How 'regenerative' cultures are boosting engagement and retention

• Key Insight: Learn how regenerative culture shifts focus from resilience to renewing employee energy.
• Supporting Data: 32% of job seekers would accept lower pay for stronger culture alignment.
• Forward Look: Prepare for tailored, reciprocity-based policies replacing one-size-fits-all employee programs.
  Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

A new kind of culture strategy could be the key to addressing long-term engagement, productivity and retention challenges: regeneration. 

Over half of employees reported feeling burned out in the past year because of their job, according to recent data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and 37% reported feeling so overwhelmed it made it hard to do their job. In order to get employees the help they need, leaders may need to consider revisiting and restrategizing their culture so that it's regenerative — a new workplace trend that focuses on creating a better and more sustainable workplace experience. 

"This is very different from building a resilient culture, which refers to helping employees bounce back to baseline," said Megan Barbier, CHRO at software company Xactly. "A regenerative culture is one that leaves people, interactions, projects and seasons better than they started."

Read more: Building a culture that thrives through change

Since the pandemic, there has been a clear shift away from traditional workplace standards and toward more flexibility and personalization in how employers support workers. For example, while compensation remains a crucial deciding factor in a job search, 32% of job seekers are willing to settle for a lower-paying job if it means the corporate culture and work is more aligned with their goals, according to a recent survey from job search platform BuiltIn. In addition, employees who don't like their organization's culture were found to be 24% more likely to quit.

According to Barbier, the result is that companies are being pushed to build an employee experience where culture becomes the combined result of many tailored elements rather than a single broad policy.

"It's going to require companies to treat employee energy as a renewable resource," she said. "It's not just protecting them from burnout, it's actively investing in them and answering the question of do people feel seen? Is their growth noticed? Do they feel challenged and stretched and sustained so that they're not running on empty to perform?" 

Creating a regenerative environment

Leaders can design a more sustainable employee experience by focusing on reciprocity, Barbier said. This means ensuring that when they ask employees to take on change, growth opportunities or added responsibility, they also proactively give back through meaningful support like training, tools, benefits and development opportunities. That support can extend beyond traditional benefits into more creative areas such as flexible time-off approaches, mentorship, access to senior leadership insights, and stronger learning and coaching ecosystems. 

Read more: Enhancing workplace culture: Resources for benefit managers

"Regenerative culture is really going to live or die depending on how leadership is trained to fulfill those things," Barbier said. "They need to know how to give people tools to be successful and not just to develop talent, but notice when that energy from employees is depleted and respond." 

By being more intentional about culture and adopting more regenerative practices, organizations aren't just creating a better employee experience, they're also setting themselves up to have a long-term and sustainable workforce.

"The more people feel they're being invested in, the more likely they're going to want to stay and connect with the work they're doing with you," Barbier said. "That means companies that lean out and resist investing in employee development are really putting a large portion of their very best players at risk."