Culture Becomes Real in Systems

by Julie Tuggle-Nguyen

Part 6 in the Building Culture Series

Over the past several months, we’ve explored how culture is built: not in one sweeping initiative, but through small, intentional actions that build on one another over time. Recognition fuels commitment. Diversity enriches perspective. Storytelling creates connection. Shared values guide action. And leadership sets the tone.

In this final installment, we bring it all together — because organizations succeed when they translate their values into the everyday systems that guide how people hire, lead, grow, and serve. That’s where culture becomes real. Even the best-designed system fails if leaders don’t reinforce it through consistent behaviors, priorities, and decision-making.

Aligning Systems with Values
Culture isn’t just about how people feel at work; it’s about how the organization operates. Every system and process — from hiring to onboarding, from appraisals to compensation — sends a message about what your company truly values.

Ask yourself:
- Does your hiring process reflect your values?
- Do your performance appraisals evaluate how people live those values, not just what they achieve?
- Do your recognition programs celebrate behaviors that strengthen culture?
- Do your accountability systems uphold your cultural standards?

When systems align with your company’s values and mission, they reinforce a unified message: this is who we are, and this is how we succeed together. When they’re misaligned, it impacts your culture, your employees’ experience, and your bottom line.

Example 1: Performance Appraisals
Performance appraisals are one of the most overlooked cultural tools. Too often, they become check-the-box exercises focused on numbers and output. But when used intentionally, they’re powerful ways to reinforce culture.

People live up to what they’re measured by. If appraisal language reflects your values, you’re not just evaluating performance; you’re cultivating it.

For instance, if collaboration is a core value, employees should be recognized for how they support peers, share knowledge, and lift the team — not just for individual accomplishments. If client care is a defining value, evaluations should capture how relationships were nurtured and how problems were solved — not only the year-end metrics.

When the behaviors you celebrate match the words in your mission, trust grows and culture deepens.

Example 2: Leading Accountability
Few things reveal a leader’s true commitment to culture more than how they handle accountability. Poor performance is usually visible and, in many ways, easier to address. The harder test comes when someone delivers strong results but undermines the organization’s values. Choosing to keep that person sends a powerful message — and often a damaging one. Culture is shaped not only by what behaviors you reward, but by the ones you choose to tolerate.

Example 3: Goal Setting
Goal setting is another system where culture quietly takes shape. Goals tell your team what really matters, so it’s essential that they align with your strategy and culture.

Organizational goals should cascade into team and individual goals. When this alignment is strong, it creates clarity and unity. People understand not only what they’re working toward, but why it matters and how their contributions support the broader mission.

The Danger of Misalignment
Aligned systems don’t just reinforce culture; they accelerate execution. Misaligned systems slow decision-making, dilute accountability, and create friction that customers feel. It’s like rowing out of sync: you lose momentum, waste energy, and risk veering off course. Progress requires everyone rowing in the same direction.

At Midwest BankCentre, our purpose is to help our regional communities thrive. That purpose guides how we design systems and make decisions. It shows up in how we set goals that include both financial outcomes and community impact, and how we recognize team members who live our purpose through service, partnership, and care.

When systems and culture work in harmony, people find meaning in their work and push the organization forward with greater energy and focus.

Your Call to Reflect and Act
As we close this series, take a look at the systems shaping your organization. Do they support the culture you’ve worked hard to build? Do they help people live your values, or do they unintentionally pull them away? Small shifts in goals, reviews, recognition, or accountability can meaningfully improve how your team experiences the work.

This week, choose one system — even a single form, metric, or process — and adjust it so it better reflects who you are and what you stand for. Because when your systems support your mission, your culture gains the momentum it needs to drive business success.

Julie Tuggle-Nguyen is Chief Human Resources Officer at Midwest BankCentre.