When Management Says “Culture,” but Means Control: Is Workplace Culture a Myth?
Jillian Oetting, MS LPC NCC CAGCS
“Culture” is one of those words that gets thrown around in company meetings more than the phrase “we hear your concerns, and we’re working to address them”.
Get your exaggerated air quotes going with me…
We need to protect the “culture”.
That’s not aligned with our “culture”.
We’re trying to shift the “culture”.
This decision is about “culture”.
But here’s the question no one seems to ask: What actually is the culture?
And more importantly—who gets to define it?
What Is Workplace Culture, Really?
Let’s start with a few definitions—because when management and HR talk about “culture,” they often haven’t defined it at all.
Angela T. Hall, Associate Professor at Michigan State University’s School of Human Resources and Labor Relations, defines workplace culture as:
“The personality of an organization from the employee perspective.”
She explains that culture is the environment and atmosphere employees work in—shaped by leadership, values, beliefs, behaviors, and the daily interactions that bring them all to life.
Gallup, a global analytics and consulting firm best known for their workplace research and polling, defines culture a little more simply:
“How we do things around here.” That’s it.
They note that while culture can be viewed through features, values, or systems, at its core, it’s about practice—what’s actually happening in the day-to-day.
And from the National Library of Medicine, researchers offer a more telling angle, defining work culture as:
“A management concept that encompasses the attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions of the employer’s principles and practices.”
Notice that phrasing: a management concept. It’s telling. Culture isn’t just how employees feel—it’s how leadership sets the tone, often without employee input.
So when culture is used by management, it’s often about reinforcing the systems that already exist—not co-creating something with the people actually impacted by it.
Culture as s Corporate Cover Story
In theory, workplace culture is supposed to be the shared values, behaviors, and norms that shape how people interact at work. But in practice, the word “culture” often becomes a buzzword wielded by leadership to justify decisions—especially unpopular ones.
Want to implement sweeping policy changes without employee input? Say it’s to “align with our culture.”
Want to deny a promotion or let someone go? Say they’re “not a culture fit.”
Want to stifle dissent or differing views? Claim it’s “disruptive to culture.”
When leadership starts weaponizing culture as a catch-all explanation, it loses all meaning—and worse, it starts to feel like a tool for control.
The 8 Types of Workplace Culture
Workplace culture isn’t one-size-fits-all. According to organizational psychology research, there are 8 broad categories of workplace culture—each with its own vibe and values.
Here’s a brief overview:
Adhocracy Culture: A risk-taking, innovation-driven culture where employees challenge the status quo and focus on creating new ideas, services, or solutions.
You might be in one if: New ideas are celebrated, experimentation is encouraged, and agility is prized over procedure.
Clan Culture: A family-like, collaborative culture where hierarchies are minimal, communication is open, and employees are valued as equals. Common in smaller or family-owned businesses, it emphasizes support, trust, and shared involvement.
You might be in one if: There’s a high value on mentoring, teamwork, and internal loyalty. It may feel tight-knit—but also insular.
Customer-Focused Culture: A service-driven culture where the customer experience is the top priority. Employees are empowered to meet customer needs, go above and beyond, and build lasting loyalty through exceptional service.
You might be in one if: Everything revolves around client satisfaction, sometimes at the expense of employee wellbeing.
Hierarchy Culture: A traditional, structured culture built on clear chains of command, strict rules, and risk avoidance. Common in high-stakes industries, it emphasizes stability, consistency, and minimizing errors through defined roles and procedures.
You might be in one if: Bureaucracy rules. Job roles are rigid. There’s an SOP for everything.
Market-Driven Culture: A competitive, results-focused culture centered on performance, productivity, and getting products or services to market. Success is measured by outcomes, often with less emphasis on employee experience.
You might be in one if: Performance is everything. Pressure is constant. You’re rewarded for output—and then often burned out.
