Systemic Culture Change Begins With Incentives—Not Just Posters and Slogans

When Janice Semper and Viv Goldstein set out to change GE's culture from the inside, they knew posters and training sessions wouldn't be enough. What kept emerging in coaching sessions was that official systems—like the Employee Management System (EMS)—were unintentionally punishing the very behaviors the new approach required. Higher 'rework' scores, necessary for fast learning, hurt career prospects. Nobody wanted to admit failure because ratings would tank. So, no matter what the company said in speeches, employees learned that old behaviors—risk avoidance, hiding mistakes, favoring long timelines—were still what's rewarded.

The turning point came when the new culture team embraced experimentation. They ran honest MVPs for new feedback tools, built cohorts to test 'no ratings' performance reviews, and asked hundreds of employees and managers for open feedback. Results were surprising: People wanted ongoing feedback and conversation, not annual numerical ratings. The first app went unused, until they pivoted to supporting new feedback behaviors, not just processes. Over two years, GE shifted from rigid annual rankings to fluid, meritocratic frameworks where learning from experiments, authentic conversations, and adaptive thinking led to real recognition and advancement.

Behavioral science and case studies now confirm: Lasting culture change starts when the actual incentives, advancement paths, and daily routines reinforce new values—making the right way also the rewarding way.

Take a clear-eyed look at what your current reward, evaluation, or promotion system actually encourages—are you favoring risk takers, learners, and collaborators, or just people who keep their heads down? Choose one real system—how you praise, promote, or compensate—and shift it to explicitly reward learning, experimentation, and honest feedback. Gather feedback after a trial period and keep adjusting. Remember, until the reward systems change, behaviors will stay the same—so start with the systems if you want to see a real culture shift.