decades of research and practice.
Meet UsWhat gets recognized gets repeated."
— Natalie Baumgartner, PhD
FAQs
Common questions about how culture gets measured, what alignment means in practice, and what happens to culture in a merger.
Culture change initiatives try to replace an existing culture with a new one and 70% of them fail. Culture alignment takes a different approach: it starts with understanding what the culture actually is, identifies where values, behaviors, and business processes are misaligned, and closes those gaps systematically. Rather than trying to change everything, culture alignment works with what’s already there, reinforcing the strengths and adjusting the practices that are creating friction. This is why our approach produces lasting results where traditional culture programs don’t.
CLA uses multiple data sources to build an accurate picture of what a culture actually is: surveys that measure values and behavioral norms, focus groups that surface the lived experience of employees, structured interviews with leaders, and analysis of engagement and performance data. Natalie Baumgartner’s Connected Culture Model provides the analytical framework for integrating these data sources into a clear diagnostic, identifying where culture is strong, where it’s misaligned, and where the highest-leverage opportunities for improvement lie.
CLA’s Culture MergeMap is specifically designed for M&A contexts. It provides a data-driven assessment of both organizations’ cultures before, during, and after a transaction, identifying compatibility, friction points, and strengths on each side. This allows integration teams to address cultural misalignment proactively rather than discovering it after performance has already suffered. Culture MergeMap is typically conducted in the pre-close or early post-close period.
Explore Our Latest Thinking
Perspectives on organizational culture, values alignment, and the behavioral change required to make transformation stick.
Ready to Build a Culture That Supports Your Strategy?
Tell us what's happening in your organization. We'll help you understand what's driving it and what to do about it.
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