Workplace culture is clearly important to both employees and employers. According to 47% of job seekers, it's what's driving them to look for a new job. And 91% of leaders and managers say it's just as important for a hire as having specific skill sets. But is your culture working for or against you? Approaches to developing or changing a company's workplace culture are radically askew, with many models focused on intangible "touchy-feely" factors instead of what culture really is: an engine for business results.

With more than 15 years of experience as a workplace culture expert, I've created intentional cultures for global, national and Fortune 100 companies. The changes I've implemented are based on one foundational insight: Every organization has a culture, and it either works for or against you.

In my experience, the difference between business success and failure often comes down to whether leaders are able to communicate and activate their organization's culture for employees. Culture, it turns out, is what keeps companies alive and healthy. And after having analyzed decades worth of workplace metrics and dashboards, it has become clear that having a well-aligned culture enables organizations to meet their business goals.