Most companies today are “transforming”…at least on paper. New org charts, flashy tech, and ambitious strategy decks are everywhere. But according to McKinsey, only 1 in 10 transformations actually deliver a meaningful performance edge.
So what’s the missing ingredient?
Behavior.
Not just leadership vision or structural changes but the day-to-day behaviors that define how people work, collaborate, and make decisions. At Good4Work, we see this as a massive opportunity. When companies focus on recognizing and reinforcing the right behaviors, they unlock something rare: transformation that actually sticks.
What High-Performing Companies Do Differently
McKinsey studied hundreds of transformations and found a clear pattern: the organizations that outperform don’t just change systems, they change behavior.
The most common (and effective) shifts they saw include:
-
Collaboration: Teams move past silos and genuinely work together.
-
Commitment: People feel a sense of ownership and want the change to succeed.
-
Continuous Improvement: Small, everyday optimizations — not just big initiatives.
-
Clarity of Goals: Everyone knows what matters and how their work connects.
-
Customer Focus: Teams are obsessed with creating better experiences.
It’s not about perfection, it’s about consistency. These behaviors, repeated over time, build the kind of culture that can adapt, compete, and grow.
The Recognition Gap
Here’s the issue: most companies say they want these behaviors, but few have systems in place to recognize or reinforce them in real time.
That’s where next-gen HR tech comes in. HR tech needs to:
-
Spot when a cross-functional team nails a tough collaboration and give them credit immediately.
-
Track who’s consistently making things better and show that their effort matters.
-
Recognize employees who model real accountability, not just those hitting obvious KPIs.
At Good4Work, we’re working on ways to tokenize these behaviors to make them visible, verifiable, and part of someone’s broader performance record. Not in a gamified way. In a meaningful, fair, and bias-resistant way that honors how people actually contribute.
Choosing the Right Behaviors to Focus On
Not every behavior matters equally. The key is choosing the ones that:
-
Align with your strategy.
-
Are tied to real outcomes.
-
Can be practiced at every level of the organization.
McKinsey’s advice? Don’t overcomplicate it. Start small. Identify the 3–5 behaviors that would make the biggest difference right now. Talk to your teams. Look at your data. Then build rituals, systems, and recognition around them.
It’s less about “culture change” and more about reinforcing the small signals that say: this is how we work here.
Real transformation doesn’t start with big statements, it starts when one team tries something new, and it works. When someone speaks up with a better idea, and that idea gets traction. When people feel safe to challenge the status quo because they know someone’s paying attention.
That’s what builds momentum.
And if we want these behaviors to stick, we have to recognize them early, often, and across the board.
If your company is serious about transformation, it’s time to look past strategy decks and tech stacks and start building systems that see and reward the right behaviors. That’s the real edge.
Interested in how behavior-based recognition systems can drive your transformation goals?
We’d love to show you what’s possible, drop us a request today to find out more.