Case Study

How Omaha Home for Boys Reimagined Culture—and Achieved 93% Retention

Overview

Omaha Home for Boys (OHB) is a 105-year-old social service organization dedicated to supporting and strengthening youth, young adults, and families through services that inspire and equip them to lead independent, productive lives. With about 75 employees and a comprehensive continuum of care—including residential care, transitional living, independent living, crisis stabilization, mental health services, and education—OHB helps young people build the skills they need to thrive.

Through a strong focus on collaboration, accountability, and engagement, OHB empowers its employees to deliver life-changing services while creating a workplace where people want to belong.

Challenge

In 2020, OHB found itself with deep-rooted culture and operational challenges—many of which were brought into sharper focus by the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the forefront of addressing these issues was Jodi L. Ross, Chief Strategy Officer, who oversees OHB’s strategic planning, governance, and internal service departments such as HR, facilities, IT, and communications. Jodi recognized that to sustain OHB’s mission, the organization needed to focus on it’s internal culture with the same level of care and intentionality that it provided to the youth and families it served. “If you don’t get the culture right, you won’t get anything else right. Culture has to be the foundation,” Jodi emphasized.

OHB’s challenges at the time were complex and interconnected:

Accountability Gaps and Low Self-Awareness
Teams often operated without a shared sense of accountability. Some staff members resisted feedback, failed to follow policies, or believed they knew better than others how to deliver programs. This eroded trust and created internal friction. As Jodi described, “We had a lack of accountability. People weren’t always following policies. Some felt like they knew better how to deliver programs than others, which created tension.”
Silos Between Departments
OHB’s main campus, spread across multiple buildings, along with another campus for Independent Living and Supportive Housing programs, and Cooper Memorial Farm, contributed to operational silos. Staff from different programs often worked in isolation, with little opportunity for collaboration or mutual understanding.
Retention and Recruitment Crisis
The pandemic intensified OHB’s struggle to recruit and retain qualified direct care staff. Meeting required staffing ratios often meant hiring less-than-ideal candidates simply to cover shifts, which further strained morale and stability. In 2020, OHB’s voluntary retention rates fell dramatically—down to 38% overall, and just 16.7% for non-managerial staff.
Ineffective Feedback Tools
Prior engagement surveys failed to provide the clarity needed for meaningful action. Questions were too general to identify the root of problems. “Previous surveys did not put us in a position to ask follow-up questions. We didn’t know if the concern was with a manager, a team member, or a system. It left us stuck,” Jodi explained.
Toxic Subcultures
With the previous survey we utilized, the results showed there was a group of disengaged employees actively undermining colleagues and the broader organizational culture. Without clear data to guide interventions, these issues persisted longer than they should have.

Together, these challenges threatened OHB’s ability to fulfill its mission—and made clear the urgent need for a new approach.

Solution

Determined to address these issues head-on, OHB partnered with BetterCulture to implement The BetterCulture Survey designed for action:

Actionable, Clear Feedback
The BetterCulture Survey provided targeted, categorized feedback (e.g., on immediate supervisors vs. senior leadership), helping OHB pinpoint where challenges existed.
Department-Level Insight
While all responses were anonymous, the survey grouped results by team and program, allowing leadership to see patterns without compromising anonymity. This gave OHB the clarity to act decisively when issues arose.
Foundation for Change
The survey became the starting point for deep culture work. OHB:
- Established a Culture Advisory Group, a cross-functional team empowered to lead change and propose culture-building activities.
- Embedded culture priorities into the strategic plan, making culture the first formal goal in OHB’s five-year strategy.
- Developed The OHB Way, a guide outlining how core values translate into everyday actions.
Shift to Staff-Led Improvement
By putting change in the hands of staff (rather than imposing top-down initiatives), OHB achieved stronger buy-in and greater cultural alignment. “We wanted change led by staff because that’s how you get buy-in. They’re the ones who live it every day,” shared Jodi.

Process

Transforming culture at OHB wasn’t about a one-time initiative—it was about building a consistent, inclusive process that empowered staff, created transparency, and embedded accountability into everyday operations.

With a clear picture of where change was needed, OHB rolled up its sleeves and got to work. From launching The BetterCulture Survey to putting the results into action, the team followed a thoughtful, structured approach to ensure lasting impact.

