An anchor for rough seas

“Culture is defined by what people do when no one is looking.”
– Herb Kelleher

Purpose is easy to declare. It’s harder to live at 6am on a short-staffed floor.

A caregiver is stretched thin. Do they rush, or pause to connect? A manager sees inconsistency. Do they correct the task, or coach the behavior? At Parker Health Group, moments like these happen every day.

They’re not alone. After years of restructuring, rapid growth, and workforce disruption — and with AI reshaping roles faster than most cultures can absorb — many organizations are asking a harder question than “what’s our strategy?” It’s more like, “Do our people still know who we are?”

Jean Rebele and team at Parker had defined six values and behaviors for every employee — from executives to care partners. But defining them wasn’t enough. They reached out to Kelvin Yao and Richard Hodge at Advantage Performance Group to co-create a learning experience that would make those values real. Critically, the values weren’t handed down — they were shaped by listening across the organization first, so people recognized themselves in them before they were ever asked to live them.

The challenge: Reaching a dispersed workforce of over 1,000 people across care settings, shifts, and job functions — and making those values personally meaningful, not just posted on a wall. The answer: Leader-led, small-group sessions where people shared real stories, worked through scenarios, and figured out together what the values actually looked like in their everyday work.

In four months, Parker achieved full organizational alignment — and the partnership earned a 2025 Brandon Hall Gold Award for Best Unique or Innovative L&D Program.

When everything is shifting — roles, structures, expectations — people need something stable to hold onto. Not a memo. Not a reorg. A shared sense of what an organization stands for and how they act on it.

Parker’s story shows what it looks like to give an entire workforce that anchor. And right now, that’s not a nice-to-have. It’s what can hold organizations together.

The lesson for L&D leaders: If purpose isn’t shaping real behavior, it’s just words. And in a moment when organizations are being pulled in every direction — by technology, by talent pressures, by constant change — values may be the most underused tool you have. Not as a culture exercise. As a foundation for everything else.

One great thing for 04.07.26 – Bringing Values to Life at Parker Health Group – An award-winning customer story