CEOs Must Take Responsibility for Organisational Culture, Experts Declare at Beyond HR Conference 3.0

Ayodeji Ake

Business leaders and chief executives have been urged to take greater responsibility for shaping organisational culture, with experts warning that workplace values are determined more by leadership behaviour than written policies.

The experts spoke at the 2026 Beyond HR Conference and Excellence Awards, organised by HR Talent Hub and DAC Consulting, which brought together human resource professionals, business executives and entrepreneurs to discuss leadership, workforce management and organisational growth.

The two-day conference, themed “Leadership, Growth and Business Success,” examined how effective leadership and people management could improve employee productivity and business performance.

Delivering a keynote address, Dr Mojisola Olubunmo said organisational culture reflected the attitudes, decisions and behaviours of those in leadership positions.

She explained that employees were more likely to adopt behaviours demonstrated by their superiors than values contained in company policy documents.

“Organisational culture is what a business leader tolerates, rewards, encourages, accepts or punishes,” Olubunmo said.

Using punctuality as an example, she noted that a chief executive who consistently arrived late despite an official resumption time of 8 a.m. could inadvertently encourage similar behaviour among employees.

She stressed that leaders must demonstrate discipline, accountability and professionalism if they expected their workforce to uphold those values.

Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Quoray Mobilities, Mr Olabanjo Alimi, urged founders and business owners not to transfer the entire responsibility for employee relations and workplace culture to human resource departments.

He maintained that people management was a fundamental leadership responsibility requiring the direct involvement of business owners and executives.

Speaking on the conference’s objectives, its convener and Lead Consultant at DAC Consulting, Dr Omotola Adedapo, said the initiative was established to strengthen human resource practice and equip professionals with strategies to contribute more meaningfully to organisational growth.

She explained that this year’s theme was designed to encourage closer alignment between human resource strategies and broader business objectives.

A major highlight of the conference was the unveiling of DAC Consulting’s IMPACT 120 Project, which will provide free consultancy services to 120 organisations to help address business and organisational challenges.

The event also featured the graduation of participants in HR Talent Hub’s HRCAP programme, alongside excellence awards and cash prizes recognising outstanding contributions to the human resource sector.

The experts maintained that sustainable business growth requires leadership accountability, effective people management and a workplace culture that reflects the values organisations expect their employees to uphold.