Month: May 2025

When it comes to the workplace, culture is one of those words that gets thrown around as though it’s a fixed thing. Something you can define, measure or simply create on demand. It’s often treated like a destination you reach once you’ve ticked enough boxes or invested in the right initiatives.

But culture is complex, fluid, multi layered and requires continual focus. Creating a positive, trusted workplace culture can take years to build and days to break down. The Dutch have a great phrase for this – ‘trust comes in on foot but leaves on horseback.’

The challenge for People and HR teams, often the ones expected to drive culture, is where to start. As the lowest funded support team in many organisations*, they’re often chronically under-resourced. Their remit is broad – spanning DEIB, wellbeing, employee experience and employer brand development. Not to mention navigating change, hybrid working, the widening gap between frontline and knowledge workers, connecting employees to organisational purpose, driving volunteering and social impact… the list goes on and on.

With so many competing priorities – and the need to keep culture alive every day – where do you even start?

Culture change isn’t a switch. It’s a system.

Culture isn’t something that sits on a to-do list. It isn’t built in workshops. It’s shaped every day by how people feel, how decisions are made and how we communicate with the workforce. It’s systemic, intentional and the golden thread that runs through everything, holding the organisation together.

Creating that golden thread – that strategic narrative – is much harder than it looks.

As experts in elevating employee communication to drive positive cultures and create great places to work, we created our own framework and diagnostic approach. It helps organisations assess where they are today, so we can guide them towards the culture they want to build.

We call it THRIVE because we believe everyone deserves to thrive. And because we know that when our people thrive, so does the business.

THRIVE focuses on six interconnected pillars that shape employees’ everyday experience of work:

• Talent – Attracting, developing and retaining people through authentic, honest and engaging employer brands.
• Human – Creating a human culture that sees employees as people not resources, genuinely appreciating their contribution, caring for their wellbeing and giving them a genuine voice.
• Roadmap – Clearly and consistently communicating the organisations’ strategic narrative, direction and purpose in a way that inspires so everyone knows where they’re going, why it matters and how they can contribute.
• Inclusion – Building a sense of inclusion and belonging that enables everyone to come on the journey, bringing their true and best selves to work. Ensuring every voice is heard, valued and respected.
• Values – Having clearly defined and communicated values that are lived and respected by all and consistently used to drive decision making and guide direction
• Experience – Designing touchpoints and narratives that shape the moments that matter throughout the journey from candidate to alumni.

If you’re on a journey to improving workplace culture, or you’ve just joined an organisation and want a clear picture of where things stand, explore our methodology here and talk to us about our diagnostic approach.