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Everyone talks about managerial culture. But in the field, managers themselves are asking: what should we actually do? What behaviors are expected? And, above all, how can we ensure that these practices do not depend solely on the manager's personality, but become firmly rooted in the teams?
Managerial culture is not a fixed document in an HR drive. It's what we observe in our day-to-day interactions, decisions and rituals. And for it to really exist, it needs to be translated, embodied and measured.
Here are 5 concrete ways of transforming a desired managerial culture into a reality experienced by your teams in the field.
It's hard to align practices without a common direction. The starting point is to make explicit what the company really expects from its managers: the postures to adopt, the behaviors to encourage, the practices to avoid. But beware: this framework cannot be imposed from above. It has to be built with the managers themselves, based on their reality on the ground.
In several of the organizations we have supported, this work has taken the form of collaborative workshops bringing together managers at different levels. Together, they drew up a reference framework based on concrete situations: giving feedback, welcoming a new employee, managing a drop in performance, delegating a strategic mission... Each behavior is linked to an actual moment, to avoid the trap of jargon or generality.
Once the reference framework has been defined, it needs to be put into practice on a daily basis. This can be done in a variety of ways, including workshops, team rituals, in-house videos, and the sharing of real-life case studies. The aim is to enable managers to project themselves into real-life situations, and relate the principles to their own practices. Without this active appropriation, the reference framework remains theoretical and often ends up relegated to a forgotten file.
Some companies have chosen to disseminate their managerial vision via dynamic formats: video clips filmed with in-house managers, hand-delivered practical sheets, case studies for team discussion. In one case, each manager received a "posture box" containing a series of cards illustrating expected behaviors, to be mobilized during team meetings or flash workshops. The result is a vision that is truly embodied, not just shared.
A managerial culture is above all transmitted by example. If managers don't change their practices, change remains theoretical. Their posture acts as a lever or a brake: what they embody sets the tone for the whole organization. A local manager will never adopt a new posture if his N+1s continue to operate as before, without questioning.
In an industrial company undergoing a complete overhaul of its managerial practices, members of the executive committee chose to follow the same development program as operational managers, with the same group workshops and role-playing exercises. This deliberately symmetrical approach - learning together, on an equal footing - helped to overcome a number of obstacles in the field. Seeing their managers confronting the same difficulties as themselves (delegating, setting a clear framework, reframing without crushing), the managers began to see the change as more credible.
Feedback doesn't have to be one-way. Managers also need feedback to progress. It's what enables them to compare their intentions with the reality of their day-to-day behavior. When this feedback is regular, structured and taken into account, it becomes a real lever for progress and collective alignment.
Many companies now use 360° feedbacks, during which employees, peers and N+1s can each share their perceptions. The manager then sees what's going wrong and what's working, and can work with individual coaching on a concrete progress plan. This is often what triggers real changes in attitude.
Training in tools is not enough. We need to work on postures and behaviors, i.e., how the managerial vision translates into real-life situations. This means learning how to listen actively, give constructive feedback, manage tension without running away or delegate without blurring. In short, to embody managerial principles in day-to-day interactions - not just in speeches.
Some companies have redesigned their managerial programs along these lines. Rather than a series of thematic modules, they have structured the whole course around three main themes: leadership, inclusion and collective effectiveness. Each axis is worked on using situations experienced by the participants: a delicate reframing, a meeting where the word doesn't flow, or a conflict of objectives between teams. These cases serve as a basis for testing postures, understanding their effects and making adjustments. The message is clear: managerial culture cannot be learned in theory, it has to be practiced, questioned and experimented with.
The development of a managerial culture does not rely solely on initial training. It is rooted in the long term, thanks to peer-to-peer forums where managers can compare their practices, break out of their isolation, and progress together.
For example, in a company in the pharmaceutical sector, the creation of managerial communities has made it possible to structure these exchanges on a regular basis. Each group gets together to share concrete experiences, look back on mistakes, and co-construct solutions based on situations encountered in the field. These exchanges have rapidly taken on a central role in day-to-day managerial life: they offer a framework of trust where everyone can adjust their posture, ask questions, and contribute to bringing managerial culture to life through practice.
Annual appraisals and recognition systems should assess the "how" as much as the "what". Achieving objectives, yes - but not at any price. How they are achieved counts just as much: quality of management, leadership posture, ability to help the team grow or foster collaboration.
