Clarify values and expectations. Why? Companies with strong cultures experience up to 30% higher levels of employee engagement, making it crucial to bridge any gaps in understanding.

When there’s been a conflict in culture within my team, I’ve always gone back to the organisational values. Starting with organisational values and how they agree (or not) with personal values is key to explore. Setting team values, based on organisational and personal helps reset the team culture.

One thing I've found helpful is transparency, people aren't always looking for all the answers to their questions all at once, but you have to give them something, honestly and upfront. It is best to acknowledge that people's outlook may differ or be impacted by their experience and that's totally normal and can be healthy, but navigating the shift means all of us need to adopt the right attitudes that will become habit and underscore the culture we desire. That may look like finding the appropriate people who can model the desired behaviour and making them ambassadors of that change or rewarding the behaviours to encourage it taking hold within the team.

To handle conflicts in cultural perception, open dialogue is essential. In my experience, creating a space where everyone can share what they value in the company culture makes a big difference. When the team is involved in redefining culture, we can align expectations and strengthen the purpose in an authentic and cohesive way.