The Association for Talent Development’s latest report finds that training and facilitation positively influenced organizational culture.

(Alexandria, VA), June 6, 2023—More than 60 percent of survey respondents rated their organizational culture as excellent or good, according to new ATD research.

Building a Strong Organizational Culture: The Role of the TD Function, sponsored by OverDrive, examined the TD function’s effect on organizational culture. TD initiatives positively influenced organizational culture, with 83 percent of respondents saying that training and facilitation had a positive influence, 70 percent noting that onboarding programs had a positive influence, and 61 percent stating that coaching and mentoring had a positive influence.

“The most common barrier to influencing organizational culture was a lack of metrics to track the impact of the TD function on culture, with 45 percent saying it was a major barrier,” the report cited.

Many survey respondents noted that they planned to focus on DEI&B initiatives in 2023, while others indicated they would update or expand their onboarding programs, start new leadership training and development programs, or roll out new strategic plans, policies, or procedures.

Other key findings include:

• Of those respondents who were with their organization prior to 2020, 44 percent said that organizational culture had improved; 38 percent said it had worsened. Those who said it had improved were more likely to cite increased flexibility as a major cause; those who said it had worsened cited difficulties in hiring and retaining staff as a primary cause.

• More than half (55 percent) of respondents indicated that new hires received training specifically about the organization’s culture. Organizations where that was the case were more likely to be high performers than those that never or rarely trained new hires in organizational culture.

The report investigated key questions around organizational culture to provide benchmarking data and highlight best practices. It drew upon a sample of talent development professionals from 439 organizations. Of these organizations, 21 percent reported performing well across several key business areas (financial performance, customer and client satisfaction, employee engagement, and growth potential for the next five years) and having talent development functions that strongly contributed to organizational performance.

This research studied key indicators and structures of organizational culture, how leaders communicated the importance of organizational culture, and how culture may have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also covered the talent development function’s role in defining and changing culture, what effect TD initiatives had on culture, and the future of organizational culture.

ATD Research fielded an electronic survey to talent development professionals in February 2023. Participants from 439 organizations completed the survey. Survey participants represented a variety of industries from across the globe.

A free webinar will explore the report’s findings on Thursday, June 22, at 2 p.m. ET.

About ATD

The Association for Talent Development (ATD) is the world’s largest professional membership organization supporting those who develop the knowledge and skills of employees, improve performance, and help to achieve results for the organizations they serve. Established in 1943, the association was known as the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD).

ATD’s members come from more than 100 countries and work in public and private organizations in every industry sector. ATD supports talent development professionals who gather locally in volunteer-led US chapters, international member networks, and with international strategic partners.

For more information, visit td.org.