Dow Making Culture a Catalyst for Transformation - 2026 Next Practices Weekly

Next Practices Weekly welcomed Alveda J. Williams, Ph.D., Chief Inclusion and Social Impact Officer, and Mike Weideman, Head of Enterprise Transformation at Dow, for an inside look at how the global materials science company is making culture a catalyst for enterprise transformation. The speakers shared how Dow's Transform to Outperform initiative positioned culture and behavior change alongside operational and business priorities, using leadership belief audits, employee insights, and 23 clearly defined behaviors to establish new ways of working across the organization.

Moderated by i4cp's Marshall Bergmann and Tom Stone, the conversation explored how Dow is moving beyond culture as an aspirational concept to make it an actionable component of transformation. Williams and Weideman discussed activating approximately 3,000 leaders, engaging frontline employees, embedding behavioral expectations into leadership goals, and integrating change management into transformation initiatives. They also highlighted how leadership modeling, employee feedback, and repeated reinforcement help translate organizational priorities into everyday actions.

For senior HR and business leaders navigating complex transformation, Dow's experience offers a practical blueprint for connecting culture to business performance and sustaining meaningful change. Watch the recording to learn how Dow is identifying the behaviors that matter most, building accountability into transformation execution, and ensuring that cultural change becomes part of how work gets done - not simply another initiative.

Key Topics Discussed

• Making Culture Central to Business Transformation: Dow established culture and behavior change as a core pillar of its Transform to Outperform initiative, recognizing that redesigned processes and systems alone cannot deliver lasting results.
• Identifying 23 Target Behaviors: Through belief audits with more than 60 leaders, employee survey insights, and organizational diagnostics, Dow identified 23 behaviors designed to accelerate transformation while preserving cultural strengths.
• Activating Leaders and Frontline Employees: Dow prioritized leadership activation sessions and targeted frontline engagement, helping employees understand how enterprise-wide behaviors translate into their daily responsibilities.
• Embedding Accountability Through Leadership Action Plans: Leaders developed personalized Leadership Action Plans (LAPs), shared their commitments with teams, received feedback, and incorporated behavioral expectations into individual goals.
• Integrating Culture Into Transformation Execution: Dow embedded behavioral and change-management considerations into thousands of initiatives, using portfolio tracking and heat maps to identify impacted employee populations, monitor behavior coverage, and inform sequencing decisions.
• Sustaining Change Through Repeated Reinforcement: The speakers emphasized that cultural transformation requires visible leadership modeling, ongoing dialogue, and consistent reinforcement rather than one-time communications or training.

Resources Shared

• 2027 Priorities & Predictions Webinar: Join us on December 2 at 1 PM ET to explore the top priorities and predictions from CHROs and senior HR executives shaping the future of work. Register today!
• 2027 Next Practices Now Conference: The Agenda is now Live! Join leading CHROs and HR executives March 23–25 for i4cp’s signature vendor-free, strategic HR conference. Register by December 11 to save $300.
• i4cp’s Consulting Services:  Explore i4cp Consulting Services and Culture Renovation® to discover how i4cp partners with organizations to build stronger cultures and drive measurable performance results.

To ensure open discussion, this event is exclusively for HR practitioners. Vendors and consultants are not permitted to attend.