Organizational culture is under pressure. Leaders feel it. Employees feel it. And too often, the debate gets reduced to a single question: Is remote work hurting our culture?
The data suggests a more nuanced answer.
According to research from Gallup, only 20% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they feel connected to their organization’s culture. That means 8 in 10 employees are operating without a strong sense of cultural connection.
This is not primarily a debate about remote versus in-office work. It is a challenge of connection, communication, and how culture shows up in day-to-day operations.
The Current State of Organizational Culture
Key finding: Only 20% of U.S. employees strongly agree that they feel connected to their organization’s culture.
Source: Gallup, updated January 2026
Gallup’s organizational culture indicator tracks employee perceptions across work environments, leadership levels, and business outcomes such as engagement, retention, burnout, and performance.
The takeaway is clear. Most employees do not feel deeply connected to their organization’s culture, even when leaders believe culture is a priority.
Why Organizational Culture Matters to Business Outcomes
Culture is not abstract. It directly influences performance and stability.
Employees who strongly feel connected to their organization’s culture are:
• 4.3x more likely to be engaged at work
• 47% less likely to be watching for or actively seeking a new job
• 62% less likely to feel burned out very often or always
Source: Gallup analysis, February 2025
Engagement, retention, and burnout are not soft metrics. They affect productivity, hiring costs, continuity, and long-term growth.
Organizations with strong cultures tend to outperform because employees understand how their work connects to broader goals and feel seen in the process, not because of perks or proximity.
Leadership Intent Doesn’t Always Translate to Employee Experience
Gallup’s data highlights a meaningful disconnect.
• 20% of employees feel connected to their workplace culture
• 20% believe their coworkers are committed to cultural values
• 27% believe leadership is committed to culture
Source: Gallup
Leaders care about culture, and employees recognize that commitment at the top. Where things break down is in how that commitment translates into everyday work.
When values are discussed but not operationalized, culture becomes something employees hear about rather than experience.
Does Work Location Determine Cultural Connection?
Work location is often treated as the defining factor in cultural health. The data suggests it plays a smaller role than many assume.
Connection to culture across work locations:
• 21% exclusively remote
• 21% hybrid
• 19% on-site
Source: Gallup, August 2025
Employees report similar levels of cultural connection regardless of where they work. This does not mean location is irrelevant. It means location alone does not create culture.
Culture depends on how well people stay connected to one another, to leadership, and to the work itself.
Leaders Are Right to Be Concerned, but the Focus May Be Misplaced
Gallup also measured expectations about how remote work might affect culture.
Anticipated impact of remote work on culture:
Individual contributors:
• 15% worse
• 64% about the same
• 21% better
Managers:
• 22% worse
• 56% about the same
• 22% better
Leaders:
• 31% worse
• 52% about the same
• 16% better
Source: Gallup, May 2025
Leaders are more concerned than individual contributors about cultural erosion, and that concern is valid. But the data suggests the risk does not stem from remote work itself.
The real risk is losing consistent communication, shared context, and visibility into how work is happening.
What Strong Culture Actually Requires
Strong culture does not come from being in the same place. It comes from:
- Clear communication
- Shared understanding of priorities
- Visibility into progress and challenges
- Consistent interaction beyond formal meetings
When those elements are missing, culture weakens in any work environment.
When they are present, culture can thrive regardless of where teams are located.
The Takeaway
Only 20% of employees feel strongly connected to their organization’s culture. That is not a location problem. It is a connection problem.
Organizations that strengthen communication, visibility, and shared understanding build cultures that employees can actually experience, not just hear about.
Culture is not defined by where work happens.
It is defined by how people stay connected while the work happens.
Source:
Gallup. “Indicator: Organizational Culture.”
https://www.gallup.com/471521/indicator-organizational-culture.aspx