What are culture gaps
costing your organization?
**Please Note: The organization and numbers featured in the examples on this page are entirely fictitious and are provided for illustrative purposes only. Use these examples as a starting point to consider what the potential impact and savings could look like for your own organization using your company’s actual data.
A lack of intentional belonging can create hidden business costs: employee disengagement, preventable turnover, reduced collaboration, inconsistent leadership practices, and missed opportunities for innovation.
Belonging ROI Story
With the assumptions below, culture gaps may be creating an estimated $1,690,000 annual business impact. When an organization invests $25,000 in a Culture & Belonging Strategy and recovers 25% of that impact through improved retention, engagement, leadership effectiveness, and collaboration, the estimated first-year value recovered is $422,500 creating an estimated net gain of $397,500 after investment.
Potential costs ($1,690,000) may include
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Preventable turnover
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Reduced employee engagement
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Lost productivity
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Leadership time spent addressing avoidable challenges
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Misalignment between values and workplace behaviors
Culture & Belonging Strategy investment ($25,000) Designed to strengthen:
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Employee connection and engagement
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Leadership capability
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Team collaboration
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Workplace alignment
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Employee experience
Potential first-year value recovered ($422,500)
Estimated value recovered by strengthening culture, improving employee experience, and creating conditions where people and business outcomes can thrive.
Who’s affected by culture gaps?
Employees / team members affected
People experiencing inconsistent workplace experiences, limited connection, communication challenges, lack of psychological safety, or barriers to fully contributing.
Example input: 250 employees
Average Annual Employee cost
Blended salary/labor cost.
Example input: $65,000
Managers/Supervisors affected
Leaders spending time navigating preventable employee concerns, communication breakdowns, team conflict, disengagement, or challenges creating alignment.
Example input: 25 managers
Average Annual Manager cost
Blended salary/labor cost.
Example input: $90,000
Owners/Executives/Senior Leaders affected
Senior leaders pulled into culture challenges, retention issues, employee concerns, or organizational misalignment that could be addressed through stronger systems and leadership practices.
Example input: 5 executives
Average annual senior leader cost
Blended cost for executives or senior leaders.
Example input: $150,000
What are culture gaps
costing organizations?
Employee engagement and productivity impact (%)
Estimated capacity lost when employees feel disconnected, unsupported, or unclear about how their work connects to organizational goals.
Example input: 8%
Turnover and retention opportunity
Estimated annual cost associated with preventable employee departures, including recruiting, onboarding, training, lost productivity, and knowledge loss.
Example input: $10,000 monthly opportunity
Communication and collaboration impact
Estimated cost associated with misalignment, unclear expectations, ineffective collaboration, and time spent resolving preventable workplace challenges.
Example input: $5,000 monthly opportunity
Leadership effectiveness opportunity
Estimated value gained when leaders have the tools to build trust, strengthen relationships, improve communication, and create more consistent employee experiences.
Example input: +$7,500 monthly opportunity
Employee experience improvement opportunity
Estimated value created when employees feel more connected, engaged, and empowered to contribute their perspectives and ideas.
Example input: +$5,000 monthly opportunity
Culture alignment opportunity
Estimated value gained when organizational values, leadership behaviors, and employee experiences are more consistently aligned.
Example input: +$5,000 monthly opportunity
Culture & Belonging
Strategy Investment
Estimated investment an organization may make to strengthen workplace culture.
Examples: Culture assessment; Leadership development; Employee learning experiences; Team alignment sessions; Strategic consulting partnership
Example input: $25,000
Estimated improvement rate (%)
Estimated percentage of culture-related challenges that could improve through intentional investment in belonging, leadership capability, and employee experience.
Example input: 25%