In an industrial company that has embarked on a transformation of its managerial culture, this logic has been taken to its logical conclusion: 50% of manager appraisals are now based on leadership behavior. Criteria focus on concrete elements such as the clarity of objectives set, the ability to delegate with confidence, or the regularity of feedback. This has sent a clear signal to teams: it's not just results that are valued, but the way in which they are achieved. The result: greater consistency between day-to-day management practices and the organization's cultural ambitions.
Recruitment processes can no longer be limited to assessing technical skills. To avoid mismatches once in post, it is essential to also assess cultural compatibility with the company's managerial model. This means questioning, right from the interview stage, the candidate's attitude to concrete situations such as :
More and more companies are including interviews dedicated to assessing managerial values. In one such interview, candidates for managerial positions undergo a series of discussions centered on three key dimensions: transparency, responsibility and autonomy. The aim is not to tick boxes, but to identify the future manager's ability to embody the organization's cultural fundamentals. This upstream filter helps to avoid costly adjustments after integration - and, above all, to reinforce the coherence between practices and values on a day-to-day basis.
Each year, an engagement barometer includes specific questions on perceived management quality, such as :
The results are then :
This approach makes it possible to steer managerial culture in a fine, concrete way, rather than remaining at an overly macro or declarative level.
A managerial culture cannot remain fixed in time. It needs to adjust to internal transformations, new tensions and weak signals identified in the field. It's by creating regular opportunities for reassessment that it stays alive and relevant.
To illustrate this practice, some companies have set up working groups bringing together HR, managers and employees to review the key principles of their managerial guidelines every year. Based on feedback from the field - developments in hybrid work, difficulties in prioritization, new expectations in terms of recognition - certain expectations have been clarified, others reformulated or lightened. This continuous improvement loop ensures that the managerial culture remains aligned with operational reality, without losing its coherence.
Managerial culture is not static: it evolves with the company's context, teams and challenges. To prevent it from becoming disconnected from the field, it is essential to create regular opportunities for readjustment, where managers and HR share what is working, what is blocking, and what needs to evolve. It is this ability to listen, test and adapt that enables practices to take root over the long term. A living culture is built on action, not intentions.
Everyone talks about managerial culture. But in the field, managers themselves are asking: what should we actually do? What behaviors are expected? And, above all, how can we ensure that these practices do not depend solely on the manager's personality, but become firmly rooted in the teams?
Managerial culture is not a fixed document in an HR drive. It's what we observe in our day-to-day interactions, decisions and rituals. And for it to really exist, it needs to be translated, embodied and measured.
Here are 5 concrete ways of transforming a desired managerial culture into a reality experienced by your teams in the field.
It's hard to align practices without a common direction. The starting point is to make explicit what the company really expects from its managers: the postures to adopt, the behaviors to encourage, the practices to avoid. But beware: this framework cannot be imposed from above. It has to be built with the managers themselves, based on their reality on the ground.
In several of the organizations we have supported, this work has taken the form of collaborative workshops bringing together managers at different levels. Together, they drew up a reference framework based on concrete situations: giving feedback, welcoming a new employee, managing a drop in performance, delegating a strategic mission... Each behavior is linked to an actual moment, to avoid the trap of jargon or generality.
Once the reference framework has been defined, it needs to be put into practice on a daily basis. This can be done in a variety of ways, including workshops, team rituals, in-house videos, and the sharing of real-life case studies. The aim is to enable managers to project themselves into real-life situations, and relate the principles to their own practices. Without this active appropriation, the reference framework remains theoretical and often ends up relegated to a forgotten file.
Some companies have chosen to disseminate their managerial vision via dynamic formats: video clips filmed with in-house managers, hand-delivered practical sheets, case studies for team discussion. In one case, each manager received a "posture box" containing a series of cards illustrating expected behaviors, to be mobilized during team meetings or flash workshops. The result is a vision that is truly embodied, not just shared.
A managerial culture is above all transmitted by example. If managers don't change their practices, change remains theoretical. Their posture acts as a lever or a brake: what they embody sets the tone for the whole organization. A local manager will never adopt a new posture if his N+1s continue to operate as before, without questioning.
