Research from Lehi company finds strong cultures promote significant revenue growth

New research from Lehi-based employee recognition and rewards company Motivosity finds that organizations with strong workplace cultures are significantly more likely to outperform their peers. The study was conducted in partnership with HR.com. 

According to the 2026 “State of Workplace Culture and Connection Report,” organizations with strong cultures are nearly twice as likely to report significant revenue growth compared to organizations with weaker cultures. The study examines how connection, recognition, leadership trust and data visibility affect retention and business performance.

Based on responses from employees, managers and executives across U.S. industries and around the world, the research shows that culture remains one of the strongest reasons people stay. Eighty-three percent of employees say they remain at an organization primarily because of its culture and the people they work with. At the same time, many organizations weaken that advantage through inconsistent recognition, limited cross-team connection and poor visibility into engagement data.

“Culture is built through everyday moments of connection, not giving your people more stuff or a fully stocked breakroom,” said Scott Johnson, CEO and founder of Motivosity. “This report confirms what we’ve long believed at Motivosity: When employees feel seen, valued and connected, trust grows, engagement improves and performance follows. The organizations thriving in 2026 aren’t doing more; they’re making culture a core part of their business strategy and prioritizing connection, employee engagement and recognition as a way to reinforce the right behaviors consistently.”

Nearly half of employees polled in the survey (48 percent) said their sense of connection at work has improved over the past year. While most feel connected to their immediate teams, only 58 percent said their organizations foster relationships across teams.

More than a third of employees said they rarely or never receive meaningful recognition from their direct manager. Nearly half report only moderate to low trust in leadership, pointing to recognition and visibility as key trust drivers.

The survey also found that leaders don’t understand the engagement health of their companies. While 66 percent of organizations use engagement surveys, 59 percent of managers and executives do not know their organization’s employee engagement scores and 54 percent do not know their voluntary turnover rate. Compared to culture laggards, organizations with strong cultures are nearly 16 times more likely to provide frequent manager recognition, over eight times more likely to earn high trust in leadership, and nearly twice likely to report significant revenue growth.

The findings point to a clear path forward, according to the study’s authors. Organizations that are strengthening culture are making recognition frequent and visible, increasing leadership participation in culture efforts, improving communication and transparency, investing in cross-team relationships and using real-time engagement insights to guide action.

As organizations continue to navigate workforce change, the research concludes, culture is no longer a soft concept or a side initiative only held by HR. It’s a critical component to meaningful business outcomes.

Motivosity’s full study can be seen at the company’s website, motivosity.com.