Start with a clear definition
As we work with healthcare organizations to improve both the employee and patient experience, we’re often met with the same quandary. How do we build a better culture without being heavy-handed? Policies won’t move people.
it’s important to be intentional about several key elements that most organizations overlook.
Here’s how to build a culture that doesn’t depend on policies to make it work.
Start With a Clear Vision
You can’t build the culture you want if you don’t know what that culture looks like.
This seems obvious, but I can’t tell you how many organizations skip this step. They know their current culture isn’t working. They know they want “better patient experience” or “more engaged employees.”
But they haven’t actually defined their desired culture. If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will get you there. So start here: What kind of culture do you want? Not in vague terms. In specific, behavioral terms. What does it look like, feel like, sound like?
What does it look like when people walk through your doors? How are they welcomed? How are new employees made to feel welcome? How do team members interact with each other? How do they handle stress? How do they treat patients when nobody’s watching?
Define it clearly. Because once you know what you’re striving for, you can make every other decision—hiring, leadership development, training, recognition—in service of that vision.
Share the Vision
Once you clarify the vision, share it with the managers and front line staff. After all, they are the ones who will make it a reality. Engage the leaders in defining leadership competencies that will help build the essential behaviors.
Hire People With the Right Traits
Once you know what culture you want, hire for it.
Not just for credentials. Not just for experience. For values alignment and cultural fit.
I worked with an organization whose VP of Marketing said something that has stuck with me: “We don’t script empathy. We hire people with that in their heart.”
That’s the answer.
You can train people on clinical skills. You can teach them your EMR system. You can orient them to your policies and procedures. But you can’t train someone to genuinely care about people if they don’t already.
When interviewing potential candidates, use behavioral interview questions that can help you assess their values:
- “Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond for someone who couldn’t do anything for you in return.”
- “Describe a situation where you had to show compassion to someone who was difficult or demanding.”
- “What does patient-centered care mean to you? Give me an example of when you demonstrated it.”
Listen for authenticity. Listen for examples that show they already have what you’re looking for in their heart.
Because if they don’t bring it with them, no amount of policy is going to create it.
Develop Leaders to Be Culture Carriers
Your frontline leaders—managers, supervisors, charge nurses—are the ones who will either reinforce your culture or undermine it. So you have to develop them. Not just in budget management and scheduling. In how to coach people on behaviors.
Here’s what I see in most organizations: Managers know how to manage tasks. They know how to stay within budget. They know how to handle the operational side of their role.
But many don’t see themselves as coaches. They don’t know how to have real-time conversations about behavior. Like this: “Let’s unpack what just happened in that room and talk about how this could have been handled differently.”
That’s coaching. And most managers have never been taught how to do it.
If you want your culture to stick, invest in developing your leaders to be coaches, not just managers. Teach them how to give specific, behavioral feedback. How to recognize people doing things right. How to address gaps without making it feel punitive.
Your culture lives or dies in those everyday coaching moments.
Align Everything to Your Values
If one of your values is “compassion,” but you tolerate physicians who are rude to patients and staff, you’re not living up to that value.
If one of your values is “respect,” but you let a longtime employee create a toxic environment, your real value is avoiding difficult conversations, not respect.
Your culture is defined by what you actually reward, recognize, and tolerate—not what you say you value.
When leaders tell me they have great values but a struggling culture, we always look at alignment. Because if there’s a gap between what you say you value and what you actually reward, your culture will reflect the reality, not the plaque on the wall.
Inspiration, Not Regulation
Policies are regulatory. They’re restrictive. They’re about compliance.
Culture is inspirational. It’s about connection. It’s about purpose.
When you tell people, “This is what we promise our patients, and this is how we deliver on those promises,” you engage their hearts.
When you tell people, “Policy 4.7.2 states that you must demonstrate empathy,” you’ve reduced something meaningful to a checkbox.
Lead with inspiration. Connect people’s daily work to the difference they make in patients’ lives.
That’s what creates genuine care. Not another policy.
Tags: Culture Change, healthcare leadership, healthcare management, Organizational Culture, Patient Experience
