This article was a collaborative effort, written by Culture Consultant Marcus Stephens, and Maddison Grigsby (LOCAL).
Two Numbers. One Word. A Business Necessity.
Leaders driving change need to grasp two key numbers and one critical word.
First, the numbers:
And the word? Relationships.
While billions go into external relationships with customers, internal relationships often get overlooked. But the health of these relationships is vital—it affects engagement, collaboration, productivity, and ultimately, profitability. Companies are losing trillions every year, but there’s something we can do about it.
Businesses often focus on efficiency, growth, and innovation but neglect the relationships that make these possible. Healthy customer relationships start with healthy international relationships built on trust, collaboration, and accountability. Without strong international relationships, companies face:
Disengagement isn’t just an HR issue—it’s a serious business risk. Organizations with engaged employees have 10% more customer loyalty and 147% more earnings per share, on average, than organizations with disengaged employees (Gallup).
In today’s business landscape and with the continued implementation of AI, change is literally everywhere all the time across organizations. In order for organizations to successfully navigate and integrate change, they must engage those who are responsible for the change's success - their people. Change is much more difficult, if not impossible, when trust, collaboration, and good communication are not present internally.
A relationship-smart culture treats workplace relationships with the same care as customer relationships. It’s not just about team-building or leadership training. While those are good, they aren’t enough. It’s about giving employees the tools to manage relationships effectively and creating a culture where tough conversations are easier, day in and day out.
For example, feedback isn’t just a formal process—it happens constantly in subtle ways, even if unintentionally. Consider this scenario: Chris talks to Leslie about some ways of working that he’d like to improve, and she’s distracted, scrolling on her phone. Chris might feel disrespected and avoid future feedback, assuming it will fall flat. This creates undercurrents of frustration and friction. A relationship-smart culture recognizes these subtle dynamics and helps teams navigate them productively.
A culture built on strong relationships offers clear benefits:
Building a relationship-smart culture is about action, not theory. Companies should integrate relationship-building into:
Leaders who focus on internal relationships will build resilient, high-performing teams. The alternative is continued disengagement and massive financial losses. In a world dominated by AI and digital transformation, the best investment is in the people driving success.
A relationship-smart culture isn’t optional—it’s the foundation of long-term success.