Here’s how they did it:

Survey Rollout
Participation in the BetterCulture survey was strongly encouraged—but not mandatory. Instead, OHB emphasized the importance of honest feedback and positioned the survey as a tool for positive change. “We told people: If you want us to fix things, you have to tell us about them. We can’t fix what we don’t know,” said Ross. Communication was reinforced through emails, staff meetings, and an internal employee communication platform (Viva Engage).
Data Review & Transparency
After the survey closed, results were first reviewed by the executive team and OHB’s newly formalized senior leadership team—a group of managers one level below the C-suite. This team had been intentionally created to bring ideas and voices from front-line employees into leadership conversations, and the survey served as an ideal way to empower their involvement. From there, key findings and year-over-year improvements were shared openly with staff and the board, fostering a sense of transparency and organizational trust. At staff meetings, survey results were presented clearly and highlighted top strengths, areas of improvement, and trends over time. This honest communication helped create a shared sense of progress and collective responsibility for future improvements.
Staff-Led Action Planning
OHB formed a cross-functional Culture Advisory Group composed of team members from a variety of departments and organizational levels. This group was empowered to dive deep into the survey results, identify 1–2 key focus areas each year, and collaborate with leadership to design solutions that mattered to staff. From conflict resolution to cross-departmental communication, the group led the charge on rolling out practical tools, targeted trainings, and organization-wide “rocks” (quarterly goals) tied directly to cultural priorities.
Operational Integration
Culture improvement became part of daily operations. Survey insights influenced one-on-ones, manager training, performance reviews, and cross-training initiatives. Collaboration across departments increased significantly as teams gained more visibility and appreciation for each other’s work.
Strategic Embedding
Perhaps most notably, OHB made culture the first goal in its five-year strategic plan. The organization also developed The OHB Way, a formal guide to what living out its core values looks like in action—further cementing culture as a strategic and operational priority.

Outcomes

The transformation at Omaha Home for Boys wasn’t just cultural—it was measurable. From record-breaking retention rates to stronger collaboration and morale, the results of their investment in workplace culture have been clear and lasting.

Just as importantly, OHB has committed to making culture improvement an ongoing priority. They’ve conducted the BetterCulture Survey every year since 2020—using the data to track progress, identify new focus areas, and fuel continuous improvement. The survey is now a permanent part of their organizational rhythm, with plans to continue this annual assessment well into the future.

Record-High Retention Rates
After years of struggling with turnover, OHB has seen retention rebound in powerful and sustained ways. In just five years, the organization went from crisis to stability:
- In 2020, overall voluntary retention dropped to just 38.2%. For non-managerial staff, the core of OHB’s direct care workforce, it plummeted to 16.7%.
- As of mid-2025, overall retention soared to 93%, with managerial staff holding steady at 100% for the second consecutive year.
- Non-managerial staff retention has also risen dramatically, climbing from the 30% range in 2021–2022 to 88% in 2025.
- These are not just numbers—they represent greater continuity of care for clients, less burnout among staff, and a renewed sense of pride and belonging within the organization. “We’ve gone from struggling to keep people to becoming a place where employees want to stay and grow. The numbers tell the story, but it’s the day-to-day collaboration and positivity that really show the difference,” said Ross.
Recruitment Success
With culture scores rising and internal dynamics improving, OHB no longer struggles to fill positions. Monthly turnover now sits at approximately 1%, and the organization rarely has more than one or two open positions at a time—a sharp contrast to the staffing instability of 2020–2021.
Elimination of Toxicity
One of the earliest wins was identifying and addressing a small group of disengaged employees who were undermining the culture. Survey insights empowered leaders to take swift, appropriate action—whether that meant coaching, reassignment, or parting ways. Since then, OHB has cultivated a more respectful, solutions-oriented environment.
Stronger Cross-Departmental Collaboration
The organization’s silos have started to dissolve. Through intentional cross-training and the sharing of responsibilities across programs, employees now have a broader understanding of the agency’s work. Staff are regularly volunteering to help across departments, and peer recognition has become a norm.
Embedded Culture Focus
The Culture Advisory Group continues to guide annual focus areas, launching agency-wide initiatives tied to real survey data. Whether it’s conflict resolution training or strategies to deepen interdepartmental trust, these efforts are embedded in daily operations—reinforced through one-on-ones, reviews, and staff meetings. “When we show staff year-over-year results, and they can see the improvements they helped create—it builds momentum. It makes them feel like they’re part of something real,” Jodi noted.
Culture as a Strategic Priority
Culture is no longer a side project. It’s the first goal in OHB’s five-year strategic plan, with ongoing commitment from both leadership and front-line teams. The agency’s culture guide, The OHB Way, gives employees a shared language and playbook for how to live out the organization’s values in their everyday work.“This wasn’t about checking a box or chasing a score. It was about making OHB the kind of place people are proud to be a part of—where they feel heard, supported, and connected to the mission,” Jodi said.

OHB has set a powerful example of what’s possible when culture becomes more than a buzzword. Through strong leadership, staff-led action, and a genuine commitment to continuous improvement, they’ve transformed challenges into momentum and built a workplace that truly lives its mission. With the BetterCulture Survey as their compass, they’re not just maintaining progress—they’re setting the pace.

Omaha Home for Boys climbed from the 13th to the 73rd percentile of organizations we’ve surveyed with The BetterCulture Survey—proving what’s possible with the right data and a commitment to act.

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Let’s build a better culture together.

"Working with BetterCulture was the best decision ever. They gave us the clarity and tools to truly transform our culture. We’ve gone from struggling to keep people to becoming a place where employees want to stay and grow."

Jodi Ross

Chief Strategy Officer