Most company culture decks look great on paper but fail where it matters—guiding real decisions, shaping workplace culture, and improving the employee experience.
Too often, a culture deck is nothing more than a slide deck filled with vague company values like “Integrity,” “Innovation,” “Diversity,” and “Teamwork” alongside stock visuals.
Such words sound good but don’t mean anything unless they shape how each person at the company hires, promotes, and makes decisions.
Behaviors > Buzzwords
A strong culture deck should define behaviors, not just ideals. For example, the Netflix Culture Deck, co-created by Reed Hastings and Patty McCord, states clearly that “We’re a team, not a family” and that “Adequate performance gets a generous severance.” This may sound harsh, but it sets clear expectations.
Compare that to Theranos, which claimed to value boldness and innovation, yet suppressed employees who raised concerns. They raised $724 million of capital from venture capitalists and private investors, were valued at $10 billion (decacorn status), and were ultimately exposed for fraud.
Why Most Culture Decks Fail
A company culture deck should not just describe the desired culture, but actively create a strong culture where existing employees and new hires know exactly what is expected of them.
One of the biggest problems with creating a corporate culture deck is that it often has no connection to how the company operates.
If organizational culture isn’t reflected in hiring, employee engagement, and employee satisfaction, then it’s nothing more than a branding exercise. This has far-reaching implications for revenue growth, risk management, and customer trust.
Zappos is a great example of how to do this right. Zappos not only states its company values but also includes stories from real employees about how they live those values daily—for instance in the Zappos Culture Book.
Enron, however, provides a negative case study. Their corporate culture statement in 2000 listed “Integrity” as a core principle—right before the company collapsed in one of the biggest fraud scandals in history. Not a great culture anyone with actual integrity would thrive in.
Each company value should be so deeply ingrained that it is used to assess performance and determine promotions, rather than sitting in a forgotten PDF file.
A Culture Deck Should Help Employees Act & Make Decisions
A culture deck should also provide a clear decision-making framework for employees. Without this, workers are left guessing how to handle tough situations.
Amazon’s Leadership Principles make it easy for employees to navigate workplace challenges. For instance, “Disagree and Commit” encourages Amazon employees to challenge decisions they disagree with but fully support them once a final call is made. “Customer Obsession” ensures that every major decision prioritizes long-term customer impact.
These aren’t just words—they shape the way Amazon functions. A great company culture is one where any team member can refer to the culture code when making choices, whether about hiring, project management, or innovation.
The Asana Culture Code is an excellent example of how organizational culture can be turned into real workplace rules. Asana values deep focus, so they created “No-Meeting Wednesdays” to help employees do uninterrupted work. A company that values “collaboration” but schedules back-to-back meetings every day wouldn’t be living up to its own culture code.
A Company Deck Should Improve Employee Experience
A real culture deck also improves employee experience and reduces turnover. According to a study, 38% of employees leave their jobs due to a bad workplace culture, even when salaries are competitive. High performance is impossible in a toxic environment.
Companies that successfully maintain a positive company culture—like Shopify, which updates its culture code regularly to align with its evolving business—tend to have lower attrition rates. Employee satisfaction is about more than perks; it’s about ensuring people work in an environment that supports them.
How to Make Your Culture Deck More Than a Slide Deck
Share it Across Different Channels
For a culture deck to truly make an impact, it must be more than a document used during onboarding. It needs to show up in LinkedIn posts, hiring materials, events, and branding efforts.
Founders and executives should be vocal about their organizational culture, just like Reed Hastings and Patty McCord, who made Netflix’s culture a widely recognized part of its identity. Getting trained in brand storytelling plays a big role in this.
Zappos’ Insights is another great example. It’s not just a web page, but a tool for attracting top talent at recruiting events. A company that believes in its culture code should make it visible to the world.
Reinforce Your Company Culture at Events
Events and industry conferences are also an opportunity to showcase workplace culture. When you have a unique culture, talk about it publicly and tie it to real business outcomes.
Zappos actively shares employee stories at events, reinforcing its culture code and attracting the right kind of employees. If a company’s culture deck is meaningful, it should be part of its company culture presentation at external events, just as much as it is part of internal meetings.
Use It for Hiring & Employer Branding
A culture deck should also guide hiring. Candidates should be able to self-filter based on the company’s culture code, ensuring that those who apply are aligned with its company values.
For example, Asana’s careers page states its values upfront, allowing applicants to decide if they’re a good fit. In trying to build a strong engineering culture, Atlassian declares that joy sparks productivity and tries to live by that code for its 5,000+ developers.
Your hiring process should include questions that assess cultural alignment, and the onboarding process should reinforce desired culture from day one. If you state that you value “radical transparency” but avoid giving employees direct feedback, then your culture deck is nothing more than words.
The Culture Deck Test
To determine whether your culture deck is actually useful, ask yourself a few questions:
- Would a new hire know how to act in tough situations based on it?
- Would existing employees understand what behavior is rewarded and what isn’t?
- Does it guide how managers give feedback?
- Do the shared values move you closer to your company’s mission?
- Are the core values embedded in how your company operates, from employee engagement to corporate culture initiatives?
If the answer to any of these is no, then your culture deck is just another slide deck with pretty visuals—not a real strategy. Time to rethink your approach.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. The companies that win build a strong culture that employees want to be part of. Fix your culture deck—while making it a reality—and your company will be stronger for it.
Read our recent posts on corporate storytelling and brand messaging for similar takes on organizational branding.
And if you need help designing your company culture deck, learn more here.
Mo is the founder and CEO of Column Content, a thought leadership content agency that helps leaders get seen. Connect with him on LinkedIn.
