According to a recent survey by EY, workplace culture – particularly how people treat each other – is the No. 1 reason U.S. professionals of any age and career stage stay with their employers. The findings illuminate a change in what employees value as organizations fight for talent and work to enhance retention in the face of increasingly changing workforce expectations.
In the survey, professionals across generations-Gen Z to Baby Boomers-when asked what would most make them want to stay with their current employer, consistently rated culture and interpersonal treatment above compensation, benefits, and even career growth. These results run counter to two decades of arguments that pay, perks, or remote work options are leading drivers of engagement. Instead, an effective workplace culture that incorporates respect, inclusion, collaboration, and psychological safety was described as the main driver of retention.
Julie Teigland, EY’s U.S. Chair and Managing Partner, said, “The survey really brings to life just how much people value positive workplace experiences and human connections” and added that today’s employees increasingly require workplaces to be the kind of place where they feel respected, supported, and trusted.
What It Means for the Industry of HR
Culture as Strategy-not an Afterthought
For years, HR teams have relied on compensation packages, benefits benchmarking, and flexible work arrangements as primary levers to attract and retain talent. Though relevant, all these factors seem to take a backseat-as indeed they should, given that workplace culture now plays an equally critical role, if not more so, in employee retention. HR leaders may need to revisit traditional talent strategies and place culture deliberately at the core of HR planning and metrics.
That means HR departments need to move from merely administering policies to architecting meaningful work environments: cultivating norms of trust and respect, teamwork, and communications that employees can feel are valuing them for real. In the future, skills in organizational psychology, change management, and behavioral analytics-all beyond traditional benefit administration-will be required.
Building Inclusive and Respectful Workplaces Across Generations
Another key takeaway from this study is that culture is relevant across all generations. The airwaves of the recent years have largely been filled with discussions of what to expect from Gen Z or Millennial teams, but EY’s data reveal that Baby Boomers and members of Gen X consider respectful, supportive workplaces a priority, too. This underlines the idea that investment in culture is not a fad, but rather a business imperative.
Therefore, HR teams must design culture initiatives that resonate broadly, not just for early-career workers. Programs around DEIB, leadership training, conflict resolution frameworks, and psychological safety practices all become central tools in cultivating a culture where people treat each other with dignity and respect.
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Employee experience metrics will shift.
Traditional HR metrics such as turnover rates, time-to-fill, or benefits participation will be complemented by increasing culture and experience metrics-for example, employee sentiment scores, team collaboration indices, and psychological safety measures. Analytics teams in HR will be asked to quantify these soft factors and track them, connected with business performance data, to demonstrate culture’s ROI.
Broader Business Impacts
Retention Has Economic Impact
High turnover is costly. Recruitment, training, lost productivity, and knowledge loss add up. Culture is now seen as a key factor in retention. Companies that invest in healthy workplaces may lower turnover costs and boost performance.
Recruitment Advantage in Competitive Labor Markets
Top talent seeks companies with strong, respectful, and inclusive cultures in today’s tight labor market. This is clear in word-of-mouth, online reviews, and employer branding. So, culture has become a key recruitment asset, not just a background issue.
More Emphasis on Leadership Development
Culture thrives in teams, and leaders—from the front line to the C-suite—greatly influence how employees feel at work. More investment in leadership development programs is needed. These programs should focus on empathy, communication, conflict resolution, and inclusive practices.
Integrated People and Business Strategy
Finally, the cultural shift toward culture as a retention driver requires increased alignment of HR and business strategy. Culture cannot be siloed within HR; rather, it must be integrated into the operational goals, performance expectations, and values of the organization, such that culture is as critical to the balance sheet as revenue or productivity metrics.
Conclusion
One thing is crystal clear from the survey conducted by EY: workplace culture-and mainly how people treat each other-has now become the fulcrum on which an employee decides whether to stay or leave. That raises culture for HR professionals from soft rhetoric to a core strategic imperative. While adopting culture-centric strategies allows organizations to reduce turnover costs, enhances recruitment attractiveness, and helps build robust performance outcomes across teams, a respectful, supportive, and inclusive workplace is not only good for people — it’s good for business in this era where talent really creates competitive advantage.
