7 Culture Priorities Every HR Leader Must Get Right in 2026

In this episode of the HR Leaders Podcast On The Road, we sit down with Jorge Quezada, MBA (He.Him.His), Vice President, Culture & Performance at Granite Construction, to unpack what happens when culture stops being treated as a soft initiative and starts being run as a business driver.Jorge explains why culture is the operating system of an organization, shaping how people think, act, interact, and bring the company’s mission, vision, and values to life every day.He shares how Granite is updating its culture for the next 100 years by preserving what makes the company strong, diagnosing what needs to change, and creating the conditions for people to grow, adapt, and perform.Most importantly, Jorge reveals why the future of culture belongs to leaders who stop copying best practices from other companies and start understanding what their own people, business, and operating system actually need.🎓 In this episode, Jorge discusses:How organizations can learn, unlearn, and relearn to stay relevantHow AI still depends on human adoption, better questions, and human thinkingWhy culture should be treated as the operating system that drives performanceWhy leaders need to diagnose their own culture before copying external best practicesWhy unleashing human agency starts with challenging limiting beliefs and building confidence through action🙏 Thank you to our partner, WorkhumanDiscover how Workhuman helps organizations turn recognition into real business impact, building stronger cultures, more connected teams, and better visibility into the people driving performance.✅ Learn more about Workhuman → https://www.workhuman.com/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.