In an industrial company undergoing a complete overhaul of its managerial practices, members of the executive committee chose to follow the same development program as operational managers, with the same group workshops and role-playing exercises. This deliberately symmetrical approach - learning together, on an equal footing - helped to overcome a number of obstacles in the field. Seeing their managers confronting the same difficulties as themselves (delegating, setting a clear framework, reframing without crushing), the managers began to see the change as more credible.
Feedback doesn't have to be one-way. Managers also need feedback to progress. It's what enables them to compare their intentions with the reality of their day-to-day behavior. When this feedback is regular, structured and taken into account, it becomes a real lever for progress and collective alignment.
Many companies now use 360° feedbacks, during which employees, peers and N+1s can each share their perceptions. The manager then sees what's going wrong and what's working, and can work with individual coaching on a concrete progress plan. This is often what triggers real changes in attitude.
Training in tools is not enough. We need to work on postures and behaviors, i.e., how the managerial vision translates into real-life situations. This means learning how to listen actively, give constructive feedback, manage tension without running away or delegate without blurring. In short, to embody managerial principles in day-to-day interactions - not just in speeches.
Some companies have redesigned their managerial programs along these lines. Rather than a series of thematic modules, they have structured the whole course around three main themes: leadership, inclusion and collective effectiveness. Each axis is worked on using situations experienced by the participants: a delicate reframing, a meeting where the word doesn't flow, or a conflict of objectives between teams. These cases serve as a basis for testing postures, understanding their effects and making adjustments. The message is clear: managerial culture cannot be learned in theory, it has to be practiced, questioned and experimented with.
The development of a managerial culture does not rely solely on initial training. It is rooted in the long term, thanks to peer-to-peer forums where managers can compare their practices, break out of their isolation, and progress together.
For example, in a company in the pharmaceutical sector, the creation of managerial communities has made it possible to structure these exchanges on a regular basis. Each group gets together to share concrete experiences, look back on mistakes, and co-construct solutions based on situations encountered in the field. These exchanges have rapidly taken on a central role in day-to-day managerial life: they offer a framework of trust where everyone can adjust their posture, ask questions, and contribute to bringing managerial culture to life through practice.
Annual appraisals and recognition systems should assess the "how" as much as the "what". Achieving objectives, yes - but not at any price. How they are achieved counts just as much: quality of management, leadership posture, ability to help the team grow or foster collaboration.
In an industrial company that has embarked on a transformation of its managerial culture, this logic has been taken to its logical conclusion: 50% of manager appraisals are now based on leadership behavior. Criteria focus on concrete elements such as the clarity of objectives set, the ability to delegate with confidence, or the regularity of feedback. This has sent a clear signal to teams: it's not just results that are valued, but the way in which they are achieved. The result: greater consistency between day-to-day management practices and the organization's cultural ambitions.
Recruitment processes can no longer be limited to assessing technical skills. To avoid mismatches once in post, it is essential to also assess cultural compatibility with the company's managerial model. This means questioning, right from the interview stage, the candidate's attitude to concrete situations such as :
More and more companies are including interviews dedicated to assessing managerial values. In one such interview, candidates for managerial positions undergo a series of discussions centered on three key dimensions: transparency, responsibility and autonomy. The aim is not to tick boxes, but to identify the future manager's ability to embody the organization's cultural fundamentals. This upstream filter helps to avoid costly adjustments after integration - and, above all, to reinforce the coherence between practices and values on a day-to-day basis.
Each year, an engagement barometer includes specific questions on perceived management quality, such as :
The results are then :
This approach makes it possible to steer managerial culture in a fine, concrete way, rather than remaining at an overly macro or declarative level.
A managerial culture cannot remain fixed in time. It needs to adjust to internal transformations, new tensions and weak signals identified in the field. It's by creating regular opportunities for reassessment that it stays alive and relevant.
To illustrate this practice, some companies have set up working groups bringing together HR, managers and employees to review the key principles of their managerial guidelines every year. Based on feedback from the field - developments in hybrid work, difficulties in prioritization, new expectations in terms of recognition - certain expectations have been clarified, others reformulated or lightened. This continuous improvement loop ensures that the managerial culture remains aligned with operational reality, without losing its coherence.
Managerial culture is not static: it evolves with the company's context, teams and challenges. To prevent it from becoming disconnected from the field, it is essential to create regular opportunities for readjustment, where managers and HR share what is working, what is blocking, and what needs to evolve. It is this ability to listen, test and adapt that enables practices to take root over the long term. A living culture is built on action, not intentions.
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