Purpose-Driven Culture: A mission-centered culture rooted in shared values and a clear reason for being. These organizations prioritize impact and community contribution over profit, attracting people who align with their deeper purpose.
You might be in one if: The company talks about big-picture impact—though it may or may not align with how employees are treated.
Innovative Culture: A forward-thinking culture focused on generating new ideas, improving processes, and anticipating future needs. Traditional methods are set aside in favor of experimentation, creativity, and continuous improvement.
You might be in one if: You’re encouraged to challenge norms, try bold ideas, and break traditional molds.
Creative Culture: A collaborative, vision-driven culture centered on bringing new ideas, products, and experiences to life. Teams work closely to turn creative concepts into reality, with a strong focus on originality and shared purpose.
You might be in one if: Individuality is welcomed. You’re not just allowed to think outside the box—you’re told to burn it.
The problem isn’t that one culture is better than the other—it’s that most companies don’t actually know which culture they’re cultivating.
Or worse, they claim one type (“We’re collaborative, creative, and innovative!”) while enforcing the complete opposite (“Follow the chain of command. Stick to the policies. Speak when spoken to.”)
The Disconnect: What Leadership Thinks vs. What Staff Experience
Here’s the hard truth: the organizations most obsessed with talking about culture often have toxic cultures.
They hold town halls on psychological safety while punishing people who speak up.
They plaster mission statements on the walls while employees walk on eggshells.
They talk about “bringing your whole self to work” while expecting total compliance.
Talking with dozens of employees—from frontline staff to middle managers—about what their workplace culture is like, most either laugh, pause uncomfortably, or say something vague like “I don’t know…weird?” or “depends who you ask.”
If culture is real, it shouldn’t be that hard to define.
If culture is strong, employees should be able to name it.
If culture is positive, people should feel safe within it.
Culture Can’t Exist in a Vacuum of Control
This is where I think leadership gets it wrong: you cannot create culture through policy alone.
But this is part that gets tricky—because policies are important.
We need clear guidelines that prevent harassment, protect against discrimination, and hold people accountable when harm happens.
But let’s be honest: policies alone won’t build culture. And in too many organizations, culture is actively smothered.
When every team interaction feels like a potential HR liability…
When creativity is buried under compliance…
When people can’t speak freely without fearing consequences…
That’s not culture—that’s surveillance.
And the truth is: when surveillance is the priority, psychological unsafety will become the culture.
It will fill the gaps where connection and communication are supposed to be.
It will define how people relate, how they cope, and how they slowly disengage.
This isn’t a call to eliminate policy—it’s a challenge to management, leadership and HR:
If you claim to care about culture, then it’s your job to get creative within the boundaries of company policies.
To design a workplace where policies protect people without suffocating them.
To be bold enough to ask: What makes this place actually feel alive for the people who work here?
Because showing up to a lifeless, corporate-gray office day after day is not only uninspiring—it’s psychologically dangerous.
Let’s Reclaim the Definition of Workplace Culture
Culture isn’t a poster. It’s not a slogan. It’s not a page in the handbook.
Culture is how people feel at work. It’s what happens in the spaces between policy. It’s whether people feel seen, heard, and safe. It’s the way a team rallies behind someone who’s struggling. It’s the silent agreements, the inside jokes, the shared mission that gets you through hard days.
And if management can’t define that? Then maybe they’re not building culture—they’re managing an image.
Final Thoughts: Culture Isn’t a Policy—It’s a Pulse
If I had the perfect answer to how management and leadership can create culture without snuffing it out, maybe I’d still be working in leadership. But I do know this:
Culture starts where control ends.
Culture is felt. Not forced.
And if we want thriving workplaces, it’s time to stop treating culture like something that can be taught during new hire orientation—and start treating it like a shared heartbeat.
So the next time you hear a sentence along the lines of “To protect our culture…,”
Maybe ask:
Whose culture are we protecting?
And is it one worth keeping?